Best M3 Fighting Knife Copy On The Market?

M-4 Bayonet? Not currently. Best bet is to look for one of the Camillus copies made during the 90's, early 2000's.
 
I think my answer would still be find a Camillus M-3 repro from the 90's. Ontario had a M-3 copy till they closed down, and some are still out there, but quality was all over the map. I wouldn't buy one unless I got to see / handle it in person first. Boker has their Chinese Boker Plus repro. It's liked by some, but is off in many regards.

I don't know of any custom makers that offer repros.
 
I was going to post the Defiant 7 one. Only thing that held me back was that the 3V version has the injection molded handle, and the micarta handle one has N690, which would not have been my choice for a larger fixed blade, and at the price point, which is not super expensive but also not super cheap, the N690 bugs me.
 
I have an Ontario one that is serviceable, but really the design as a whole is kind of lacking beyond the historical aspects. The FS is a better dagger if more fragile. The Kabar is a better field knife. I do like the weight of the M3 and the sharpened bayonet swedge makes for a good thruster.

However, they are not really that robust. Like the typical Kabar, the tangs are dead soft and the traditional stacked leather adds very little rigidity as lateral stress on the tang just pulls the stacked washers apart. It will easily bend at the handle, but in 1940s combat I think I would rather want something bends rather than breaks. A similar knife sporting a solid polymer handle would be more robust, but then is it still an M3?

In short, the Ontario one is a good knife for what you might expect it to do the the WWII theater. It's sharp. It's pointy. It doesn't weigh a ton. It's not good for prying open crates but it would stab into a ration can as easily as it would a Nazi.

As a piece of historical memorabilia, it's fun to have.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I have an Ontario one that is serviceable, but really the design as a whole is kind of lacking beyond the historical aspects. The FS is a better dagger if more fragile. The Kabar is a better field knife. I do like the weight of the M3 and the sharpened bayonet swedge makes for a good thruster.

However, they are not really that robust. Like the typical Kabar, the tangs are dead soft and the traditional stacked leather adds very little rigidity as lateral stress on the tang just pulls the stacked washers apart. It will easily bend at the handle, but in 1940s combat I think I would rather want something bends rather than breaks. A similar knife sporting a solid polymer handle would be more robust, but then is it still an M3?

In short, the Ontario one is a good knife for what you might expect it to do the the WWII theater. It's sharp. It's pointy. It doesn't weigh a ton. It's not good for prying open crates but it would stab into a ration can as easily as it would a Nazi.

As a piece of historical memorabilia, it's fun to have.
Click to expand...
I hear they're good to stab into Capitalists and communists as well.
 
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