50 Words or Less
The Miura MB-001 irons feel sensational, are jaw-droppingly beautiful, and perform beyond any reasonable expectations for a blade. A must-try for the serious player.
Introduction
When I decided to take up golf seriously, my dad bought a used set of forged Titleist blades for me. To this day, I think he did this to drive me away from golf. I played with those irons for years, but when I finally hit a modern cavity back iron, I swore I’d never go back to blades.
Fast forward over a decade, and I have blades in the bag again. This time, however, they’re the Miura MB-001 blades, the absolute cream of the crop when it comes to pure old school irons. I’m sure these irons aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Looks
Pure. I feel like I should just leave it at that, but I’ll do my best to describe what are probably the most beautiful irons in golf.
At address, you get exactly what you want from a blade: virtually zero offset and razor thin top lines. The shape of the face is expertly crafted, as you would expect from Miura. The toe isn’t overly round or boxy, and the blade length frames the ball with little extra space.
In the bag, there’s simply nothing cooler than these Miura blades. The classic shape and minimalist branding quietly announce that you’re there to play some quality golf.
Sound & Feel
A major part of the appeal of blades is the feel. Miura is known for world class forgings. Put those things together and you have one of the best feeling iron sets I’ve ever laid my hands on. Hitting the ball pure feels sensational – soft, crisp, without a single extra vibration in your hands.
The other part of playing a blade is getting tremendous feedback. While the Miura MB-001s don’t sting on mishits like the blades of yesteryear, they aren’t shy about letting you know when you miss one. The feel on the toe and heel is noticeably firmer than it is on center.
Performance
Ask an accomplished player why they play blades and you’ll usually get one of two responses. They may tell you they prefer the strong, piercing ball flight. Alternately, you may hear that they want to be able to work the ball. Both of these are true about the Miura MB-001: the standard ball flight is bullet-like and the player’s control over the ball is absolute.
The thing that surprised me about the MB-001 is the high level of playability. My initial testing session was done on a launch monitor, and I was surprised to see how much ball speed and distance was retained on mishits. The expectation with blades is that even small mishits are severely punished, but that has not been my experience with the MB-001.
To state the obvious: these are not game improvement irons. If you hit the ball all over the face, you will pay the price. However, if you’re currently gaming a players iron like the PING iBlade, the difference is not jarring. Even if you’re not a scratch player, these irons are worth a test drive.
Conclusion
With two young daughters severely limiting my time on the course, I thought gaming blades was years away at best. After having the Miura MB-001 irons in the bag, however, I am reconsidering. Whatever the sacrifice is in forgiveness, I’m more than getting back in enjoyment of the look and feel of these clubs and the control over every shot.
Miura MB-001 Irons Price & Specs
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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Hi Matt,
Miura has a high reputation in forging golf irons.
Could you tell me which blade you prefer between PXG and Miura?
Did you find another blade that surpased the feel of the Miura blade?
Richard,
None of the PXG irons qualifies as a blade. The 0311T is, at best, a players iron.
Nothing I’ve used surpasses the MB-001.
Best,
Matt
These sound simply lovely! How do the MB-001’s compare to the iBlades in heel to toe length?
The MB-001 is shorter heel to toe. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s easily noticeable when they’re next to each other.
Best,
Matt
How close would the Hogan FT Worths be in feel and performance
Jason,
The Ft. Worth is more forgiving. Feel is subjective, but for me the Miura is superior.
Best,
Matt
So why the 125s this time around? How do they compare to your former TI s400? And please don’t reference me to the reviews, as the 125 were reviewed by Bill.
Jordan,
I’ve enjoyed the Modus shafts for a while and just decided to give them a shot on a semi-regular basis. The 125 is the closest thing I’ve found to the DG, but the feel is better.
Best,
Matt
Thanks, will these indefinitely replace the iBlades?
Jordan,
Living in Chicago, snow has indefinitely replaced all the clubs until April. I’ll be hitting both off mats for the foreseeable future.
Best,
Matt
I’m a 2.7 handicap with the strength of my game being my irons. You must have been having a good day because i’ve hit these extensively and the are not forgiving – In fact I find the MP4 easier to strike primarily due to the longer paddle and slightly more offset. I recently moved from the S55 to the iBlade. Orders of magnitude more playable. Not even in the same class IMHO.
