Different steels in Gun Hammers

W

wdriver

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Dec 12, 2012
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I just ordered an S35VN Gun Hammer. I've read about M390, S30V, CTS-XHP Gun Hammers. Are they all in current production or were they just a special run?
 
Older models were made from S30V. The S35VN is basically a slight upgrade to S30V.

M390 is a Knife Center special run. It's my favorite steel to date for the Gun Hammer--easy to sharpen, long edge retention, and takes a superb edge.
CTS-XHP was also a Knife Center special run, IIRC. I haven't tried anything in that steel, however.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Older models were made from S30V. The S35VN is basically a slight upgrade to S30V.

M390 is a Knife Center special run. It's my favorite steel to date for the Gun Hammer--easy to sharpen, long edge retention, and takes a superb edge.
CTS-XHP was also a Knife Center special run, IIRC. I haven't tried anything in that steel, however.
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XHP is a special/limited run, but it's not a KnifeCenter exclusive like the M390. They just happened to receive and list their shipment of CTS-XHP Gunnies before any other retailers did. (It seems like they're always the first or at least among the first to get new products in stock and listed for sale, regardless of whether it's HTM or other manufacturers).
 
Also, HTM has plans for limited runs of the Gunhammer and perhaps some other models (one likely candidate is the HTM version of the Expendables AXD, which has been a big hit) in other steels over the next few years. I'm not sure I can say which steels since production hasn't started and there hasn't been an official announcement, but I've chatted with Darrel about it, and also happened to be hanging around the table at the CA Custom Knife Show when Darrel and a dealer were talking about the possibility of limited, exclusive runs in some special steels. Suffice to say, they're some really good steels that you don't see on very many knives, especially production/semi-production folders.
 
Just got the April issue of Knives Illustrated and the back cover has an HTM ad showing 4 Gun Hammers. It lists the blade steel as 154CM.

?????
 
I can't speak officially but, I know early on the original plan was to use 154CM or CPM154 as the standard. I don't know if that came to pass. It is possible the ad was made up from that old information and the steel wasn't changed in the ad.
 
wdriver said:
Just got the April issue of Knives Illustrated and the back cover has an HTM ad showing 4 Gun Hammers. It lists the blade steel as 154CM.

?????
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In addition to the reasons Dirk mentioned, I know that for a while there were different steels on the automatic versus non-automatic (assisted and manual) HTM Gunhammers. The automatic versions of the HTM Gunhammer used 154CM, while the non-auto versions used S30V (and then later S35VN).

I think all versions, including the automatics, have now been switched over to S35VN, so Dirk is likely correct that the ad simply reflects outdated information, with the switch from 154CM to S35VN on the automatic Gunhammers having been pretty recent.
 
Dirk said:
I can't speak officially but, I know early on the original plan was to use 154CM or CPM154 as the standard. I don't know if that came to pass. It is possible the ad was made up from that old information and the steel wasn't changed in the ad.
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Ohh, I don't have a knife in CPM154 yet. I would love a G10 GH in CPM154!!
 
I'm guessing the GH's with S90V would have the longest lasting edge(?) Perhaps more than the M390.
 
this thread got me to thinking, you know what would be super badass? A gunhammer in S3V!

Maybe someday when I can afford a true Darrel Ralph custom....
 
CPM 3V

apologies for the confusion. I was typing on my iphone last night and was having a hell of a time keeping the quick reply portion centered. I meant CPM 3V.
 
That would be cool, although I'd rather see an AXD or Madd Maxx in 3V. I prefer 3V for longer blades, after all.
 
native4alpha said:
CPM 3V

apologies for the confusion. I was typing on my iphone last night and was having a hell of a time keeping the quick reply portion centered. I meant CPM 3V.
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Hi,
I don't know if you have had the chance to become familiar with Ankerson's Ranking of Steel thread over in the testing and review section, but if not, it is a great read. Long to be sure but well worth it. CPM3v I believe falls in cat 4 I seem to recall. Granted there are many things to consider, but in a folder CPMs90v beats it by a long shot in pure cutting tests. One reason some of us pushed hard for it in the forum knife and with the correct heat treat with a minimum HRC of 60, it placed easily in the top tier cat 1.
Cheers....
 
Ray Allen said:
Hi,
I don't know if you have had the chance to become familiar with Ankerson's Ranking of Steel thread over in the testing and review section, but if not, it is a great read. Long to be sure but well worth it. CPM3v I believe falls in cat 4 I seem to recall. Granted there are many things to consider, but in a folder CPMs90v beats it by a long shot in pure cutting tests. One reason some of us pushed hard for it in the forum knife and with the correct heat treat with a minimum HRC of 60, it placed easily in the top tier cat 1.
Cheers....
Click to expand...
Agreed. CPM-3V has developed a bit of an inflated reputation as a "super steel" due in large part to those destruction tests Brady at Monkey Edge to promote the 3V run of Strider DBs. However, CPM-3V's main strength is its incredible toughness (resistance to chipping/breaking/deformation), which you're really only getting the most out of when you use it on a fixed blade -- where prying, batoning, etc. come into the picture. 3V's wear resistance, by contrast, is decent but not anything special, being on a par with CPM-S30V/S35VN. In terms of wear resistance, something like S90V, especially run at 60+ HRC, will blow 3V out of the water. Bottom line is that given the typical uses, grinds, and blade lengths on folding knives such as the HTM Gunhammer, you're simply not getting as much out of 3V as you would out of something like S90V.

Like crimsonfalcon said, 3V in one of HTM's very large folding knife blades -- the 5.5" Madd Maxx or AXD -- might make a bit more sense. Although if we're going to be ordering a forum knife in 3V, why not go all-out an get the 7" Madd Maxx (aka the Gibbs Maxx)? :D
 
If you are going to use 3V in a GunHammer and get the most out of it's toughness would be to go for a very thin edge. Turn it into a wicked slicer! Or, go to an oversized framelock, oversized parts and turn it into a folding pry bar.
 
Dirk-my thoughts exactly, I love the prospect of a folding prybar! I broke a few knives when I was in the army-it really made me appreciate the ones that held up to hard use/light abuse. A good, sharp knife with excellent impact resistance and lateral strength is what I'm looking for. Plus, I love the design on the GH family, a bigger, frame lock version with some beastly steel would be my grail knife.
 
Now I'm thinking a GH-styled large chopper out of 3V... Handle styled like a large version of the Gunny, and a large gunny guard, then an extended torpedo or bowie style blade.
 
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