Buck Knives Enters Uncharted Territory With This Stunning New MagnaCut Knife

Introduced this week at SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the Range Series boasts the brand’s first-ever use of a crossbar lock.

Published January 22, 2025

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Knife nerds know the biggest cutlery convention is BLADE Show, held every summer in Atlanta.

That being said, we often get our first glimpse of compelling new knives at an event where they are technically second fiddle: the firearm-focused SHOT Show.

buck knives range series hero — The 791 on the blade indicates this is a full-sized Range Series knife. The aluminum handle indicates it belongs to the higher-end Elite trim level, which also features MagnaCut steel.

Taking place this week in Las Vegas, it is, ahem, loaded with shiny new product releases, including a bold upcoming line from one of America’s most respected knife brands.

Specifically, Buck Knives just announced its Range Series, featuring the first-ever blades from the brand to incorporate a crossbar lock.

Crossing over

For the uninitiated, a crossbar lock is a relatively modern, exceptionally reliable and super handy mechanism. To use it, you pull back on round tabs — between which sits a tensioned metal bar — near the pivot.

Doing so while simultaneously flicking the wrist releases the blade and, once fully deployed, you can let go of those tabs to hold it in place.

Editor’s note: Knives incorporating crossbar locks typically also have thumb studs either side of the blade, providing an additional deployment method that some might say is the more “proper” one.

Pull the tabs again and, relying either on gravity or another flick of the wrist, you can bring the blade back into the handle.

buck knives range series green handle — Here you can clearly see the round tab next to the pivot that you pull back on to release the crossbar lock.

You can tell Buck Knives is taking this release seriously for a couple reasons. First off, it’s the headline product at the brand’s SHOT Show booth. Second, it’s going to be available in variety of treatments and trim levels.

The higher trim level, called Elite, features anodized aluminum handles and blades made of MagnaCut, a super steel prized for its combination of toughness, corrosion resistance, edge retention and ease of sharpening — and all the rage right now.

The more affordable trim level, dubbed Pro, features 154CM steel blades and glass-filled nylon handles.

Both trim levels offer three handle colors (black, gray and green) and two sizes (791 and 790 Mini). All the knives boast satin-finish drop-point blades with grip-improving jimping and ambidextrous thumb studs, plus reversible deep-carry pocket clips.

buck knives range series pro — The markings on this blade indicate its made of 154CM steel and has been heat treated using longtime Buck Knives employee Paul Bos’s legendary methods.

While we await more details about these knives, including pricing and release dates, we are pretty excited about what they promise.

Premium steel and a modern lock, together with classic looks, makes all the sense in the world for a 123-year-old brand that’s built on heritage but also unafraid of evolving.

After all, let’s not forget that midway through its history, Buck Knives introduced a then-revolutionary blade-securing innovation: the lockback mechanism.