Knife Review: Lionsteel M4

S

Subwoofer_CPF

Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
224
This thread is a new approach for me regarding sharing my reviews. Forums are where I came from, and the discussion on forums is something I hope to be involved in and inspire. It has become too much work to convert the reviews published on my website into forum versions, so I need to try something else to stay in touch with the forums.

I am only including a headline introduction and link to the review - please return to this forum to discuss the review or ask questions.

To the Moderators, there is a reciprocal link at the end of every review on Tactical Reviews. If you have any concerns over this approach please let me know.

Knife Review: Lionsteel M4







If the Lionsteel M4 is not on your list of candidates for a utility / bushcraft / general purpose fixed blade knife, it should be. It is not a new model at the time of this review, now entering its third year of production, and the Mik Molletta designed M4 from Lionsteel seemingly finds that […]
 
Last edited:
ya know.....it's really kind of a plain knife, but my eyes just gravitate to it. And I look it all over and all the little details. And with that steel?! Yeah, I kinda need it..cant afford it but,dang...
 
I have one, also in olive wood. I like it very much but sadly haven’t had the opportunity to use it as much as I intended.

My sample and several others (from pics and older discussions) have less than stellar scale to tang fitting.

What’s yours like?
 
Very nice but I prefer the M3 (I love FFG), also in olive wood. :cool: As for scale to tang fit, I just thought it was the enormous humidity difference since I live in Las Vegas. ?? In fact, just yesterday I happened to give the scales a nice helping of Old English furniture oil. ;)
 
Last edited:
4mer_FMF said:
I have one, also in olive wood. I like it very much but sadly haven’t had the opportunity to use it as much as I intended.

My sample and several others (from pics and older discussions) have less than stellar scale to tang fitting.

What’s yours like?
Click to expand...

Can you link a relevant thread/post to show the problem. This does surprise me, as Lionsteel have been winning manufacturing quality awards.
 
New Lionsteel knife: M4

A few folks posted about it in the thread above, myself included, but you have to sift through lots of posts. I saw it talked about other places too; I cant remember if it was on Bladeforums, YouTube, Reddit, or elsewhere. I researched everything I could find before purchasing mine a few years back. I’ve always been curious about how prevalent the issue is, so I usually ask when the M4 comes up.

Here’s an old pic of mine:

3e6f9eec143a2c86a6217cfb5a262cfe.jpg


I think the scale would be pretty easy to lap down; I haven’t done that for fear that the wood might swell and crack at some point (olive wood is pretty tough, but I don’t think it’s been stabilized).

I don’t wish to derail the thread, but this is my second Lionsteel. The M4 is a fine knife and I’d recommend it for it’s price, in spite of my scale fit issue. My first Lionsteel was a cocobolo Mini...it’s fit and finish was significantly below expectation. Two samples is not a lot, but I can’t independently validate the manufacturing quality award.

How’s the scale fit on yours? Any gaps?
 
Last edited:
No gaps.

Have you taken the scales off to have a look underneath them? I wonder if the underside is not actually flat, or if they have warped on yours.
 
Last edited:
Subwoofer_CPF said:
No gaps.

Have you take the scales off to have a look underneath them? I wonder if the underside is not actually flat, or if they have warped on yours.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I took the scales off out of curiosity. Tang seems good. Scale undersurface just isn’t quite flat.
Here’s someone else’s photo from the link I shared above.

0_43633d_aa1a4393_XL.jpg
 
I was thinking more along the lines that the milling of the underside was imperfect. That photo with a receipt slipped under the edge is not really an answer for that, they would need to be taken off to see what they look like.

Being non-stabilised wood (on my example it looks like it has a wax finish applied after fitting), I would expect there could be some movement and accept that for having natural handle materials. With only two bolts holding them in place and no glue, I would expect movement.

Do you know if any of the reports are for G10 or only the wood handles? Clearly I would expect G10 to be very stable and the fit to be tighter than wood grips.
 
In my post (#5) I was referring to the tang being slightly proud of the scales; I have zero separation from the tang. :thumbsup:
 
I like the look of the M4 but I have several knives in that range I haven't pulled the trigger yet ... but I have only heard good things about them.

I do like the wood options.
 
katanas said:
In my post (#5) I was referring to the tang being slightly proud of the scales; I have zero separation from the tang. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

The tang is slightly proud of the scales by design. The 'shadow line' is a feature of knives that are assembled without grinding the handle and tang to created a seamless join, and allows for manufacturing tolerances.
 
Top quality all the way. A bargain for what you get. M390 is my go to metal from here on out. It came razor sharp and remains that way. I am still trying to get used to sharpening M390, but awesome material. Go to YouTube to see reviews of this knife, I can't do it justice here.
 
I have one with G10. Love the G10. Nice knife, great size. The only things I might add is that the handle could really use about 1/4" more in length, it is small. And finger guard on the blade, in my opinion should have been just a bit more generous. But a nice knife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top