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Sam, what I am suggesting is that all those original ricasso-stamped Solingen blades had three holes drilled in Germany, as per the blueprint specs given to the USNavy, as per the prototypes sent to Germany in May, 1954. However the middle hole was not used to install handles on the Solingen Tenites... The hole was simply ignored and only the two outside holes were used.
That is why I said if someone pulled a handle off a ricasso-stamped Solingen, whether Tenite or Micarta, they would probably find three holes, the center one being unused for anything. And that includes blades used for m17s and m18s (Joe noted that early m18s presumably using the ricasso-stamped Solingen blades had three holes in the tang). The only other alternative is that the shop itself drilled holes in the Solingens as needed. In that case, the blades came from Germany with no holes drilled in the tangs, and any Tenites made after some period, say late 1955, would not have an extraneous center hole.
I would suggest that the shop quit drilling three holes in their own Orlando blades as soon as it became apparent that there was not going to be a significant government contract... probably in later 1955. But of course the 500 each m14s and m15 Solingen blades had already been received.
Personally I think it possible that the first re-order of Solingens in 1963 continued to have three holes integral to the blades.. but shortly thereafter, once screws were not require the manufacture process was probably simplified eliminating the hole-drilling step. Again...I've found that what makes good business sense is the path that the shop usually followed.
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