Spoiler alert: This knife exceeded my expectations. So much so that I'm considering one of the swing guard versions as well. I have several Italian-inspired custom automatics from makers like Pat Havlin ("Picklock Pat") and Paul Panak ("Burn"), and IMO, this knife equals or surpasses their work in terms of fit, finish, function and overall design.

The hand-ground blade has straight bevels, good symmetry and uniform plunge lines all around. The combination of a very fine grit hand-rubbed satin finish and a hollow grind gives it a liquid, near mirror appearance.

The handle is tighter than any Italian-inspired side-opener in my experience. No detail was overlooked. Everything lines up precisely with no gaps, sharp edges or tooling marks anywhere. Even the well is high polished with no gaps between the spring and liners. All pins are neatly peened with no distortion or burrs. It really feels great in the hand.

Note that this is a massive knife. Mine tips the scale at around 13oz., yet the weight seems structurally and aesthetically appropriate rather than just piled on arbitrarily.

Lockup is solid and centering is dead-nut when closed. The opening and closing action is perfectly dialed-in: It's crisp and positive without feeling over-sprung. It opens with impressive force, yet it's easily closed without excessive resistance from the leaf spring. Some heavily-sprung Italian automatics feel like they're ready to burst at the seams when closed, which isn't very confidence inspiring for long term storage. I have no such concerns with this knife.

The firing mechanism is a plunge lock with the sear supported at both ends, so it should have good longevity. The leaf spring appears to be a "drop in" design, meaning it's replaceable without an extensive rebuild should the need arise. The fulcrum blade release lever is as compact as reasonably possible to leverage the heavy backspring, which is great aesthetically. It felt a bit tight initially but it broke in and/or I got used to it.

I couldn't be happier with the Brown Recluse and can highly recommend it without reservation.

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]