Miura International vs. Miura Giken Japan

[ant]

folks, i'm trying to figure out whats the difference between Miura products for Japan and their export line, their forged blades in particular. from what i can gather on the web it seems like their international versions of Tournament Blade and Small Blade are based on Miuraism Custom Forged models, perhaps with a slightly different grind ? or they just similar looking but in fact different heads sourced from different forges ? the other thing i'm curious about is price difference : international offering is about a grand less than its Japanese counterpart. and if they are basically the same product i would have thought that since they both made in Japan that domestic version would cost less than export due to shipping, taxes etc. if you happen to be in the know and can answer these questions or at least some of them that would be much appreciated.

[+TourSpecGolfer]

folks, i'm trying to figure out whats the difference between Miura products for Japan and their export line, their forged blades in particular. from what i can gather on the web it seems like their international versions of Tournament Blade and Small Blade are based on Miuraism Custom Forged models, perhaps with a slightly different grind ? or they just similar looking but in fact different heads sourced from different forges ? the other thing i'm curious about is price difference : international offering is about a grand less than its Japanese counterpart. and if they are basically the same product i would have thought that since they both made in Japan that domestic version would cost less than export due to shipping, taxes etc. if you happen to be in the know and can answer these questions or at least some of them that would be much appreciated.

It's the same stuff. Many of the International product is older generation Miura Giken product. The Miura International blade is not the same as the Miuraism series. It may be based off the same raw blank but that I can't be sure of.

Both products are of the same Miura quality.

[Mjr. D]

It's the same stuff. Many of the International product is older generation Miura Giken product. The Miura International blade is not the same as the Miuraism series. It may be based off the same raw blank but that I can't be sure of.

Both products are of the same Miura quality.

I had the limited edition US blades and now i have the MB-5003s (Japan). In my opinion, which is usually right (ha), the MB-5003 is a better and more solid feeling, more forgiving iron. And it's not in my head. I assure you.

[ant]

hmm, thats weird. Miura Giken site lists production year 2004 for Miuraism and 2007 for MB-5003. or is that just a year they were introduced to the market and then they make revisions like recent groove conformance etc ?

also do you know what is Miuraism in a nutshell ? ie whats the difference with say their MB-5003 ? i did try to run their page thru Google Translate and from the gibberish that came out it seems that Miuraism supposed to have very strict quality control, very strict weighting and things like that. something i thought would apply to all Miura in general ?

It's the same stuff. Many of the International product is older generation Miura Giken product. The Miura International blade is not the same as the Miuraism series. It may be based off the same raw blank but that I can't be sure of.

Both products are of the same Miura quality.

[ant]

this is interesting. which one you had, small blade ? are you comparing them based on the same shaft ?

I had the limited edition US blades and now i have the MB-5003s (Japan). In my opinion, which is usually right (ha), the MB-5003 is a better and more solid feeling, more forgiving iron. And it's not in my head. I assure you.

[frogeye]

I thought I would share some pics with you guys.

As they say a picture is worth a thoudand words.

Look and you will see differences. Whether they come from the same model or not is hard to say, Chris on the money when he says feeling and sensation of both are true to the miura tradition: fantastic.

Enjoy.

F

[ant]

thanx for posting comparison pix! it looks like 5003 [if i'm telling right which is which] is actually slightly smaller than their int tour blade. is it what it actually feels/looks like to you ? seems like 5003 is kinda closer in terms of head sizes to their int small blade or Miuraism compact blade, maybe just a wee bit bigger but still smaller than int tour blade ?

I thought I would share some pics with you guys.

As they say a picture is worth a thoudand words.

Look and you will see differences. Whether they come from the same model or not is hard to say, Chris on the money when he says feeling and sensation of both are true to the miura tradition: fantastic.

Enjoy.

F

[frogeye]

Having a closer look the Miura Tournament Blade is the same size/length compared to the MG 5003. But I would suspect these two blades to be longer than the baby blade or the series 1957.

The slight difference is the muscle which extends higher on the Miura tournament Blade than on the MG 5003, this gives you the impression of having more mass behind the sweet spot.

The sole is also wider on the MG 5003 than on the Miura Blade.

I think you might be correct the Miuraism SB-01 does look identical to the Miura Tournament Blade.

I hope this helps.

F

[ant]

that helps, thanx a bunch!

Having a closer look the Miura Tournament Blade is the same size/length compared to the MG 5003. But I would suspect these two blades to be longer than the baby blade or the series 1957.

The slight difference is the muscle which extends higher on the Miura tournament Blade than on the MG 5003, this gives you the impression of having more mass behind the sweet spot.

