Colt M-16 Double-Action Auto Knife

I had some bad information that my local friendly knife dealer gave me published here for a while.  Someone wrote and told me it was wrong, and I finally confirmed that today.

Bottom line -- the "M-14 Sniper" knife is a different knife than the "Colt M-16", and is made by a different company.  A summary:
 

Knife	Maker	$	Auto  Double-Action?	Pocket Clip	Colors	Blade Markings
AR-15	Colt	?	No	Thin black painted	Black only	AR-15
M-16	Colt	$70	Yes	Thin black painted	Black only	M-16-K (horse) Colt (r) Since 1836
M-14 Sniper	????	$30	Yes	Thick matte silver	Many	M-14 Sniper 440 Stainless E.D.C.

All things considered, the Colt knife is the better made of the two -- but they really are made about as close as a rip-off copy knife could be.  A quick comparison:

• The Colt has the Colt (r) Since 1836 stamped into the tang, not just electro-engraved

• The Colt is available with a partial serrated blade, the M-14 not

• The Colt uses shinny hardware and thumb-stud, the M-14 matte

• The back-lock on the M-14 is about twice as hard to depress as the Colt

• The thumb serrations on the blade back for the Colt are much bigger than the M-14

• The top false-edge on the M-14 is much fatter and tapers in thickness

• The Colt has a thin, painted pocket clip, the M-14 a thick clip that is matte silver

If you have trouble finding these, write Mark Streitenberger at info@mjsknives.com.  Tell him Chris sent you!

So, you've bought your Colt M-16 auto, double-action knife.  This is an "auto" version of their AR-15-K knife.  Quite an amazing deal, isn't it?  Colt name brand, and not only an auto knife -- a double-action!  I haven't ever seen a truly mass-produced double action knife, have you?  And it is one of the most "covert" or hidden double action knife I've seen, with a truly accessible yet hidden release mechanism.  And to top all that off -- only about $75-80!

Yes, it's perfect -- almost.  Why is it so finicky?  Why must it be set so loose that the blade practically rattles when it is open?  Not even close to the solidness of a Benchmade 2500.  Why, and what can be done?  Let's look.

First off, this isn't a coil spring knife -- it uses a flat spring which wacks the blade and it coasts open.  It is essential to have no binding in this style of knife so they are typically a tad looser.  Not a lot to be done here other than keeping it clean and lightly lubricated.  I prefer powdered graphite, you can try some space age stuff -- just don 't make a dust-trap out of it.  (BTW, always store flat-spring knives open -- and I'd keep it open at night when not being carried.)

Second -- it may be a Colt, but it ain't a Benchmade.  The blade bearing surfaces on the handles are cast, not CNC machined, so the blade must be set looser to compensate.  What can be done?  Repetitive cycling of the knife will equalize all with use.  Don't try any other corrective work unless you are a true pro.

Last, but certainly not least, is a minor design flaw in the knife.  Fixing this flaw is what this article is really about.

The Design Flaw
The spring clip is mounted via the same fastener that is the blade pivot, the same fastener that is adjusted to adjust how tight the blade is.  When the spring clip is depressed in the center it pulls upon this fastener with substantial leverage.  This tightens up the blade pivot.  So, you get it adjusted "just right", try it 50 times.  Then you really need it, you grab it hard pressing in on the clip, it tightens up the pivot, and the knife fails to open fully.  What to do?  Two options.

Option One
First option is to remove the clip entirely.  This is a bad idea, at least for me, because I never carry an auto knife loose in my pocket.  It is always clipped on the front edge of my pocket, inside the pocket where I can instantly find it and it isn't concealed (as in CDW).  You could add a different clip, steal one from a Benchmade 2500 and mount it at the other end.

Option Two
For those of you wanting to do as little modification as possible, you can try the one I did.    If you look at the diagram below, you'll see I added two additional screws (shown in yellow) to hold the clip.  These are #0-80's:

•  Step one is to disassemble the knife.

• Then make two clearance holes in the clip.  This is hard, spring steel and will resist most drills.  I used a carbide cutter and a small rotary stone.

• Temporality mount the clip to the side piece with the pivot hardware, and transfer the holes over to the Aluminum side piece.

• Remove the clip and drill and tap the holes all the way through.   Use an oversize drill or stone or other tool to debur the holes on both sides.

• Cut a pair of screws to length and mount the clip with them.   Make certain that the screws do not stick out the other side.  If they do, shorten them.

• Loosen the two new screws, reassemble the knife. Tighten the pivot very snug.   Then tighten these new screws.  Loosen the pivot far enough for 100% reliable operation.

• You will also need to properly adjust the screw that the back lock pivots on -- if set tight it will bind up the blade.  Tighten it just to the point it just starts to tighten.  If you have trouble cycling the knife, try loosening this screw.

More Problems
So,  all is perfect with your knife now?  Good.  Mine still had another serious problem.  I can’t blame this one on Colt though.  I know for a fact that my knife did come as a “kit” from Colt as was assembled by the gentleman who sold it to me.  Colt sends these out as quite a kit package, complete with Allen wrenches.  They make most of these as kits so they can move them across state lines without being arrested.

The kit is not as trivial to put together as some seem to think, there really are part adjustments needed.  In the case of my knife, the blade did not close far enough, actually leaving the razor sharp point sticking out in harms way just a bit.  This was not at all acceptable, so I made a few adjustments and pulled the tip in by a good ¼”.

If your knife shares this problem, here is what to do.  If you aren't careful and don’t have some experience working with knives, please don’t try any of this.

First, remove the auto spring and see if the back-lock would pull the blade in a lot farther if the auto spring wasn’t in the way.  This was the case with my knife.  If it is not the case with yours – write me and tell me how you finally fixed it. ?

The first thing you want to do is trim the end of the auto spring.  Under no circumstances should you shorten the overall length of this spring.  You can put a profile on it, but the full length is essential for operation.  Look at the diagram below:

See how metal has been removed from the area of contact between the spring and blade when the knife is closed.  Go slowly – it’s harder to put material back than to remove it.  And, again, don’t shorten the overall length – leave at least ½ the spring thickness at full length.

If trimming the spring does not pull the blade in enough, you can carefully remove material from the blade where it is touched by the spring when closed.  Be gentle, go slowly, and don’t make a mess – that part of the blade is visible when open.  You should polish it up when you are done.
 

Update Mar-2004

Colt has fixed these problems in their new version, and exactly as I suggested -- think they read any of this? :)

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