A.G. Russell Knives

The .44 Magnum Whittler, released in 1975, is one of only two knives made for the Knife Collector's Club by Hen & Rooster and marked A. G. Russell. The other was the CM-4 Baby Barlow. All other KCC knives made by Hen & Rooster were marked with the hen and rooster on the mark side of the main blade and Bertram on the reverse.

The Little Brother Barlow, released in 1978, was an original A. G. Russell design produced for the Knife Collector's Club. It had a cartridge inlay of a .219 Zipper, a really hot varmint cartridge of the 1930s. This was a jack knife for dress wear; slim, compact and of the absolute highest quality. Hen & Rooster knives were made years before William Henry appeared and are still the finest traditional pocketknives ever made.

If you are not familiar with the original Hen & Rooster knives, you will be surprised at the high quality of craftsmanship and materials in these knives. The only thing being made today that will compare is handmade knives being made by the best of the world's handmade knifemakers.

Bertram, the maker of the original Hen & Rooster knives, was founded in 1865. Their knives quickly became the finest knives made in Solingen, Germany. In fact, the knives made between 1865 and 1980 in the tiny factory with 14 employees when I purchased the company, remain the finest traditional, production, pocketknives that I know of. The blades are better ground, better finished, and the insides of the knives are so clean they appear to have been mirror polished inside as well as outside.

In 1979, Hen & Rooster and A. G. Russell produced the CM-7, the .45 Long Colt which was the first knife designed entirely by me for Hen & Rooster to make.

In 1865, C. R. Bertram founded a small cutlery firm in Solingen, Germany that was fated to become for a brief period, the maker of the very finest pocketknives in the world. Herr Bertram set out to make the very best pocketknives.

For over thirty-five years, the Knife Collectors Club™ has provided rare and/or unusual knives to people who like fine knives. The very first was the Kentucky Rifle, sold to members for $12 each. It is still on of the finest knives that Schrade ever made, and even though 12,000 were made, the knife sells for $135.00 from collectors and dealers lucky enough to have any to sell. The club has produced many fine knives, all of which have gained in value.

This knife began life as the seventh serial numbered Knife Collectors Club™ knife, the CM-7. There were 3,000 made with rosewood handles, all serial numbered. We then made 1,000 in India stag, African Blackwood, Coral Rucarta™, Black Rucarta™, Ivory Rucarta™ and only 2 knives in Mother-of-Pearl. The last time one of the two Mother-of-Pearl knives changed hands was about 15 years ago. It sold for almost $2,000.

This was the last knife made by the little Bertram factory before I lost it in 1980. It is absolutely the finest quality production folding knife available today. Compare it to knives made by custom makers.

There were only 1,800 CM-4's with Ivory scales made. Of the Model 104, there were to be 1,000 sets produced, each containing five different handle materials. Unfortunately, there were only 200-300 of the 104 Pearl and 400 of the Cattle Horn knives finished before the bankruptcy. The entire 1,000 were produced in each of the three handle materials on this page. In the twenty years since we lost the Bertram (Hen & Rooster) Firm, most of the Model 104 knives have been sold.