The sole is also wider on the MG 5003 than on the Miura Blade.

I think you might be correct the Miuraism SB-01 does look identical to the Miura Tournament Blade.

I hope this helps.

F

[Mjr. D]

I had the same shaft TT X7 in both the Miura Baby Blades Limited Edition and the now the Miura MB-5003. Both felt great, don't get me wrong, but the MB-5003 feels better. It's a more solid feeling iron, as well as a more pure feeling iron. I could tell the first time I struck a ball.

I also heard Miuraism is their top of the line model where they somehow choose or manipulate the grain flow of the steel they use in forging??? I'm not an expert on this kind of thing but it's something along those lines.

I also heard the Miura Giken irons are designed for, is it softer conditions? than the N. America Miura irons. Maybe it's the other way around...... whatever the conditions are more often like for each area.

[xjrs6]

Like Mjr I too have both sets and concur that the MB 5003 are the nicer to play,albiet I have different shaft combo's. The 5003 works perfectly fine here on UK course conditions .Nice comparison pics never really looked at them before it appears the weight has been ditributed lower in the MB's.

[ant]

thanx alot folks, your answers and comments are really helpful to me!

[jacksonlui]

there's not much you can do with a blade, in the end, the blade won't offer you any forgiveness. but as far as blades go, the Miura line, TE or 5003, they are premium, high end, ultimate sticks.

[frogeye]

Jacksonsonlui is on the money these heads are the premium heads and you can not go wrong with either of them. Being a blade forgiveness should not be expected. One thing you will need to do if you can, although I am stating the obvious, is to find the right shaft that fits your game. I for example it took me three very good sets of shaft ( Nippon, KB Tour, PX Satin) to settle down with the PX satin. All three shaft are very good but the ball flight was too high for my liking with the Nippon and KB Tour. So once you find the right shaft then it is rockn'roll baby!

F

[Mjr. D]

I'm selling a single MB-5003 6 iron for $75 right now if you want to get a feel for it before you put down $1200 for the set.

[ant]

thanx for the offer but i'm still in research stage at this point trying to narrow it down between different brands and models and was simply curious what is what in Miura product lines coz it seems quite complicated with their separate int/japan product lines.

I'm selling a single MB-5003 6 iron for $75 right now if you want to get a feel for it before you put down $1200 for the set.

[snowman1638]

Hello Diarrhea, do you still have your 5003's #6Iron?

[+TourSpecGolfer]

I had the limited edition US blades and now i have the MB-5003s (Japan). In my opinion, which is usually right (ha), the MB-5003 is a better and more solid feeling, more forgiving iron. And it's not in my head. I assure you.

Mr. D, I assure you that its the same material and process. What your feeling is due to the overall/sole design, grind, and loft not the material.

With most of their MB's they are adjusting the same mold and in many cases using existing molds and changing the grinds.

In regards to Miuraism, The tolerance is no better than normal Miura product which is great. They use spin welded hosels which allows them to cut on mold costs using 2D instead of 3D. In the end design consistency is below average BUT it gives them the ability to zero in on exact weights and tolerance. Also Miuraism is supposed to be fitted in person by a Miura rep which isn't always the procedure as we can allocate the heads without the fitting.

[zwan]

Mr. D, I assure you that its the same material and process. What your feeling is due to the overall/sole design, grind, and loft not the material.

With most of their MB's they are adjusting the same mold and in many cases using existing molds and changing the grinds.

In regards to Miuraism, The tolerance is no better than normal Miura product which is great. They use spin welded hosels which allows them to cut on mold costs using 2D instead of 3D. In the end design consistency is below average BUT it gives them the ability to zero in on exact weights and tolerance. Also Miuraism is supposed to be fitted in person by a Miura rep which isn't always the procedure as we can allocate the heads without the fitting.

TourSpecGolfer

Have you got a list of brands that use 3D instead of 2D?

[+TourSpecGolfer]

TourSpecGolfer

Have you got a list of brands that use 3D instead of 2D?

The brands that use spin welded hosels for their product are able to produce the head mold in 2D flat.

Currently only TADA mfg sells spin welded hosel raw blanks in Japan. Miura uses spin welded for their entire product line, I know Scratch Golf used or uses it for their wedges.

[zwan]

Thank you. Does Epon produce their 302's in mold 3D? I have read here somewhere that this is the more pricey way.

[Mjr. D]

Fair enough I guess. Like someone said earlier, you can't go wrong with any of their stuff.

By the way Chris, your picture you have under where you write is awesome!! Love it.