Randall Knives

[Kevin]

Sorry, no pictures. I just received an invoice for a Randall #1 knife I ordered way back in January of 2015. I'm going to have to call them, because I cannot figure out their bill. It was a standard knife, but there is a separate sheet which says there is a 7 month backlog. Right now my delivery date is set for November 2018. I'm not sure if the backlog is 7 months from now, or 7 months from November.

I'm fine with whatever. In fact, when I tell my wife, they are now out to 6 years on ordering, she says, go ahead and order another. Heck Ya! (I just did...) I ordered a Raymond Thorpe Bowie 13" with a stag handle! Pictures to come...in 6 years....

So, in case y'all were wanting a Randall, get one now 6 years have come and gone...

One member, Wendy has some of these knives, how long did it take your knives to come? I know some places have them in stock, but you pay a premium... I won't...

 

[tom black]

My one an only Randall is a Model 25 that I picked up at the Kittery Trading Post a few years ago. They had more Randall's there than I've ever seen in one place.
Tom Black

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Love that pic Tom.

 

[pete44ru]

My one an only Randall is a Model 25 that I picked up at the Kittery Trading Post a few years ago. They had more Randall's there than I've ever seen in one place.
Tom Black

I bought my new Model 25 at the KTP also - $525.

.

 

[bogus bill]

Bought this one on a half price sale about the mid 1970`s.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

I have one, a model 23, but the only pic I have of it is stuck in Photobucket purgatory.

 

[krw]

I have couple and have owned quite a few in yrs past. Ordered just 1, a 14 I ordered with stag. Most vanilla pc of stag you could imagine. I was sick! With little patience, Ebay is good place to buy Randall’s. Just filter auctions to no reserve. I carry a #8, with stag and compass quite a bit. Great knife!

 

[eveled]

I have 3 I use, and 1 on order. If you don't want to wait, go to Buxton knives. They sell at NO MARKUP. Find a knife on their site, go to Randall's site price out the options. Same price everytime.

 

[coach]

A.G. Russell has one in stock and one 8 months out.

 

[tom black]

When I bought mine up at KTP the clerk that waited on me was good enough to go get every Model 25 they had in stock and let me pick out which handle I wanted. And since I'm a sucker for a stag handle knife I was happy as a lark with the stag on the one I bought. A few months ago I was down at SMKW's and they had a few Randall's there but their prices were out the roof.
Tom Black

 

[gunzo]

I was at the Randall shop 30 years ago. They weren't inexpensive then, but definitely one of those " I wish I had a crystal ball moments"
Just saw recent pics of the museum. If you're ever in Orlando, & your a knife person, it's worth the stop.

 

[Jeepnik]

I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would wait 6 years for a knife. Now don't get me wrong, I love Randalls. I have several. But, the last new one I bought, shown below, only took about three days to get.

 

[bogus bill]

Back in the 1970`s, early 1980`s when Jack First the gun parts guy who`s family now has the business in Rapid City had "the Gunshop" in Lancaster CA, had a five day sale every year. On everything he laid out 10% off the first day, 20% and last day was 50%. I seen about 15 Randall`s out and picked mine on the last day. Just about every NEW gun I bought, I bought there that way through the years. The last couple days of the sale was always a real circus!
And yes, it would be a cold day in hell before I waited six years for anything built!

 

[Jeepnik]

Back in the 1970`s, early 1980`s when Jack First the gun parts guy who`s family now has the business in Rapid City had "the Gunshop" in Lancaster CA, had a five day sale every year. On everything he laid out 10% off the first day, 20% and last day was 50%. I seen about 15 Randall`s out and picked mine on the last day. Just about every NEW gun I bought, I bought there that way through the years. The last couple days of the sale was always a real circus!
And yes, it would be a cold day in hell before I waited six years for anything built!

Man, haven't thought about Jack's gunshop in years. Of course back then you could just about walk out the door and into the desert and start shooting. I haven't been to that location lately, but drive through Lancaster on the 14 freeway every week. You'd need to drive twenty miles at least to shoot these days.

 

[Kevin]

I guess waiting is part of the excitement for me. Time will pass regardless, and then six years from now I get a surprise. It’s all good. I have other ways I can get instant gratification if I want.

 

[bogus bill]

jeepnik, I lived in the area 1969 to 2005. Seen the buildup. Got out when I retired. My best friends wife worked in the shop. I knew the First family well. I shot a lot more back then. We had a nice range south of Palmdale (Desert Marksman) and most days off knew where to go on the desert to shoot. It`s a different world there now for quite awhile.
Kevin, at 77 I will be happy if I get six more years. Want more though.

 

[Jeepnik]

I guess waiting is part of the excitement for me. Time will pass regardless, and then six years from now I get a surprise. It’s all good. I have other ways I can get instant gratification if I want.

Yea, but for some of us we may not be here in six years. :roll:

 

[eveled]

I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would wait 6 years for a knife. Now don't get me wrong, I love Randalls. I have several. But, the last new one I bought, shown below, only took about three days to get.

It's called planning ahead. Big event down the road? Order now lock in the price. Then look forward to it.

I let my son order one on his 13 th birthday, it will be ready for his 18th. I told him if he did any drugs, or didn't graduate high school, I'd sell it on ebay.

My 45 th birthday I ordered my 50th birthday present. Anticipation is fun in it's own way.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Man, haven't thought about Jack's gunshop in years. Of course back then you could just about walk out the door and into the desert and start shooting. I haven't been to that location lately, but drive through Lancaster on the 14 freeway every week. You'd need to drive twenty miles at least to shoot these days.

