Russian Made Switchblade?

[Lohan2b]

Hello to all-

I am a new member of the forum, and am seeking information on a switchblade knife I have had for many years. When I bought it I was told it was a Russian gulag made knife; with some parts from an AK-47. A few years later, someone told me it is quite valuable. I don't know how much of this is true, if any; so I am asking for knowledgeable people to let me know what it is. Thanks in advance for any help.
Mark

[Ben Ogle]

Hi there! Welcome to AAPK! I don’t have any knowledge to share on this knife, but someone here will. I’m looking forward to seeing the answers

[samb1955]

I've owned quite a few ak's and I don't see anything on the knife that looks like it came off an ak.

[1967redrider]

In the open position, the knife kind of looks like a gunstock to me. I have no clue that it is made from AK parts but it is pretty cool. And to AAPK.

[TPK]

Hello Mark,

I can't answer your questions but Welcome to the forum!

[Ben Ogle]

I am not an expert on this knife by any means, but I have tried to do a little research. With just a few internet searches I found a couple that were very similar. Almost identical. It was said they were made in the 60s. And the ones I seen for sale were quite valuable. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on these will see this post and give more answers:D

[Madmarco]

Hey Mark! to AAPK! I don't know for sure about this but, to a Russian prison-made auto collector, your knife might be valuable. To an auto collector such as myself the knife holds little appeal, and I only say this because I have seen many others that I find much more appealing. I have a seller from the Ukraine that sends me regular emails with video attachments of Russian prison - made autos, and the nicest I've seen so far was US$200. shipped, and please don't take offence to this but, I'm sure that if you saw these you'd agree they outshine the model you have. Your knife appears to be well built, and since you've owned it for so long I'm sure it holds certain value to you, but these knives are not as rare as people think, so don't expect to get rich selling it, unless the right buyer comes along, and even then it's only so valuable. As far as containing parts from an Ak-47, who knows, maybe so, maybe no, only the builder would know for sure. If I owned the knife I'd simply keep it for it's historical value and "cool" factor! Be sure to stick around, you'll find a bunch of really great people, and some very knowledgeable collectors here! Mark!

[samb1955]

There is a guy that makes them that posts on talk blade.

[Lohan2b]

Thank you all for your welcome; and your responses thus far. After doing some research since the first post, there is a guy selling several of these that look virtually identical, for $2500 apiece (!). That seems totally absurd to me, but that's what he's asking.

I am not a collector, I just have a few knives. But I would think that a Cold War gulag 60 year old knife would have a different value than one that's new. [--Or not; what do I know... ]

There must be someone out there who specializes in these things that could give me more information. I'd appreciate it greatly if anyone knows someone. Thanks a lot.

I'm not selling it; so I have no particular interest in a specific value; but if it's a $100 knife, I'll throw it in the drawer. If it's way more expensive, then I'll have to find a more secure place.

Mark

[Gunsil]

I don't think they were made in the 1960s. A lot of them came on the market in the late 1980s, I got one at a gun show for $65 in the late 80s, it was very similar to the OP knife. I saw a lot of them for a few years, then only saw them seldomly. I also doubt they were made with any AK parts. Mine was stolen with some nicer German switches by burglars, have no idea what they sell for today. I also wonder about the "prison made" aspect, who allows prisoners to make and sell switchblades? Sounds like a marketing gimmick to me.

[Madmarco]

Gunsil! The "prison aspect" is 100% genuine. In Russian prisons the prisoners are encouraged to build knives. Seems odd I agree, but after doing some research I found articles that verified that this is/was the case. They would even sell them to the guards who in turn supplied the prisoner with some sort of prison "goody"(cigarettes, candy, etc.), and the guards would turn around and sell them to the public, and this was how they began migrating to the Americas, around the 1980's or so. If you want the source of my information PM me and I'll be happy to supply it!

[Madmarco]

This post is for ROB C. who sent me an email regarding where I got the information about Russian Prison Knives! Rob! I thought there would be a Private Message waiting for me when I next logged-in, and I was going to answer your question in a reply, so I deleted the email instead of replying to it, and there was no Private message waiting. If you would like to re-send the message I will be sure to reply directly to it. My apologies for this, I hadn't had my coffee yet! Mark!

[TazmanTom18]

JTK (Jeremy T Kreis) is the maker that does these. Jim Brown257 on this forum.

[Toejammer]

Just going to throw this out there and see if it sticks ...

Wouldn't the use of flat head (slotted) screws date this as at least pre 1970's ? I'm not quite sure when the industrial world moved to phillips head screws, but it might be a clue. Also, if someone is currently making these, they'd be going to a lot of trouble to source out period correct screws.

Just a goofy thought, carry on...

[1967redrider]

So do you press this to fire the knife? Any YouTube vids of it functioning?

[samb1955]

That's the release so yes

[Madmarco]

So do you press this to fire the knife? Any YouTube vids of it functioning?

Yes John, that's the firing button! Don't know about any vids though!

[Eustace]

About ten years ago, the Bulgarian military forum decided to order a forum knife. There were many suggestions, but the final decision was a copy of a Russian prison switchblade with clock spring, at the suggestion of the person who owned the original. The order was fulfilled by the company Manly, who signed a contract never to produce this model again.
Photos of the original and a link to the final product.
https://metalblade.eu/viewtopic.php?t=242&start=15

[Eustace]

In Russian, prison creativity is "зекпром" and switchblade is "выкидуха". If someone is interested, they can search with these words.
Link to a topic in a Russian forum:

https://rusknife.com/topic/472-%D0%B7%D ... %BE%D0%BC/

[Madmarco]

In Russian, prison creativity is "зекпром" and switchblade is "выкидуха". If someone is interested, they can search with these words.
Link to a topic in a Russian forum:

https://rusknife.com/topic/472-%D0%B7%D ... %BE%D0%BC/

Thank you Eustace, this is the best information so far!

[1967redrider]

Thanks for the info, Eustace.

[Eustace]

Honestly, I'm pretty skeptical about most of these knives. In this type of production, the originality of the product is determined only by the word of the seller.
Russia is a country like any other, no matter what you watch on TV. I don't believe prisons are any different. And I think the following. If I am a prison warden, will I allow so many knives to be made? First, risk being killed, and secondly, risking someone else to be killed and I may be responsible. It is much easier and safer to find someone outside the prison to make it and sell as "зекпром."

[Kramersknife]

Ive seen similar sell for a lot of money on proxibid somewhere in the 1000.00 above.I actually bid on a few thats how I know. I personally own approx 200-250 switchblades and yet to acquire a Russian prison made knife.The reason is Im a treasure hunter, and want to find that big dollar knife for a bargain. I don't pay retail what fun is that? I think this knife is pretty slick and the AK aspect is just due to the resemblance to AK rifles.they don't use any AK parts or anything related.There is two people on ebay selling and they can get you one like this for about 200-250$

[sasso1971]

https://youtu.be/8UTiyPNdsSw