This is definitely a "vintage model 14." I borrowed these pictures from another site and I'm going to give my iopinion about this knife because a discussion of its features is very instructive.
This knife was posted with a request to identfy its age. Two anomolies were in the original post... the original owner was identified as being 82nd Abn KIA in Vietnam in 1967, and the wait time for this knife was stated to be 1 year.
The 82nd Abn wasn't deployed into Vietnam until February, 1968 in response to TET
(I'm pretty sure about this but haven't checked it out... relying on memory). The wait time for a Solingen blade, particularly at the time this knife was made should have been negligible. However, neither statement is truly a problem... the 82nd was feeding other units with replacement personnel long before that actual unit deployed, and a wait time could easily be explained by personal circumstances
Age estimates from several knowledgeable collectors varied widely. Joe Dorsky was closest in my opinion (not surprising) with an estimate of 1962. There is no question this knife is early '60s but my guess is the knife was sold in early-mid 1963 for reasons I'll discuss, and I believe that date is pretty spot-on with little wiggle room.
A Randall knife has three different age dates. 1. When the blade was made or finished - determined by blade stamp, blade grind, choll shape, etc.; 2. when the knife was constructed - determined mainly by handle and spacers, hilt, hardware, etc.; and 3. when the knife was sold which is best determined by the sheath.
(But keep in mind that next to the stone, sheaths are most often swapped.) These dates are usually very close, though not always. Of course sheaths could be anomalous depending on supply.
This is a Solingen blade apparently an early one from the blade stamp. And the other characteristics of the knife itself are probably at latest early '60s, maybe late '50s. But remember that during this time period, fighters were not in demand, especially the cheaper Solingen blades. It would not be unusual for a big Solingen fighter to languish on the shelves ... in my opinion... and there are a lot of examples of this.
But what is most telling and interesting regarding the sale date of this knife is the brown button split-back sheath, which I assume is original to the knife. I have already posted a pictorial outline of the mystery and the quandary of split back sheaths. See last post on last page in the Magic Randall line for a full outline of the contradictions.
http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=57968
However this brown button sheath has tack harness rivets at the throat, an east facing Randall made stamp on the BACK of the sheath,
with model numbers. The keeper strap is close to edge of sheath, etc.
All the features say this was a Johnson made sheath. Johnson began making sheaths in late 1962. But in my opinion he did not began making split-backs until probably early-1963. And he didn't begin adding model number stamps to the Randall stamp on his sheaths until early-mid 1963. Therefore, I conclude this knife was sheathed and sold no sooner than early-mid 1963 which is possibly just on the margin of Johnson's use of brown buttons. if the knife had been sold just a little earlier, 1962, it would likely to have had a Heiser HKL sheath probably with lift the dot keeper snap.
I don't think the date would be much later than that, early-mid 1963, because of the brown buttons, and because I
think C model sheaths, split backs, began being stamped on the front of the sheath rather than the back no later than late-1963. That last statement is based on an impression developed by looking at pictures of lots of split-back sheaths... but the science has not been done and the mystery of the split back makes it all problematic until a rational theory or story is offered, so take it for what it is worth.
That is my opinion... and as usual I share my reasoning and welcome comments and rebuttals.