I think the stepped choil is just a throw back to what Bo had been doing pre-war and prior to making fighters. In other words, when he made the decision to offer Hunter’s during the war, he ground the blades in similar fashion to what he had been doing prior to the war with some changes that reflect a bit of a early fighter influence. Hence the occasional comparison to a Commando grind. The difference is there weren't too many if any made with pre-war style fancy handles or spacers during war time, almost solely (sorry) leather, so no need for the fancier stepped choil any longer. The change Ron describes in the photo out of Gaddis is mid-1944, after Bill Platts had been at the shop for awhile. Arriving in Jan 1944, Platts quickly achieved some standardization in blade grinds and lengths.

Torres’ knife could be a couple of things. It got a bit messed up and they choil was enlarged beyond the norm for the time. It is a bit later than the two of Ron’s and is on the way to the standard design depicted in the catalog photo, or it could even be after the catalog photo. A different guy ground this one and the other and wanted to 'dress them up' a bit. Who knows? There just isn’t a way to determine exactly what went on each day 66 years ago in a small shop in what was then nowhere Florida. I don’t think it is any great design plan, just an evolution towards consistency.

The two in Ron’s photo probably represent some earlier leather handled Hunter’s offered during the war period. Gaddis states the first had blades in the Scagle style as depicted in itme #9 in the catalog pictured on page 59 of his book. Ron has one or two of these I believe in Moore sheaths. It would stand to reason that the Heiser sheathed knives were a tad later, possibly no more than a mont or two. I don't think there was a landslide of Hunter orders coming through the door, so the delivery of Hunter's in Heiser sheaths probably happened rather quickly.