Look what I found....

[Bigtanker]

It's a Buck 619. I remember getting this as a boy. Never used it much because it was my "good knife." I always had some $5 knife to play with. The handle is a hard but grippy rubber and the sheath is still in good shape. How good is the blade steel wise on it. Will it hold an edge if I have a professional sharpening job done? My research shows it's 425M steel if that matters.

 

[mom45]

That made me go look to see what mine is. It's a Buck 475. Mine has helped process many deer.

t looks like this:

 

[Bigtanker]

That made me go look to see what mine is. It's a Buck 475. Mine has helped process many deer.

t looks like this:

I had one like that too. Pulled a Rhino with it about 20 years ago. 6 stitches in the palm of my hand. I still remember the sound it made going in.

 

[Dean C.]

This from AG Russell's steel guide page:

Steel____________440A_____420HC____425M_____440C__ __154CM____S30V
Carbon(C)_______.65-.75___.40-.50___.40-.54___.95-1.2_____1.05_____1.45
Manganese(Mn)____1.0_______0.8______0.5_______1.0_ _____0.5______--
Chromium(Cr)_____16-18____12-14____13.5-15___16-18______14______14
Vanadium(V)_______--_______.18______.10________--_______--______4.0
Molybdenum (Mo)__.75_______.60____ .60-1.0_____.75______4.0______2.0
Typical Hardness__55-57____56-58____57-59_____57-59____58-62____59-51

Seems like 420HC and 425M are more alike each other than anything else.


At 57-59 hardness the blade should be easy to sharpen and due to the chromium content it is fairly rust resistant and will take a very nice polished edge on a Wicked Edge set up. Edge retention will not be the greatest but it will not be bad either.

 

[Bigtanker]

This from AG Russell's steel guide page:

Steel____________440A_____420HC____425M_____440C__ __154CM____S30V
Carbon(C)_______.65-.75___.40-.50___.40-.54___.95-1.2_____1.05_____1.45
Manganese(Mn)____1.0_______0.8______0.5_______1.0_ _____0.5______--
Chromium(Cr)_____16-18____12-14____13.5-15___16-18______14______14
Vanadium(V)_______--_______.18______.10________--_______--______4.0
Molybdenum (Mo)__.75_______.60____ .60-1.0_____.75______4.0______2.0
Typical Hardness__55-57____56-58____57-59_____57-59____58-62____59-51

Seems like 420HC and 425M are more alike each other than anything else.


At 57-59 hardness the blade should be easy to sharpen and due to the chromium content it is fairly rust resistant and will take a very nice polished edge on a Wicked Edge set up. Edge retention will not be the greatest but it will not be bad either.

Thank you sir.

 

[meyer4589]

My dad has a 639, same knife, but with green rubber handles, serrated blade and a camo sheath. That thing has field dressed a lot of deer. I've been trying to find one at a decent price, but all of the ones I've seen go for a decent amount of money[SUB][/SUB]

 

[rhino]

It's a Buck 619. I remember getting this as a boy. Never used it much because it was my "good knife." I always had some $5 knife to play with. The handle is a hard but grippy rubber and the sheath is still in good shape. How good is the blade steel wise on it. Will it hold an edge if I have a professional sharpening job done? My research shows it's 425M steel if that matters.

Edge holding with 425M isn't great, but you should be able to get that thing very sharp. Buck has always done good heat treatments, regardless of which steel they used.

My old Buck 422 Bucklite was made from 425M. It took a scary sharp edge that I used to surprise some people (like cutting a hanging one-inch manila rope with a 3 inch blade).