Lakeside, I hate to disagree, but due to numbers I have to disagree. I believe the aluminum ones came first and, due to the failure to hold up, the change to the steel scabbard occurred.
Aluminum became the metal of choice in the late 1930s, as is seen in Army, Luftwaffe and NSFK. Then the war caused changes as the metal became essential for the aircraft industry. This is why se see the change back to steel, especially in the army and Luft daggers.
Not every company used aluminum and you never see a late Eickhorn Army that isn't steel or the zinc junk.
What ever was used on the scabbards of the Railways was far superior to any other dagger scabbard finish of the period. IF it had been the first one used, they would have never changed to aluminum.
I also feel that the formed throat piece was much harder to manufacture and this is why it was used for such a short time and changed over the the added throat. Both silver plated, complaints on how these were holding up in the field caused the switch.
Also, the steel scabbards are found in mint condition much more often than the aluminum based ones (in fact I have yet to see a mint aluminum base formed throat piece IMO).
So if these were the later ones, why don't you see them in mint condition and where are the parts?
All the left over parts for these that I have seen over the years were the steel scabbard types (Johnson had some bodies and tips early on).
JMO,
Ron Weinand
Weinand Militaria