Hi,

We used to get a lot of stuff from Jack in our shop, but it was always by telephone, so I never got out to his shop. That's been close to 25 years ago, as our shop moved out of state about 20 years back, so I haven't really thought about Jack in the interim. I'm glad to hear his family is carrying on for him. As for the 20 miles to find a spot to shoot part, ya really gotta look at the maps: a lot of that's LA County out there, and they have stricter rules even out in the middle of nowhere than San Bernardino or Kern Counties do. A buddy had a nice talk with the Sheriff out there one time: turns out despite his best estimation, he was about a quarter mile inside LA County. Oops. Sheriff was a good guy and directed him down another dirt road and told him how far to drive to be out of LA's jurisdiction. And all that's before even worrying about private property and trespass problems!

As for getting a Randall knife today, I'll probably just have to live vicariously thru Wendy and Kenneth (I'm STILL up for adoption, guys!) as my view of knives doesn't include waiting a big part of the time I have left on this rock for one. More of that "Wish I'd had my crystal ball cleaned up years ago" thing!

Rick C

 

[Jeepnik]

Man, haven't thought about Jack's gunshop in years. Of course back then you could just about walk out the door and into the desert and start shooting. I haven't been to that location lately, but drive through Lancaster on the 14 freeway every week. You'd need to drive twenty miles at least to shoot these days.

Hi,

We used to get a lot of stuff from Jack in our shop, but it was always by telephone, so I never got out to his shop. That's been close to 25 years ago, as our shop moved out of state about 20 years back, so I haven't really thought about Jack in the interim. I'm glad to hear his family is carrying on for him. As for the 20 miles to find a spot to shoot part, ya really gotta look at the maps: a lot of that's LA County out there, and they have stricter rules even out in the middle of nowhere than San Bernardino or Kern Counties do. A buddy had a nice talk with the Sheriff out there one time: turns out despite his best estimation, he was about a quarter mile inside LA County. Oops. Sheriff was a good guy and directed him down another dirt road and told him how far to drive to be out of LA's jurisdiction. And all that's before even worrying about private property and trespass problems!

As for getting a Randall knife today, I'll probably just have to live vicariously thru Wendy and Kenneth (I'm STILL up for adoption, guys!) as my view of knives doesn't include waiting a big part of the time I have left on this rock for one. More of that "Wish I'd had my crystal ball cleaned up years ago" thing!

Rick C

That's why I said "at least". Heck, I used to walk across the street from my apt building in Victorville and hunt bunnies. Now, it's darned near in the middle of town. Every place you can think of in SoCal has gotten bigger and bigger. And along with that the rules and regs have gotten tighter and tighter.

On the plus side, when I go shooting in the desert in San Berdo county I usually take a SBSD sargeant with me. I hope he still has some pull after he retires in a year or two.

 

[Cracker-American]

I have lived within a few hour drive of the shop all my life. Last time I was there Monday mornings was when they put any available stick in the case. Could get exciting. I own and use three. I have lost the ability to post photos. Some of you who have hunted with me have seen them. They are never far from hand

 

[gramps]

My one an only Randall is a Model 25 that I picked up at the Kittery Trading Post a few years ago. They had more Randall's there than I've ever seen in one place.
Tom Black

Nice picture Tom! Over the years, I had the thought that all you shot was black powder! Here of late I see pictures from you of lever actions and now a pistol. Don’t leave that knife/revolver unattended! :shock: :mrgreen:
gramps

 

[eveled]

This thread shows two of mine that are both users.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/who-designed-the-model-19.1562641/

 

[WendyZXZ]

We have 3 three that I inherited and a fourth that was a birthday present years ago from my Brother, they are nice knives and the ones here are working knives that get used!

 

[eveled]

This thread reminded me to order one for my daughter. Hard to believe the wait is even longer now. LOL. Up to 6 years!

 

[jpickar]

I love my Randall's. I have a story how I got my first. I went to a gun show in the late 80's in the Denver area. I saw a Randall. I had read about them but never bought one. I saw one on a table that a guy from Florida had. I bought it. It had a "brass" indian head" on the butt. I paid $225 for it. I was going to take the indian head off and but someone told me to call Randall about it. I called and talked to Gary. I described the knife and he said that was one of 110 knives he made for the Blackhawk Indian skeet shooting club he belonged to. The brass head was 1/2 oz. of pure gold! I told him it was going to be my hunting knife. He said it was a collector knife and if I would sell it to a collector he would give me what ever knife I wanted in 6 weeks. In six weeks I had a model 5 6" $235. I sold the Blackhawk knife to a collector for $500. I have since bought a model 7 4 1/2" and a model 18 7 1/2". I love those knives. I went and visited the Randall shop in FL in 1992 when my dad was sick in the hospital in FL. Talked to Gary. He showed me and my brother around. Very Cool place. It is in the middle of a orange grove.

 

[mohavesam]

Have one. For the life of me, I do not know why I'd shell out another $500-600 for another knife I cannot use.

And a company that has a backordr of five-six years screams mismanagement and total lack of customer focus at best, which leads quickly to a void of succession plan and an empty building at worst. This has been proven time and again.

Sad, because they are a fine product. But not really my best spend-for-value in jewelry. JMHO. I do not buy things six years before I can handle the item. As someone said with so much insight, there is no guarantee one will be around to see the delivery.

 

[bogus bill]

It all depends on where we have came from. I too well remember doing the hardest and most boring field work in my life for 35 cents a hour. Others are born with a silver spoon in their mouth and kicked with a golden horse shoe. I just got through reading a question on the colt site. Fella asking about should he buy two rare 3" Colt Pythons consecutively numbered for $25,000`s!!! On top of that it sounded like he wasnt that familiar with pythons. I was born a hundred years too late. Talk like that makes me consider cutting my throat!