I bought the Kalashnikov 47 as an experiment knife, to see how it was (as a knife) and how easily it could be converted to an automatic. This was to be my "oh yeah?" for the people who say you can't have an imported switchblade. I'm not trying to be political, but I'm simply stating my intentions that I purchased this knife wholly to make it an auto. First I'll review the knife as it comes as normal, then I'll touch upon the process of turning it into an auto and the results. Cost was $35. The exact model number is ALS74, and here's what it looks like...
The Handle: The Kalashnikov 47 (to be referred to in this review as just "the 47") has black aluminum handles, and is 4-1/4" closed. It's a bit thicker than most of my normal knives at just a hair over 1/2" thick (not counting the pocket clip). The handle is nicely textured with a cobblestone pattern between three horizontal lines. The lines come out a bit farther than the cobblestone pattern to create finger grooves (see the photo). The texturing isn't grippy at all, but that's fixed somewhat by the horizontal lines and the finger grooves. There is jimping on the butt of the handle and at the normal thumb ramp area, and it's semi-functional. By that, I mean it's not as aggressive as I'd like, but it's not super slippery either.
Construction is simple; six (three on each handle slab) T-6 screws and the blade pivot screw (a size T-8). The 47 is a pillar-constructed knife, so there is no backspacer; the three handle screws go into steel spacers.
The pocket clip is removable, but not change-able; it's right-hand tip-up only. It's held in place with the bottom handle screw, and is almost identical to the SOG deep pocket clip. It's matte stainless steel and retention is good, but not great. Mine wiggles from side to side by a tiny fraction, but it's negligible.
How's the 47 lock open? Well, it's a button lock. The button is on the left handle scale (for right-hand use) and is stainless steel. No fancy knurling or texturing, just a smooth button. The button also locks the knife closed. Holding the button down and flicking your wrist will bring the blade out fast. There is also a safety switch, made of black plastic, on the back of the handle. Toggle it towards the blade and the button won't move; toggle it towards the butt and the button can be released. This safety also functions when the knife is open as a double lock; toggle it on and you'll have to toggle it off and then push the button to close the knife. Oh yeah; there's a lanyard hole in the butt too.
The Blade: The 47 has a smoothly bead-blasted blade made of AUS-8. It's a clip point, and rather than a traditional clip point, it clips to a spear at the end (again, see the photo). The blade is marked with lasering as follows...
left side: AUTOMAT KALASHNIKOV 74 above the Boker Plus logo on the blade portion; right side: AUS-8 above STAINLESS TAIWAN on the tang. The blade is either flat ground or very shallow hollow ground, I'm not sure. It came out of the box shaving sharp, whichever grind it has. It's 3-1/2" long with a 3-1/8" cutting edge, and is 1/8" thick. The spine has a small amount of jimping which runs into the jimping on the handle, and it's all the same pattern. It's okay, but not great. The blade cuts amazingly well, and holds an edge for a respectable amount of time. There's no blade play, which (for me) is rare in a button lock. It's a nice shape and really surprised me at the utility it's capable of (not just a de-animate the super tango ninja knife).
The Conversion: The spring I used is a standard 1/2" right-hand coil spring. The knife came apart easy enough with just my Torx drivers, but installing the spring was a pain. First, the right-hand handle scale wasn't milled out for a spring to be inserted in there. I remember up until about a year ago, they were. So it seems Boker has filled this space, preventing a spring from being installed. Luckily, there's a milling machine at work. Problem solved. The blade still had the circular cut-out and hole for the spring, so I didn't have to mess with it at all. Installation was a simple drop-in and hold, but the button kept popping up. It took me about four tries, but I got it together and screwed shut. Total time, including disassembly, milling, and reassembly: fifteen minutes.
So, how does it work with the coil spring installed? Like a factory auto. It still locks open tight, and the button still functions as normal in terms of unlocking the open blade. The safety is unaffected. When the blade is closed and the safety off, a push of the button shoots the blade open. Heh, that's what I did this for! The problem with a lot of lower-cost autos is that when the blade flings open, it hits the stop pin with such force that it rebounds before the lock can actuate, thus leaving the blade in an unlocked state. The 47 doesn't do this; lock-up is tight and positive. If you've got fifteen minutes, a milling machine, and $1.75 for the coil spring, give it a shot. Another good part is that this doesn't permanently alter your knife; if you decide you don't want it to be an automatic any more, all you have to do is take the spring out and it will still function as it did before the installation.
