Busse SR101 Knife Steel
Composition Analysis Graph, Equivalents And Overview

SR101(Busse) - A ball-bearing steel, and as such, SR-101 previously was only used by forgers, it's available in bar stock as well. SR-101 is similar to AISI 5160 steel (though SR-101 has around 1% carbon vs. 5160 ~.60%), but holds an edge better. SR-101 is not as tough as 5160 steel. SR-101 is used often for hunting knives and other knives where the user is willing to trade off a little of toughness for better wear resistance. However, with the continued improvement of SR-101 heat treat, this steel is starting to show up in larger knives and showing excellent toughness. A modified AISI 52100 steel under the SR-101 name was used by Jerry Busse in his Swamp Rat knives line. Unfortunately, on October 15, 2022 the announcement was mabe by Jerry Busse, stating that the SR-101 was discontinued. Apparently, the making SR-101 required rather complicated oil hardening heat treatment protocol, which was done using specialized equipment. Sadly, due to the issues related to pandemic economy, the maker of said equipment went out of busness. The remaining equipment is no loner serviceable and usable. While it's sad to see SR-101 go, Busse company hinted the replacement, this time from air hardening steels. I suppose that's gonna be something from AISI Ax series, may be something else. After all, INFI does take its roots somewhere in A7 Mod, Busse knives used AISI A2 and AISI D2 steels in the distant past, probably more than that too. As of this moment, that's all the information available, general direction towards air hardening steels.

Manufacturing Technology - Ingot

Country - United States(US)

Known Aliases:
Busse - SR-101

^* - Listed as an equivalent or replacement for alloys in this group.