AK-47 | Case Hardened (Minimal Wear)

In Minimal Wear (MW), the AK-47 | Case Hardened has barely lost any of its temper colors: the metal is still colorful, and wear shows only on the edges. The wear range here is 0.07 to 0.15. The rank is Classified, and the rifle is part of The Arms Deal Collection and is found in the CS:GO Weapon Case.

What the AK-47 | Case Hardened looks like in Minimal Wear

Blue and golden-brass patches lie on the top cover, the side of the receiver, the magazine, the gas tube and the front sight. The wood of the handguard and stock takes no part in the coloring: it is reddish brown, as is the reddish grip. On one variant of the layout the back of the cover is blue-violet, with brass in front of it. The magazine is almost solid blue, with golden streaks along the upper edge.

The temper layer is shallow, so Minimal Wear shows its first losses in easy-to-find spots: the cover edge and the raised bits around the rivets go lighter. The flat surfaces stay saturated. The spread in wear inside this band is small; what chiefly sets copies apart is the patches.

Where the AK-47 | Case Hardened came from

The Case Hardened did not start in the Steam Workshop; Valve itself created it. The Arms Deal Collection came out in August 2013, and the skin has been in it since the start. The finish's number in Valve's catalog is 44.

What to check before buying

Differences between AK-47 | Case Hardened copies come down to this:

• the float inside 0.07 to 0.15: a narrow band, 8% of the skin's scale;


• the pattern index, which determines how much blue lies on the cover and magazine;


• a name tag and stickers, if the previous owner added any.

The band of 0.07 to 0.15 is narrow, and copies are almost indistinguishable by wear. That is why the pattern moves the price inside this wear: copies with a "blue gem" cost dozens of times more than an ordinary one. Variance in artwork matters more here than variance in float.

What the AK-47 | Case Hardened costs in Minimal Wear

For ordinary copies, the other wears stand as follows:

• Factory New is 1.59 times pricier;


• Field-Tested is 1.26 times cheaper;


• Well-Worn is 1.39 times cheaper;


• Battle-Scarred is 1.46 times cheaper.

The top step is set apart from Minimal Wear more visibly than the lower ones are from each other. Ranked by price, this wear of the Case Hardened places third among fifteen Classified AK-47 skins. Above it are only the AK-47 | Jet Set, at roughly twice the price, and the AK-47 | Hydroponic, at several times. The AK-47 | Panthera onca is about a seventh cheaper, the AK-47 | Redline half the price, and the AK-47 | Red Laminate a third.

Getting the AK-47 | Case Hardened

The only case that drops the AK-47 | Case Hardened is the CS:GO Weapon Case.

To trade up into this rifle, collect ten skins one step down in rank from the same collection. Further on, this rifle goes in as an input for the AWP | Lightning Strike.

StatTrak and Souvenir

A StatTrak version of the AK-47 | Case Hardened exists. Souvenir packages for the finish were never released: they were made only for tournament map collections. But a Souvenir copy can be built yourself, because the Souvenir-O-Matic puts gold tournament stickers and a player autograph on an ordinary skin from the inventory.

Stickers and craft on the AK-47 | Case Hardened

In Minimal Wear the color on the metal is still dense, so fine graphics get lost in the patches. Big stickers with a crisp outline read best. Blue and white stand out on brass, while yellow blends into it.

Who this wear suits

Minimal Wear fits the AK-47 | Case Hardened in these cases:

• you want rich color without paying one and a half times more for Factory New;


• you are choosing by pattern, and the float across a narrow band is secondary;


• the rifle is for CS2, where edge wear is a minor thing.