Hi Guys,

i need some dagger experts to chime in on this one. I included as many detailed photos as I could, covering the key areas of concern. This is a transitional Eickhorn with the rat tail logo (only produced in 1939 I believe)...and I have some possible issues.

Yes, I know the dagger is sheathed incorrectly...

1. The fit and finish. I understand the wood grip can shrink and produce gaps at the crossguards, but these gaps look a little too much to me. There is fair uniformity to the gaps and this being an RZM model perhaps this is normal?

2. The crossguard cuts. These don't look deep and hand finshed.

3. The blade shoulders fit nicely to the crossguard and the crossguard is cut out perfectly to fit the blade.


Anything about this look off or set off warning bells?

The eagle is zinc?

That is my guess as well, quite tarnished.

The other thing I noticed is the "triangle" of grip at the lower crossguard end. I've looked around and don't see many at all with that large triangle.

30 years ago many thought these were fakes.

They are difficult to categorize because they vary a bit. The trademark can be found lower down, the eagle can be nickel or zinc, and I've seen guards like these and ... I think ... nickel.

My guess is that Eickhorn was in transition to the full RZM daggers and was using the last of some old parts and some new ones too.

I think it is real .. but want to hear more.

Dave

To throw more question marks on this variant...is it possible that Eickhorn sub-contracted to a third party as part of a rush production run? I mean, the rat tail variant was not produced in large numbers so maybe Eickhorn had some kind of work stoppage or difficulty that took some time to remedy???

We will probably never know.

We can say what we want about late war quality control however I have particular issue with the cut of the handle both top and bottom Even with gaps (which do not bother me) the handle should still perfectly match both the upper and lower grip contours. IMO they do NOT match here and the pictures supplied clearly show this.......therefor either the handle or the crossguards are not original to the remainder of the dagger. I can find no issue with the blade nor the scabbard. cheers and best, Ryan

EJM,

I do not think the Nazis had "work stoppages" from what I have read of their tenure in Germany. And, this is well before serious bombing would have disrupted factories or supplies.

That said, every manufacturer used subcontractors. The big guys, like Eickhorn, did quite a bit in-house, while the small guys were more assembler than manufacturers.

Ryan,

You are right. Anomalies and questions everywhere. The least of which is why they used that rat squirrel.