Remington Bullet Knives (Reproductions)

[flatbedtruck]

I have collected the Remington Bullet Knives the Reproductions since they first came out in 1982. The early ones were all made by Camillus and then a few years ago they switched to Bear and Sons. Now for the last 3 years they are being made by Buck. The 2018 and 2019 by Buck were okay but high priced. Because I had all the other years I decided to go ahead and get the last 2 years to keep up with my collection. Today I just got a magazine from Smoky Mountain Knife Works with the 2020 Bullet knife on the front cover. They did this years Bullet knife in a stockman pattern with 2 different scales. They are asking $99.99 for the regular issue with the green scales and $249.99 for the Silver Bullet with the Ivory Paper Micarta scales. I thought these prices were crazy high so I went to Smoky's website and looked at the made in USA Buck stockman's with the exact same blade patterns and they are between $42.99 and $46.99. My collecting of these Bullet knives will end this year for sure unless these prices change and not to mention there was never an original Bullet knife made in a stockman pattern. Just wanted to throw this out there for your thoughts.

[pearlroosterman]

I saw those Bullets last week and felt the very same way. Crazy high prices..... I guess they feel those collectors like yourself that but them every year will pay up to keep the collection going.. Take care , John

[cody6268]

Yep, not interested in them at all at that price. You'd think in the least, at that price, they'd give us S30V for blade steel, or at least something other than cosmetic. Honestly, I think they might sell better at say $60 for the regular, and $90 for the SIlver Bullet. And even then, that's a tad expensive, but pricing more, or less, based on Case's Large Stockmen.

I'm more interested in the Camillus and Bear Remingtons. Relatively inexpensive, and a lot to choose from.

[kootenay joe]

If the pattern is not an exact copy of one of the original Remington Bullet knives, it is not a Bullet knife and does not belong in a collection of Remington Bullet repro knives because it is not a reproduction.
Don't buy one. Not because of the high price but because it is not a Bullet knife.
SMKW is targeting novice knife collectors who do not know what a "Bullet" knife is.
I too have collected the Bullet repros but i stopped after the 1999 R103 "Ranchhand".
kj

[Modern Slip Joints]

I have collected the Camillus bullet knives that I like which mostly are the larger ones. I walk on past more modern ones that I'm not sure who made. I do not buy the bullet designs that do not look useful for me just because they are Camillus bullet knives.

With my background on the table I'll comment on what's been said and ask a few questions. SMKW prices for the Bucks are absurd. So was selecting a three spring stockman to be a bullet knife. I'm curious what kootenay joe's reason was for stopping at 1999. Are the later patterns too large or does it have something to do with quality? I like the 2000 Navigator and other later knives.

One other thought. Thinking they were made by Camillus I bought a couple of "New Tang Stamp" Remington Bullet Knives with red Delrin sides and carbon steel blades. Now I'm unsure who made them. If my memory is any good the tang stamps include Madison NC. They do not have dates on them. It's not terribly important because they were inexpensive and carbon steel works well for my every day carry but who did make them? In the Camillus Remington Bullet series their patterns were the R1253 lock back Guide but with a flat ground blade and the 1998 R293 Hunter Trader Trapper.

[kootenay joe]

I stopped in 1999 because i realized the original Remington R103 did not have a bullet shield so it never was part of the original Bullet knives. However i am not a Remington collector so i could have been mistaken.
The Camillus knives with the odd pink hue were made by Camillus in U.S.A. The covers look cheaper but i think the rest of the knife is the same as 'always'.
kj

[Modern Slip Joints]

Thank-you for reassuring me that my red or pink Remington knives were made by Camillus. The original leaflets in their boxes write the steel is 170-6C hi-carbon steel. Z knives web site showed that is one of the names Camillus used for a 1095 alloy that they ordered in large enough quantity to get the composition tweaked to make their manufacturing process run smoother. When Camillus used the same 1095 making Cold Steel knives Cold Steel renamed it Carbon V. For those of us who's back yard jobs can be handled by good old carbon steel an affordable old Camillus or Remington/Camillus gives us the same steel used in knives that gun stores sell for over $100. It's all in the marketing. The carbon steel is one thing that makes my red/pink Remingtons truer to the originals than a Camillus/Remington Bullet Knife. One of these days I'll buy a couple of shorter pinkies.

[Lingine]

You sure you are not mixing up who was the Distributor of the Bullet knives versus the actual manufacture??

[Lingine]

Great Eastern Cutlery states they were the manufacture for a distributor and so does Blue Ridge Cutlery for one of the years?

[Lingine]

I also have been collecting them only since 1982 and now I find that the years 2020 and 2021 they were manufactured by Great Easteern Cutlery and Blue Ridge Cutlery, and in my phone conversation with both lady's the first responders to the phone, they state they did manufacture them for a distributor, but they would not devulge the distributor.......I don't understand all the colvert policies going on with these knives. I never found it hard to find any of the Remingtion Bullet knives before and why now??

[Mumbleypeg]

Because the distributor only ordered a limited number of them and collectors have bought them up fairly quickly. In the past when others were making them them they made much larger quantities.

Ken