Mean Street question

Never seen one of those! Sorry bro, don’t know but grats. She is certainly old school.
 
Pretty Sure those were INFI...
 
Slotted bolts --> solid bolts --> tube fasteners, IIRC
(ETA- I'm twisted a bit- reminded that in the timeline, it's: Solid bolts--> Slotted bolts--> Tube fasteners
My bad! :oops::))
I'd also guess A2.
Nice MS! :thumbsup:
 
Last edited:
I have a couple of those still. They are A2 and those smooth handles melt into your hand perfectly.
Congratulations.
 
Yes. I have one. It's A2. Awesome score!
LNNUOF5.jpg
 
JohnTheTexican said:
I recently bought a slotted bolt Straight Handle Mean Street on ebay and an wondering what it's made of. Seems like some sort of steel. Anybody know what kind?

There are pics on the now closed ebay listing.
Click to expand...
That is a fake! :eek: Send it to me and I will give you enough money for shipping and a six pack of beer. ;)

Seriously, those are one of my favorites. :cool: I think it could be either INFI or A2. It's in really nice shape; congratulations! :thumbsup:

Edit: I'm pretty sure that MS was around the same time as the SHSHII & SHBA (both with slotted bolts), and some of those were A2 & some INFI. I think the solid bolts were first (like in a BBSHSHII), then slotted, and finally tubes.
 
Last edited:
gk4ever2 said:
Edit: I'm pretty sure that MS was around the same time as the SHSHII & SHBA (both with slotted bolts), and some of those were A2 & some INFI. I think the solid bolts were first (like in a BBSHSHII), then slotted, and finally tubes.
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that. The first knives I ordered from Busse were a SHBM, SHSH II, and a SHBA, and they all have slotted bolts. At the time I placed the order, only the SHBM was advertised as INFI, but I'm pretty sure that by the time mine were delivered a long "two weeks" later, they'd switched over to INFI for everything.
 

Ikedoc said:
I suspect that one or maybe both of these knives are infi and will post the results as soon as I get a chance to do the gun blue marker test on the leading edge. Probably needless to say, but I confess my piglet / greenie knowledge on these Busse knives. The reason for no pics on the Mean Street knife is that I thought the Badger Attack was a Badger Attack Mean Streets. Why? when I got the knives home and inspected them, I found a hand written piece of paper under the velcro flap of the Eagle sheath on the Badger Attack. The paper reads,,Busse Mean Streets. I have since revisited my source and have purchased the Mean Street. The mean Street is of the same era with the smooth slotted bolts, is a fatty and from my gun blue marker test, confirms to be infi. I will post some pics of the Mean Street when I get a chance to snap some and will also post more info on the pair I orginally posted here. Thanks to all you guys here for helping me to touch the tip of the iceburg here in educating myself on these Great Busse Knives! Regards, Dennis / ikedoc
Click to expand...

Jaxx said:
Found this old post from Solstice, JTT :)

View attachment 1285884
Click to expand...

That was a very informative thread. There was also this from Cobalt, which leads me to believe that some of the slotted bolt variety were INFI:​

Cobalt said:
you still have not said if it is smooth bolt, slotted screw or hollow rivet? Smooth bolt most definitely A2, Slotted bolt most likely A2, hollow rivet=INFI
Click to expand...

And this from papathud that confirmed it:

papathud said:
Prolly A2

For the Record how ever, INFI Mean Streets were first available Special order from at least the first week of 1999, the very first Busse knife made with the Hole type handle fasteners was sold at the Y2K preparedness show in Las Vegas 1999(That's where my older son purchased it, a Badger Attack)

I became a dealer for Busse knives early in 2000, all of the first few orders of Mean Streets were INFI and had Slotted Handle type fasteners, so the knives do exist in that particular configuration.
Click to expand...
​

And also this:

randucci said:
If it has a blued back spine it will be A2.
Click to expand...

