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  #16  
Old 02-15-2012, 10:48 AM
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Jack!

Your story is just a fantastic read! What a tale of you and your Randall's life in action.

For you to be involved in so much history fighting for freedom around the world is a testament to your courage and determination to help the good guys win out.

I'm sure that your "Magic Randall" was looking out for you throughout all of the dangers that you faced.

Thanks for posting this "incredible" story and the corroborating photographic evidence.

Cheers!

David

P.S. Having such an adventure filled life, I can see why you were "bored last night".

P.P.S. Seriously Jack, thanks for the great post!


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  #17  
Old 02-15-2012, 11:13 AM
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Jack...intriguing Bio, and I can only sum it up with a quote from 'Gonzo' Hunter S. Thompson.

?Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the narrow confines of most men's reality. Weird heroes and mould-breaking champions exist as living proof to those who need it that the tyranny of 'the rat race' is not yet final.?
? Hunter S. Thompson, The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time


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  #18  
Old 02-15-2012, 02:47 PM
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Jack,

That was both entertaining and educational. I think you missed your calling! If you hadn't, then Tom Clancy would have sold fewer books

Thanks and best,

Ron
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  #19  
Old 02-15-2012, 06:39 PM
Alberta Al Alberta Al is offline
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Jack,

Thanks for the great post.

Alan Grombacher
RKS#5531
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  #20  
Old 02-15-2012, 08:16 PM
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Jacknola Jacknola is offline
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Thank you all for the positive reaction. I was a little apprehensive, posting that whimsy, not knowing how some would react. On another forum, some regulars were not so generous to allow someone new to ramble on... Did I mention that my middle name is "Flashman?" (not "Gump").

Ron, I hope I summarized your fine explanation about the progression of the model-1 blade and choll during that period '50s to about '63. If I misunderstood, I hope you will set me straight.

Actually, portions of that story have a lot of truth in them, just stretched and re-arranged, and many of the pictures are real. One thing that I hope becomes apparent... how often we faced Cuban troops around the world during the "cold" war. One day, I hope someone details those confrontations and that Cuba eventually is freed. In the meantime, we should not forget that Cuba was the source of much hot, direct military trouble in the world from Angola to Granda to Nicaragua and 10 other countries.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note that Lonny (Dr. Lewis) Holmes is now retired and is a mover and shaker in the S. California Special Forces association. He is the prime mover in an incredible pistol competition that draws teams from everywhere and the prize list is simply phenominal. Col. Donlon, first MOH awardee in Vietnam was at the competiton last year.

I just received this message from him about this year's competition ... note the reference to Randall.


From: lonny holmes
To:
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 1:11 PM
Subject: GB Shooters Cup

Ok guys, check these out. The Ad will be in the Spring and Summer DROP.

We will have a feature article in the Soldier of Fortune Mag in the next coupla months. Also, the magazine, American Handgunner will have a coupla short pieces on the Oct 13 2nd Annual event!

We may get a Delta Team, one of our guys served with the CSM there and we are in negotiations. Another SF CSM at Bragg is having a shoot-off to get his best 5 guys and send them out. Sniper School has budgeted for a team to compete. I also spoke with senior NCO at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) at Benning to get a team. Time will tell.

We have more sponsors' already, more than all of last year combined. Magpul gave us 200 5.56 mags for prizes and several companies are talking of donating a rifle. LaRue Tactical will become a Range C-O Sponsor at 3K, just to name a few.

Now all I need is to get a "Randall" donated to MY Collection. Ha, Ha...


Lonny

Last edited by Jacknola; 03-19-2012 at 10:54 AM.
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  #21  
Old 02-17-2012, 03:16 PM
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Quote:
Jack said:

Did I mention that my middle name is "Flashman?" (not "Gump").
Jack, you are indeed the "Flashman" of the late 20th century!

When I told my wife about your story, she immediately said: "That sounds just like Flashman".

We have both read all of George MacDonald Fraser's books in the series and really enjoyed them. I highly recommend these historical novels.

Maybe I should be calling you Harry from now on...

Cheers!

David

P.S. The only problem I had with your terrific tale was there were no exotic women that you seduced (or vice-versa), but perhaps you are saving those stories for another day.

