All About Pocket Knives

I'm trying to post a picture of a Buck 703. Hope this works. Anyway, this is the only 703 that I have right now but I am considering getting one from each year of production. Might be kinda hard for the early years since Buck didn't use date codes prior to 1986, or so I've read.
Can someone tell me the first and last years of production for the 703?
I think 1980 was the first year Buck made these but not sure about that and I have no clue when they discontinued them. Thanks for the help.

Hello,
I did some digging and found that the 703 was shown in Buck catalogs as "coming soon" from 1978-79. My records show that the first ones rolled off the line in December of 1979.
Sadly, the Colt was last seen in Buck's 2001 catalog. So at least 86-2001 should be easy to locate.
I have not done much detailed research on this model to know what variations can be found between 80-85 though.
I hope this helps.

Joe, thanks for looking into this for me! That's all I needed to know.

IF you are wanting to collect a veration this model is ideal to start on!
it had good numbers made , is still reasonabley priced even on flea bay
and almost new one are easly found!
a good knife esp for younger collectors to get in to!!!
and a darn good useing knife to boot !!

Yes, I know what you mean. There is just something about the 703 that I really like. It's like if I was going to make a knife this is how I would make it.
I guess it is just a combination of things but it really is one fine knife.
I got this one on ebay a while back and I think I paid somewhere around 50 bucks for it on auction. I believe it was made in 1986. The tang stamp has a < on it. I haven't gotten another yet but I have been watching them on ebay and, you're right, the ones in mint condition do still sell at a reasonable price.
One thing I did notice is that some of them have the sheepsfoot and spey blades on the opposite ends of the knife as mine does. In other words, on some of them, the sheepsfoot blade opens from the other end instead of the same end as the clip blade. I don't know if that is a change that Buck made in a certain year or if the variation exists in models of the same year. But I do find it interesting.

Howdy folks! I started this topic a long time ago and since then I have only aquired one more 703. The one in the photo of my original post is a 1986 and the one I have aquired since then has no date stamp so it must be 1979-1985 production.

I ressurected this topic because I have another question.

What is the blade steel on my two 703's?

I think Buck's blade steel is discussed somewhere on this forum but I cannot seem to find it. Much obliged to anyone who can help.

Thank you.

I'm not sure on this but can't you help date the 703 by the number of backsprings? Mine has 2 but I have heard Buck made them with 3 as well. Here is mine, could anybody help date it?