Mine has a half blued back spine -- blued over the handle, not blued on the half over the blade. It must be a transitional model -- A2 under the handle with an INFI blade. ;););)


ETA - Just looked at the knife again, and I had it backwards. It must be INFI under the handle and an A2 blade.

And not really blued at all, but a more paint-like black coating on the blade and pommel, but not on the spine on either side of the handle.​
 
Last edited:
Considering that I received a hollow tube mean street from Busse as part of a larger order in early 1999, there is little to know chance that any slot bolt meaner is anything but A2. I would not use coating as a date. I have had both INFI and A2 coated and uncoated on the spine, so it is not a sure way to tell.
 
My understanding over the years of the "is it A2 or INFI" question was pretty much this: solid bolts have A2, slotted bolt models could either be INFI or A2, and rivet models have INFI. Other than sending it to the factory to have it tested, I recommend looking at the flat surfaces on both sides in front of and at the rear of the micarta (not where the blade is ground), checking for dimples. Even with the smooth coating, you will likely see at least some dimples if it is INFI – I say this based on my own experience, and I believe others have also found this to be true.

I checked three smooth-coated Mean Streets with rivets – you can easily see dimples in the coating on 2 of them, with the third still showing dimples but not quite as evident. On one slotted bolt MS, the dimples are there, but again not as evident. On a fatty MS with solid bolts, and the top & bottom of the uncoated part of the handle is blued (so most certainly A2), the flat surfaces are perfectly smooth – no dimples at all. Now here is the surprise: on another solid bolt MS, there are significant dimples on the flats (but no bluing on the uncoated steel) – I have not had it tested, but I'm guessing it is INFI based on the heavy dimpling, and the distinct difference in appearance of the flat surfaces between it and the A2 fatty MS.

In conclusion, as far as the rules of thumb go (think of them as general guidelines, not 100% one way or the other), I think for the most part solid bolt models have A2, slotted bolts could be A2 or INFI, and rivet models most likely INFI (unless an old A2 model had the grips replaced and rivets were installed). I think Jerry likes to keep us guessing! ;):D
 
The larger knives were given priority. So for example, every single slotted bolt SHBM was INFI. There is no doubt of that. Not every single SHSHII was, however. With the SHSHII's, the type of handle shape will tell you which is likely A2. Not so with the SHBM. The SHBA's got less INFI and most slot bolt SHBA's were likely A2, and maybe a few INFI got through as A2, who knows. The SHMS with slot bolts, INFI was not a priority. Chances are most if not all were A2 and certainly sold as such.

So now lets talk DIMPLES. The big misconception is that dimples meant INFI. Dimples meant the process, which could have been used on INFI or A2 at the time. I have blades of that time that I know where A2 and had dimples. So I would not use dimples as a pure check as to whether it is INFI or not. . It is a sign of the processing of the time. My SHSHII made of A2 had dimples, yet none of the older A2 blades did. What changed? Processing. A2 remained the same. Newer A2 had dimples and older did not.
 
JohnTheTexican said:
In one of the old posts I read, someone mentioned using a little gun blue as a test. Any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...

Maybe. No one has done any comparative testing of known steels to see what happens. There is bluing that works on INFI, as some here have done it.
 
Congrats my friend those may be some of my favorite Busse’s the means streets, especially the straight handled ones.
Funny I have just been playing with mine.
A old school (20 years or better) Busse user just contacted me about a “off the books” model called the “New York Special”
I had never heard of that one, I thought maybe he was talking about the stealth hawk ?
I had him send me pics and to me along with a physical description, to me it looks just like my A2 slotted bolt smooth coat mean streets.
So I am making me a new sheath and maybe him too.

anyhow cool knife.

maybe Jerry can weigh in on the whole “New York Special “ thing ?
 
One of my biggest regrets is having to sell off that Mean Street, it was truly an awesome once in a lifetime knife. I often wonder where that one is now, it was special.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top