Thanks Ron... a quandary might still exist. If both snaps on this sheath are the same, either Randall installed an identical baby dot snap on the keeper of this sheath, and had that snap available in inventory, OR ... Heiser installed both keeper and stone pocket snaps on this sheath.
The first choice would require the substitute BDs to be available at both Heiser and Randall shops. The second choice would mean new information (however minor) about installation of the
handle keeper snap.
Truth is, we are pretty positive Randall always installed the keeper snap on the cross guard type straps, but are we sure about the handle type? This is backed up by Mr. Randall's correspondence, other testimony, example sheaths, etc. However it is also true that Mr. Randall was sometimes mistaken in his memory of events.
One such example is in Hunt;
Randall Military Models, p. 292 which shows a portion of a letter from Mr. Randall. In it he writes:
"... seems to have changed in about 1954 when we figured the 'Baby Durable Dot'
fastener was stronger (Held better). The others were merely heaviest Glove fasteners available, not really durable enough - so the change, but no longer able to have the name on top of them." It is certain that the change to baby dots occurred in 1963, not 1954... so the letter has just a slip of his memory... not a big deal but it does show that memories are not infallible.
Re: BB vs BD. I tried to make a BB snap connect with a BD snap... nope, they do not connect.
So perhaps a different machine would have been required, but I'm not sure that the "expense" was the reason for Heiser not installing one. Obviously, Randall installed one in their shop and it was economically justified .... and surely they did fewer leather connections than did Heiser. And certainly it was economically feasible for Mr. Johnson to install a machine. The economic argument for Heiser doesn't look particularly strong.
I suspect that there was a looming shortage of brown button snaps, or the price for them was going up ... or perhaps the manufacture was being discontinued. And at the same time Randall was moving away from Heiser to Johnson.
If there were a price change or shortage of brown button stamps, it would have then made good sense for Johnson/Randall to just cut Heiser off and to heck with the logo. This scenario would fit into other things we know about this time. The main point being that Johnson
and the shop went to the BDs very shortly after Johnson took over all sheath manufacture at the end of 1962, early 1963.
The great thing about Gaddes' book is that he did original research, confirming things by examining the record as well as interviews. But... he told me that he really didn't pay that much attention to sheaths because Randall didn't pay much attention to them. Mr. Randall was in the knife business, not sheath business.
Anyway, the quandary about this particular sheath could still remain. The BD snaps look like true baby dots on the surface, both stone pocket and keeper... but perhaps I can compare them. Thanks for the input Ron.