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Old 12-11-2010, 03:28 PM
bk43 bk43 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 29aholic View Post
I actually had a Randall dealer tell me it was a fake one time...
I don't see anything fake about your knife. Although there is no way to be exactly sure, there are very likely a couple things that make the knife unique. It is from among the first made with the Stainless mark on the ricasso parallel to the hilt. It is also among the first made in what is today called the "14 Room". This is a former coffee break room that was converted to production in 1964 to help meet the demand from Nam fighters for 14s, 15s, 17s and 18s. Solingen blades were quite popular on the knives made there as the lead time was only 6 weeks as opposed to a year and a half and they were cheaper than the Randall forged blade. The knife was designed with the Mercury astronauts and ordered by NASA for them to carry in space.

The Solingen bladed Randall is not rare as there were somewhere around 6,000 made. BUT, they are certainly sought after and command a premium. The age yours is and the provenance certainly makes it worth a lot more than the average Astro.

Bob
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