WWII Hunters - an update:

Several years ago I picked up what I thought may have been a pre-war forging that was handled during WWII. It had a small double cut choil, a two stage blade upsweep and a Randall stamp almost half way out from the hilt:




There was no mention or photos of such a grind in any publication, although a knife owned by George Torres in Hunt's first book bore a vague resemblance. I've been collecting old Randalls long enough to know that what may generally assumed to be true at any given time is subject to change if more facts are brought to light. Last Friday at Blade another piece of the WWII Hunter puzzle walked up to Joe and my table. It is the bottom knife in this photo (The top knife is what I had thought was a pre-war forging).



They are similar enough for me to call them a different WWII Hunter "species"! The only published photo of a documented WWII Hunter comes from Bob Gaddis' book. Two of my WWII Hunters allign exactly with Bob's photo: Rudimentary choil and a "Scagelesque" grind:




Bob's photo:




So, they question arises: Which "species" came first, or were they made in parallel? The 6" Heiser sheaths are virtually identical, so doesn't help us. The double cut choil doesn't help us a George also owns a WWII Hunter with a double cut choil and an otherwise conventional Model 3 grind:



Looking at all four knives, the two with the two stage upsweep have "rougher" workmanship. Here is an example: The sides of the hilts on both were ground after they were soldered to the blade possibly indicating an earlier history:



As well, both hilts are "tilted forward" similar to many pre-war knives.

So............I'm now thinking the first WWII Hunters (From November '43) had a two stage upsweep and a double cut choil. Shortly thereafter this species died out and was replaced by the double choil and the Scagelesque grind like George's knife). Then came the rudimentary choil and the Scagelesque grind (as pictured in Gaddis' book) and then prior to the war ending you had the conventional (single large choil) post war Model 3 grind with the two exceptions they were made from 3/16" stock and had a brass nut and washer.

Please feel free to ask questions, poke holes or come up with your own scenarios. None of this is set in concrete and I may have an entirely different opinion next week

Best,