Well, I haven't seen any traffic here on this thread, so I thought I would post some pics of a RR I got a while back. My luck is still running strong with these knives and I continue to get really nice pieces of cutlery from them. About the only traditional pattern I don't have and haven't used was a full sized congress. So what knife would be better to try this pattern out than an RR?
On to the pics:
An in hand shot. I have XL sized paws, and this knife fills them up. The checkering arrived razor sharp and perfect. Too sharp; I carefully sanded the edges of the scales where they were attached to the liners as well as the actual checkering to knock off the points. I was was worried that the little rifle emblem would ride high or stick up and get knocked off, but not so. It is mortised into the scales deeply and there is no chance of the shield getting knocked out.
Here it is open, two pen/spear blades and two sheepfoot blades. All the blades came pretty sharp, but are now very sharp with just a bit of effort. The blades are surprising thin (reminiscent of the old CASE grinds) and this makes all of them really wicked slicers. This surprised me as on a knife that is a little over 4" long with flat ground blades I was expecting something more obtuse.
How could you not like that blade! Its a big sheepfoot, ready to work. And you can really bring some pressure to bear with the reverse swayback design!
This is a full knife case. Take a look at the crinking. No matter the camera distortion, the blades don't rub anywhere! I have noticed some small scuffs on the blades that are opposite the most used blades that have come from me opening and closing the knife.
I was really knocked over by this knife. Along the back spine between liners, springs and bolsters, there are NO gaps. Pulls run around a 6, with one blade being a bit tighter. All snap tightly with authority. Due to their cutting ability, I would give the blade designs, shapes, thickness and grinds a giant thumbs up. Seems a lot of thought went into the design and execution this knife, and it has booted my favorite Boker stockman out of the pocket for the time being. Thinking as I am typing, I am remembering all the posts I have read where simple two bladed knives have bad rubbing problems.
It is discontinued, but found on the 'bay for about $14 shipped. And it even comes in its own special tin box.
Got another smaller congress pattern coming and I will be interested to see how the two stack up. This particular knife I am really pleased with, so it will be fun to test out the other one when I get it to match the two up.
Robert