John,
I played them again today – 36 hours removed from a gruesome battle with food poisoning – and the results were spectacular.
I was playing with a friend who also games Miura blades from time to time, and we discussed how some people don’t hit them well because they’re not comfortable with the look. This is something we intend to investigate further: are there objective benefits to larger club heads, more offset, perimeter weighting, etc, or is it primarily about comfort and preference.
Best,
Matt
Hi Matt,
I think you have a very good point in your preceding paragraph.
Confidence is a major element in playing blade.
Some golfers feel confortable with oversize irons and offset other dont.
Some golfers are lucky to have a swing that catch the ball in the middle of the face or near the middle more often than the others.
Very nice review of these beautifull blade.
I can’t tell any difference in the Miura and the older Nike Victory Red Tiger Woods blades. I have read that Miura actually made the irons for Tiger Woods and Nike struck a deal to put their logo on the clubs. At any rate, they feel identical.
I compared the Miura 7-P to the 716 AP2 7-P and I found almost no difference in distance and forgiveness. I was very surprised given the AP2 has a cavity and tungsten weights. Standing over the club the AP2 almost looked GI compared to the true blade look of the Miura. Feel of the Miura was better than the AP2 but as Matt says, that is subjective. Hopefully this helps someone. I am a 9 HC and someone will tell me I have no business hitting blades but I find them more fun to play with in the shorter irons. Long irons, umm no.
i am a 23 HC and i as well am constantly told “i have no business hitting blades ” even though i am more consistent and have better results in the landing area with blades. ( but i continue to let myself get talked into ” something more suitable for my HC”). maybe a set of these at the end of the season :)
Bought them awhile ago. I love the weight of the club head(heavy). I just bring a club back wait until I feel it in my back swing and just bring it back down, Swoosh…. nice flight with that pure forged feel.
If I play the pxg 0311t
How much of an adjustment would these be in distance and forgiveness?
Ken,
Distance is hard to say (depends on fit), but you will lose a noticeable amount of forgiveness.
Best,
Matt
How do the mb001 compare to the tournament blades?
Oscar,
I don’t have much experience with the tournament blades, so I can’t give you an educated answer.
Best,
Matt
Hi Matt,
I know you bag the CB-1008 and have tested the MB-001. I recently put CB-1008s in my bag for testing but am contemplating a MC-501 (5-6 or 7)/MB-001 (7 or 8-PW) combo. Since you have played the CB and the MB, would you say the MBs are noticeably more difficult to hit in the shorter irons than the CBs?
I am coming off 716 T-MBs and am definitely drawn to Miura now. The club, turf, ball interaction seems effortless while maintaining or gaining distance over the T-MBs while flying more precisely than the T-MBs.
Thanks
Mucho,
There is a gap in forgiveness, but in the short irons, it’s not huge. If you have the game for the 1008, I don’t think it’s a big leap to the MB-001.
Best,
Matt
Since returning to golf after a 2 decade layoff (I’m somewhat old and decrepit) I have been a PXG devote and of all the PXG clubs I like the best (and have the most off) are their extreme darkness forged wedges. However a colleague plays Miura MB001 and and I had the opportunity to play – I now have 60 & 54 degree Miura z-grind 2.0 and a MB001 PW weakened to 49 degrees (I preferred this to the Y and Z grind wedges at this loft) — this is my gap wedge to the 46 degree PXG PW — All my Miura wedges are fitted with Nippon Modus 3 125 wedge shaft xx stiff – which in testing provided the best results for me – as did swing weighting the 55&60 to D7 – I use a GP CP2pro midsize constant .6 round grips which are quite heavy and so we use heavy lead tape to rebalance all my clubs.
I have Aerotech Steelfiber 80 shafts on my MB001s. What do you think of this combination? I find them extremely accurate. Mishits feel bad, but the ball still goes where you expect.
Howard,
If they work for you, that’s all that matters.
Best,
Matt
Matt, great review as always. I’m currently gaming miura 501 cb, I’m playing to a 7 hcp. As someone who has swung the 501 and the 001, are the blades significantly less forgiving than the cb’s? Not that the 501’s are really forgiving at all. I’m fighting the urge to go get those magnificent looking blades. Appreciate any feedback, thanks Paul Brown
Paul,
Have a look at this: https://pluggedingolf.com/should-you-play-blades/
Best,
Matt