So, the Kalashnikov 47 by Boker is a great cutting tool, with or without the spring. It's relative low cost and great workmanship make it a top deal in the mid to large-sized folder class. I'd change the pocket clip to make it tighter and move-able, but it's not that big of a deal. Check the 47 out if you can.
The Handle: The Kalashnikov 47 (to be referred to in this review as just "the 47") has black aluminum handles, and is 4-1/4" closed. It's a bit thicker than most of my normal knives at just a hair over 1/2" thick (not counting the pocket clip). The handle is nicely textured with a cobblestone pattern between three horizontal lines. The lines come out a bit farther than the cobblestone pattern to create finger grooves (see the photo). The texturing isn't grippy at all, but that's fixed somewhat by the horizontal lines and the finger grooves. There is jimping on the butt of the handle and at the normal thumb ramp area, and it's semi-functional. By that, I mean it's not as aggressive as I'd like, but it's not super slippery either.
Construction is simple; six (three on each handle slab) T-6 screws and the blade pivot screw (a size T-8). The 47 is a pillar-constructed knife, so there is no backspacer; the three handle screws go into steel spacers.
The pocket clip is removable, but not change-able; it's right-hand tip-up only. It's held in place with the bottom handle screw, and is almost identical to the SOG deep pocket clip. It's matte stainless steel and retention is good, but not great. Mine wiggles from side to side by a tiny fraction, but it's negligible.
How's the 47 lock open? Well, it's a button lock. The button is on the left handle scale (for right-hand use) and is stainless steel. No fancy knurling or texturing, just a smooth button. The button also locks the knife closed. Holding the button down and flicking your wrist will bring the blade out fast. There is also a safety switch, made of black plastic, on the back of the handle. Toggle it towards the blade and the button won't move; toggle it towards the butt and the button can be released. This safety also functions when the knife is open as a double lock; toggle it on and you'll have to toggle it off and then push the button to close the knife. Oh yeah; there's a lanyard hole in the butt too.
The Blade: The 47 has a smoothly bead-blasted blade made of AUS-8. It's a clip point, and rather than a traditional clip point, it clips to a spear at the end (again, see the photo). The blade is marked with lasering as follows...
left side: AUTOMAT KALASHNIKOV 74 above the Boker Plus logo on the blade portion; right side: AUS-8 above STAINLESS TAIWAN on the tang. The blade is either flat ground or very shallow hollow ground, I'm not sure. It came out of the box shaving sharp, whichever grind it has. It's 3-1/2" long with a 3-1/8" cutting edge, and is 1/8" thick. The spine has a small amount of jimping which runs into the jimping on the handle, and it's all the same pattern. It's okay, but not great. The blade cuts amazingly well, and holds an edge for a respectable amount of time. There's no blade play, which (for me) is rare in a button lock. It's a nice shape and really surprised me at the utility it's capable of (not just a de-animate the super tango ninja knife).
The Conversion: The spring I used is a standard 1/2" right-hand coil spring. The knife came apart easy enough with just my Torx drivers, but installing the spring was a pain. First, the right-hand handle scale wasn't milled out for a spring to be inserted in there. I remember up until about a year ago, they were. So it seems Boker has filled this space, preventing a spring from being installed. Luckily, there's a milling machine at work. Problem solved. The blade still had the circular cut-out and hole for the spring, so I didn't have to mess with it at all. Installation was a simple drop-in and hold, but the button kept popping up. It took me about four tries, but I got it together and screwed shut. Total time, including disassembly, milling, and reassembly: fifteen minutes.
So, how does it work with the coil spring installed? Like a factory auto. It still locks open tight, and the button still functions as normal in terms of unlocking the open blade. The safety is unaffected. When the blade is closed and the safety off, a push of the button shoots the blade open. Heh, that's what I did this for! The problem with a lot of lower-cost autos is that when the blade flings open, it hits the stop pin with such force that it rebounds before the lock can actuate, thus leaving the blade in an unlocked state. The 47 doesn't do this; lock-up is tight and positive. If you've got fifteen minutes, a milling machine, and $1.75 for the coil spring, give it a shot. Another good part is that this doesn't permanently alter your knife; if you decide you don't want it to be an automatic any more, all you have to do is take the spring out and it will still function as it did before the installation.
So, the Kalashnikov 47 by Boker is a great cutting tool, with or without the spring. It's relative low cost and great workmanship make it a top deal in the mid to large-sized folder class. I'd change the pocket clip to make it tighter and move-able, but it's not that big of a deal. Check the 47 out if you can.
