sealing ring of this type also provides some protection against wash out of metal on the edges of the counterbore 67 the operation of this drag blade bit should be apparent from the description of its component parts and method of assembly nevertheless it is useful to restate the operating characteristics of this novel drag blade bit to make its novel features and advantages clear and understandable the drag blade bit 10 as shown in the drawings and described above is connected to a drill string for drilling operation the threaded portion 24 of the connection sub 13 is threadedly connected in a drill collar the drill string is rotated in a conventional manner and drilling fluid drilling mud is circulated through the drill string into bit cavity and out through passages 25 and nozzle members 72 the rotation of drag blade bit 10 by the drill string accompanied by circulation of drilling fluid causes the bit to drill rapidly through clay gumbo shale and other soft formations in which blade bits are used the diamond cutters 57 are effective to cut and scrape through the softer formations and can even cut through some rock formations in which conventional blade bits cannot be used the hard facing 50 on the gage surface of the blade members and the hard facing beads 75 on the blade member cutting edges 42 prevent excessive wear on the blade members the drag blade bits of this design have an operating life many times that of conventional hard faced blade bits and even longer than blade bits faced with fine diamond particles the cutting or drilling efficiency of the bit is enhanced by the placement of the diamond cutters 57 along.