A.G. Russell Knives

A uniquely American development, push daggers first appeared on the early riverboats and in the gold fields of California and Nevada. The period right after the Civil War saw new development in cartridge pistols making them more reliable and much less likely to misfire, which seems to have contributed to the decline in popularity of this type of knife.

We have been working on this new Sting™ for two plus years, intending to do the one-piece forgings in Germany and the grinding and finishing in the United States. After almost two years without a finished sample, we recovered our deposit for the forging dies and cancelled the project. At that point, the project was moved to Taiwan where the knives are forged from a single piece of honest to goodness 440C, a better steel than that in the old German-made knives.

This version of my favorite bowie pattern has an 8-1/4" blade of nearly 1/4" thick AUS-10 at 59-61 Rc. The polished stainless steel double guard is precisely fitted to the tang.

Push Daggers appear to be a uniquely American development, first appearing on the early riverboats and in the gold fields of California and Nevada. Gamblers favored them because they could be as swift across a poker or faro table as a percussion pistol without the possibility of a mis-fire.

I have been drawing pictures of knives for all of seventy years, but it was not until the late 1960s when Robert W. (Bob) Loveless, the World's premier designer of hunting and combat knives, taught me how he developed a knife design that I began to design instead of just drawing pictures.

We have re-designed the Hunter Scalpel making it a miniature of the full sized Deer Hunter, which has a 4" blade. The same Thumbolt® sheath design patented by Blackie Collins and assigned to A. G. Russell™ Knives is used by both these knives as well as the A. G. Russell™ Bird & Trout.

For some time, I have felt the need for a simple hunting knife made of a high quality blade steel but at a price that is affordable to most. We have been working on the design and production of this model for well over a year.

The Deer Hunter and the Bird & Trout were an entirely new concept including blade, handle and sheath. The blades are just thick enough to be stiff rather than flexible and are ground very thin all the way to the edge, creating a marvelous cutting tool.

In the hands of an expert, a great knife for dressing deer. Sized for small game, it is the perfect for everyday wear. Measures 6-3/4" tip to butt with 3" drop point blade of .060 thick D2 at 60-62 Rc. or AUS-8 at 57-59 Rc. Black fiberglass reinforced nylon sheath and handle. Weighs 1.9 oz. Made in Japan.

I designed this little knife in the late 70's. It was intended to be a light weight knife for the casual hunter, out for a morning walk in the woods.

A.G. Russell™ Knives is honored with the opportunity to reproduce images from John Banovich’s paintings on knives produced in the A.G. Russell shop. The first image we have chosen is The Defensive Line, a narrow horizontal painting of five Cape Buffalo that is a natural for a large knife blade.