the snap on the keeper appears to be offset a bit that lends itself to appearing larger but not by much if it is at all.
Joe,
I took measurements on half a dozen Heiser and Johnson sheaths: The keeper strap widths are
all 9/16" (Within a negligible tolerance), and the baby dot snaps on the Johnson sheaths are exactly 1/2" (Again within a negligible tolerance). I'm asking you to look again at the 1-6 photos below. I went to the auction and took the two best angles from each side. As you can see, there is
no way that snap is 1/2" in diameter if the width of the strap is 9/16":
You are completely discounting Gaddis and to say that HKL (not Heiser as we know it) had a press for the "larger" Baby Dot that was not even a thought PRIOR to Johnson's suggestion to Bo, Gary, and Bill to make the change, is more than a big reach.
Not the case at all, Kemosabe! I'm quoting Gaddis:
The snap installation machine at Heiser would not accept this stronger Baby Dot fastener, at least not without costly modification. Gaddis doesn't say
why it would not accept it. It could be any number of reasons! We'll never know. One thing we do know is that you can't rule out size. I have a circa 1950 Heiser leather 300 Mag cartridge carrier. Pics below:
As you can see, it has a painted steel snap in the same domed configuration as a Baby Dot and is 9/16" in diameter! So Heiser WAS tooled for a 9/16" steel snap!
By your logic, HKL "suggested" or "experimented" with the change well before Johnson made the change. So using that same logic, why is there a 3-4 year period where HKL continued to use the inferior brown button when the Baby Dot was available to them but the change only came about because of Johnson?
The snaps you mention from 1950 are a totally different animal. Not apples to apples.
I'm not going to refer to the later operations of Heiser as "HKL". Yes, the company changed ownership, but there is no evidence that the facility, equipment, operation and personnel were tampered with. From a Randall collectors perspective, a Heiser sheath is a
Heiser sheath whether made in 1945 or 1960! With regard to your question: How plausible is this scenario: Johnson had equipment to fasten a 1/2" diameter steel snap, but not a 9/16" diameter snap. Why would Bo pay to have Heiser tool up for 1/2" when he could maintain status quo for a finite period of time? So yes: We're talking apples to apples!
Request to anyone reading this thread and buys the 1-6 in question: Can you please let us know the diameter of the snaps. That will give us a lot more to go on. If I eat crow, it won't be the first time.
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