Sidearms & Scatterguns Miller Bros blades

[ZLBubba]

I've been looking to a largish knife/machete and found the Miller Bros website (Miller Bros. Blades Tactical Knives and Swords Custom Made in stock and ready to use). Does anyone have experience with them? I'm specifically looking at their Kukri and few others of that ilk. I've been holding off on buying one since they're a bit spendy and reviews aren't that easy to come by. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[elephantrider]

I have no first hand experience with these, but I'll throw out my semi-qualified opinion anyway.

Overall these seem a bit overpriced for what they are. All of the knives are made with 5/16" 5160, which is about as inexpensive as knife steel gets. There is probably no more than $50 in materials, even in their largest pieces. You are basically paying for their time in making them, and they state as much on the front page of thier site. 5160 is a totally appropriate material to keep the cost down on the large machette and sword type pieces (and for it's spring steel properties), but a bit out of place for the smaller stuff. I would prefer a modern stainless knife steel for a small to medium piece. A modern high perfomance stainless would likely out- perform the 5160 and justify their price tags. For the amount of money they want, I would go with a semi-custom maker using a higher performance steel.

Same goes for the thicker 5/16" thickness, which just makes a small knife heavier than it needs to be, and a heavy piece even heavier. That weight is great when trying to chop through things, but sucks when lugging the knife around.

Their craftsmanship seems fine for a utility knife, but the most important factor for a 5160 knife will be the heat treatment, which you can only evaluate by using the knife. Again, overall their prices seem a bit high for the materials they are using and a knife shop that looks like it popped up last year.

 

[Shoottothrill]

I am no knife pro by any means, but after watching what these knives are capable of, I am impressed. I don't believe that there could be a tougher knife made by any means. Know I don't know if these knives are as sharp as some because of the 5/16" steel they are made of, but the seem to shave paper after being pounded through logs, and pieces of steel. They do seem a little pricey, but should last five lifetimes so??? I'm thinking about buying one.

 

[gac700]

I met the Miller brothers at the 2013 blade show in Atlanta about a month ago. I loved the m16 and m8. My friend bought the shortest m8. They are like becker's on steroids. We spoke to them for a long time. If I hadn't gone crazy at the CMP in Anniston I would have purchased the two knives mentioned above. It is hard to stand out at the blade show and the Miller's did. Buy their knife with confidence and chop the hell out of anything. I'd love to own a couple. I asked about the swords and they said they were more popular in Europe. The brothers were great to visit with.

 

[Unknown]

I have made knives using 5160, with good results. But I forged the knives, and did a differential heat treat to them. Both those processes improve the blade quite a bit. However, there is nothing wrong with bench ground 5160, it is good steel. Many makers also use 1095 as one of the cheaper steels that performs quite well.

 

[UNREAL HENRY]

Look into Scrap Yard Knives. Wow I give good advice.

Basic current production steel is a very refined product and all steels are forged and normalized in the mill. Better so than you could do by hitting it with hammer. Thats not an opinion.