Chinese AKC

[johns7076]

Just received this, paid very little. Seems like an ok knife. Will be good to keep in my desk drawer for a letter opener or as a give away. Anyone else bought one of these?

[dlr110]

I've got the same one and the only problem with mine is the blade doesn't always fully deploy. I could probably fixed it if I wanted to take the time.

[SwedgeHead]

Nice, classic black and shiny !
I've been meaning to post on one I recently picked up, thanks for the nudge.

It's sad, I picked up a Rosa Uliana Primo and a AGA Campolin recently, of the 3 this AKC really seems to be the better quality knife of the bunch. (the Primo I have to cut some slack being it's going on 60 yrs old, but its a bit of a rattler, the Campolin is just lacking quality control)
I suppose to round off the recent autos, there was also a Frank B which is a nice knife - pretty happy with that one.

Back to AKC, I picked this one as a triple threat, Snakewood, Damascus and a swinguard. Good action too, For the price its a cool-fun knife,

[Folgore1]

weird many years ago chinese knives were junk because of the metal they were using well around 10-15 years ago china exhausted all the metal out of their land so at that point they could not pull anymore metal out of their own earth/land so they started getting metal from Russia which is pretty good quality metal and alot better than the chinese were using years ago so now most the stuff you get out of china that is made from metal is actually pretty good quality due to metal they are now using. the knives they are making now days are very good quality Microtech is going to have their knives made there very soon if not already they made the statement last year on having all their knives made in china. the china made italian style stilettos ,swinguards and leverettos are of very good quality most ive seen are made with 440 blades which is better quality blade material (440) than the italian made knives (420) , weird i get 7" and 9" lever lock stiletto style knives (leveretto's) and they sell out faster than the italian made ones customers just love them and the cheap price , also most the otf knives out there are made in china and are of very good quality hell microtech wouldnt have their knives made there if they didnt think they would be good quality and made to specs they want and out of any metal they want and best of all china has best customer service you message/email the italian makers and you may get a response or you may not most times no response sad but i really see china made stilettos swinguards leverlettos otfs etc will be the new norm hope thats not the case and italy steps up their game but only time will tell.

[Madmarco]

Just received this, paid very little. Seems like an ok knife. Will be good to keep in my desk drawer for a letter opener or as a give away. Anyone else bought one of these?
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I have the same 9"er with white covers John, and 3-13"er's with black covers, all were inexpensive and all make for great "click therapy" knives. Good letter openers too!
Made in China, but nothing wrong with their operation.

[Folgore1]

i myself did a little test so to speak on the china made stilettos swinguards and leverlettos and found them to be of very good quality , they are not made identical to italian made but very close , i have opened and closed these knives over 500 times with no problems at all seems the springs will last forever on the china models but only time will tell , you cannot go wrong with any of the china made stilettos swinguards leverlettos or OTF knives they make . from what im told the italians dont have any younger guys picking up the trade so this is why the quality really went down hill for italian knives you get alot of bananna blade gaps in liners blades that wont open all the way weak springs etc... the china models beat the italians on almost every level sad but true i hope someone in italy steps up and takes notice i would rather have a real italian than a knockoff but the knockoffs are proving to be better quality , put it this way i get italian knives returned to me all the time for all sorts of problems strange have not had 1 china made knife returned.

[No youre wrong]

All the Chinese copies of the Italian knives have really tainted the name of the originals. The stilettos and swing guards and Massaros and the leverlottoes; no one cares anymore about the originals and their collectibility because of the fakes.

Too bad the Italians aren’t stepping it up and making higher quality knives these days.

[johns7076]

Appreciate all the responses and input on the Chinese AKC.

[WackyAAPKMan]

I agree that Asian-made stilettos have kinda tainted the classic Italian brands, but mostly AKC. So much that I cannot buy an AKC even if advertised as the real Italian. There are even a couple knife sites out there listing AKCs that are clearly fakes. However I believe the other brands (AGA Campolin, Beltrame family, Massaro etc.) still retain their value, but with little documentation you have to know how to identify the real deal. Ho ho ho...

[Madmarco]

I have the latest Chinese AKC auto clone sitting in Customs cuz they seized it, and it cost me $37./shipped.
The same knives are currently being sold in AAPK stores for $80.-$90., but the sellers do state they are Chinese knives that bear an AKC tang stamp.
I don't know all the pattern names, but this knife looks similar to a clasp knife with top bolsters displaying solid swinguards with the top-rear bolster "ear" being the automatic floating blade release. From what I could make out from the pictures they appear to be solid knives of a classic Italian design.
It boils down once again to this, personally I don't object to copying a knife's design since that's actually a compliment to the maker, but when they start stealing logos stamps and boxes and claiming they're original, that's where I draw the line.
The Chinese builders have recognized the knife industry is booming and they want their share of the market, so it really won't surprise me to see some high quality pieces come out of their factories in the near future. JMHO!

[Folgore1]

yes i agree the china stilettos swinguards and leverlettos are pretty good quality but they are not italian lol just dont have that same feel you know . i also agree not right of china to use anyone else logo or stamp just is not right man but you can get them with no logo so whoever is ordering them is ordering them with the AKC logo but if you do a little research you will find out AKC only made stilettos many years ago i use to get 13 inchers all the time from Angelo i still have few in my collection so unless your getting a old one from 15 years ago all the new ones are china made and not real italian AKC also there is a difference in the stamps the china one is a little different than the real italian one .

[SwedgeHead]

Is this really the case, ? I assumed AKC made choices to have partial production done in china, making them AKC brand but chineses made, which differs a lot from a chineses knock off. Doesn't change the end game, still a chineses knife of descent-good quality. Curious what y'all have to say.

[No youre wrong]

Is this really the case, ? I assumed AKC made choices to have partial production done in china, making them AKC brand but chineses made, which differs a lot from a chineses knock off. Doesn't change the end game, still a chineses knife of descent-good quality. Curious what y'all have to say.

Yes I believe there is truth to that where it was cheaper for the real AKC company to have bolsters made in China than having them made in Italy. So things like the stilettos parts and levalottoes had half Chinese made parts and this was before the Chinese started making knock offs. I think there are threads on other forums about it.

[WackyAAPKMan]

I really don't know what is going on with AKC's production, their product lines or anything else. I understood they are a subsidiary of A.G.A. Campolin but cannot find any AKCs featured on their site. As far as I know, there is no separate AKC factory site either. I was told that some of their newer lines like the EVO X-Treme and F-20 OTFs are not Italian but Asian produced. If anyone can shed some light as to the origins of the current AKC product line-up, it would be appreciated.

[Madmarco]

To the best of my understanding, Wacky, one of the Campolin clan, one of the sons I believe, owned the company and it stands for "Automatic Knife Company", but that's all I got.

[jw517]

I agree about China getting better. I just bought a 11 in. Batwing because I saw a YouTube video about it. They look tight and the price,well giddy up! It seems China will bend over backwards these days to make you happy with your purchase too. Just saying.

[jw517]

A couple years ago I needed broadheads and on eBay they had “Rage” heads REALLY cheap. I then noticed they shipped from China. I bought a few and they sent free samples of other heads with the Six I bought. I could not see any difference between the true Rage from Duluth Mn.and the China heads besides the blades were not surgically sharp. I messaged Rage in Duluth and asked them if theirs were made there too. (They got a bit angry) ..I still wonder if china isn’t making them for Rage. They even came in a Rage package!

[jw517]

There I one thing the Chinese can’t duplicate. Pecorino Romano!

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[Madmarco]

!
Ya got em', jw!