Day: October 24, 2026

Buck Fever

By Joe Berk

Among the many character flaws emerging in my senior years, Buck fever takes the pole position.  I blame a lot of it on the people I hang around with (I’ve always been easily led).  You guys know who you are.

Buck fever in my case refers to Buck knives, a brand I find particularly appealing.  Buck is an old company with a fascinating history, and like many manufacturers that started here in California, they left our nutty politics and high costs long ago for saner environs (in Buck’s case, the free state of Idaho).  I own several Bucks (of both the folding and fixed variety).  I’m on their mailing list, too, which means I hear from Buck Knives more than I hear from many of my relatives and friends.  That’s a good thing.  I enjoy Buck’s emails.

This month’s limited edition Buck of the Month. For $225, if you’re quick, one of these can be yours.

Buck has their standard knife line, they do limited runs based on their standard line, they’ll build a custom knife for you, and every month, they do a “Buck of the Month” knife.  This month, it’s a custom Buck 120 (one of their largest Bowies) with a black Cerakote blade and a black laminated handle.  By itself, the knife is not that appealing to me, but after I first saw it, the knife kept popping back into my mind over the next several days.

Ruger’s .308 Gunsite Scout Rifle. It’s based on the Model 77, one of many lines Ruger has unfortunately discontinued. They also offered these in .223 Remington, which didn’t sell well and were offered at bargain basement prices (I regret not buying one of those). My GSR is exceptionally accurate.

I wasn’t sure why the knife was living rent-free in my mind, and then it hit me.   This Buck of the Month would pair nicely with my .308 Ruger GSR rifle, with its black laminated stock and black finish.  Maybe in a presentation case or something.  Several gun manufacturers have done limited edition commemorative runs featuring a gun and a knife, like the Texas Ranger Smith and Wesson featured on this blog a few months ago.

Whaddaya think? A match made in Heaven. I like it. A lot. A Ruger/Buck collaboration that would have sold well.

Even being a retired old geezer, I actually have things I need to do (this blog being one of them, along with a couple of magazine articles, loading more 7.6x54R ammo, etc.), but I can’t resist messing around with stuff like this.  The Buck in the photos above is not something I’m going to buy (I already have an earlier Buck of the Month Buck 120 with a polished blade and wood handle, which I like a lot better).  But it’s cool to think about such things.  It might be cool to go into the field chasing pigs with the .308 GSR and this month’s Buck of the Month.  Even if I didn’t get a pig, I’d probably get the award for being the most stylish pig chaser.  And they’d talk about me for a long time after that.

More knives?   You bet!

More guns?  We got you covered there, too!