I think the Bussekin steels give their best in large blades. The Battle Mistress is a market leader in tough performance chopping ability.

For smaller blades there are at least four steels I can think of which eclipse the Bussekin steels. These four steels each have their individual makers/masters who do a superb heat treatment....very similar to the area of strength that the Busse's have....and you can get technical on steel and say one is better than the other...but ultimately it is the knives which are made by which people judge the quality of the steel and the best knives always have excellent heat treatment.

My FFBM came with a perfect edge geometry for what it does....the edge was ground at about 25 degrees either side and whilst rough was razor sharp and could trim arm hairs comfortably. Somebody at Busse looks after the flag ship model carefully. These knives tested out of the box made Busse what it is.

But if you want smaller blades coming to you with the same performance leadership in their class you need to look elsewhere IMO. The best knives for cutting come out of Japan...R2, Cowry X, OU31, are all powdered metals surrounded with softer metals done in a damascus fashion so that the hard core is perfectly centred and protected by the softer outside layers which gives a tempering ability and performance ability in excess of anything else made....they also are used by masters who do their own heat treatment "masterfully"....and unlike the smaller Bussekin knives they come to you with an edge that is "perfect and life long"....these knives never need to be re-profiled...the edge just needs maintaining...not creating....and you can use these edges days on end and they just need to be "touched up".

If you want this type of performance with "made in the USA" stamped on it....check out the Devon Thomas damascus blades...his blend of steels and heat treatment match my japanese knives...but are not convexed...they are hollow ground...and certainly the one I have is my first choice for meat work.

However...Infi has tested better than anything else for chopping...and the other Bussekin steels are not far behind.