P.P.S. For those of you unfamiliar with the Flashman series, please see here: Flashman


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  #22  
Old 02-17-2012, 07:07 PM
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OHHHHHHH LOL ... you want the smarmy details.. humm, that will have to wait for the long version novel.. I have a few wayward incidents in my past... not all of which I am particularly proud, but... er .... interesting.

The Flashman series is the greatest set of books ever, for pure reading pleasure, and for understanding the 19th C British world, as they are heavily footnoted and historically accurate. I used Frasier's books as the inspiraton for this little story of the magic-Randall ... that and Lord of the Rings, and Kipling, etc. When McD Frasier died last year, we were all looking around saying... "but what about the handshake from General Lee, Gettesburg, getting the MOH from Linclon, etc.?

By the way, in case I havn't mentioned it, I really like this knife... Regards, Jack
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  #23  
Old 03-17-2012, 11:50 AM
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Pinned wood handles

Re: Pinned wood handles. Rock Whitaker posted three pinned wood handled knives on the knifetalk forum ... here is a link:

http://www.knifetalkforums.com/ubbth...true#Post94643

He asked for other pinned wood handled knives, and the response was underwhelming. I've borrowed some of his pictures to post here so the model 1-7 has some friends. Rocky's pinned wood knives seem to range from 1940s (?) to late 50s (?)... (note: I'm not qualified to "pin" down those dates).

Given that other makers were routinely using multiple pins in their handles, it is interesting that Randall did not use more than one (special exceptions of course), and mostly with stag and ivory, not often with wood handles. This could raise some technical issues about gluing calcium(?)-based products vs wood, and why pin those and not wood. No big deal, but the engineer in me is curious.




Last edited by Jacknola; 07-27-2017 at 01:13 PM.
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  #24  
Old 03-17-2012, 10:12 PM
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Great story and pics!

As for why Randall might choose not to pin, take a look at your last picture - where is the crack?

If the wood isn't stabilized, it can shrink and expand depending on moisture. A tight pin will result in a crack at that spot.


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  #25  
Old 03-18-2012, 12:42 PM
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Jack,

During the two decades that Randall pinned handles (1937-1957), wood was just not a popular handle material like it is today. As I mentioned earlier, wood handles in the pinned era are rare as hens teeth. That 4-7 of Rocky's is '47 or '48. I can't remember seeing another 40's Randall with a wood handle, although I'm sure others are out there.

Bo pinned (non leather) handles from the get-go because the natural resin he used would not adequately secure the tang to the handle alone. He therefore had to further stabilize the assembly with two large diameter brass pins:



Note: Bo's inspiration for knifemaking came from a knife he saw made by William Scagel. "Old Bill" used pins to secure his handles, so it was natural for Bo to follow suit:



However, he found out early on that the differences in thermal coefficients of expansion between the metal pins and the organic handle materials (elk, whitetail or stag horn) would sometimes result in a cracked handle, especially those with smaller diameters (As the temperature increased, the metal would expand faster than the organic). In those cases he used smaller diameter pins:




During WWII, most of the knives Bo produced had leather handles. The few with horn also had two large diameter pins:



When Bo brought out his new line of postwar knives in the summer of 1945, the first of these with stag handles had two small diameter pins:



Two pins post war were short lived. Within just a month or so, Bo went to just one small diameter pin as a compromise between handle integrity and cracking:



Although ivory was not offered as a handle option until 1948, he used this material as early as late 1946 and soon learned that it was no different in terms of TCE stresses and cracked handles.



Cracked organic handles (Stag, ivory & wood) as a result of pinning continued to plague Bo until he converted to an epoxy resin in ~ 1957. This new adhesive was strong enough to secure the handle without the additional support of a pin.

Hope this info helps a bit.

Best,

Ron

Last edited by BoBlade; 03-20-2012 at 12:19 PM.
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  #26  
Old 03-18-2012, 01:04 PM
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Thanks, Tex and Bo... what an excellent scientific explanation. That is also the best cronologic summary on the subject I've seen. It hadn't occured to me that the use of wood handles in the 40s and 50s in general was infrequent.

Those are really incredibly interesting and beautiful old knives Ron, I'm envious. Regards.

Last edited by Jacknola; 11-11-2012 at 11:59 PM.
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  #27  
Old 03-18-2012, 01:41 PM
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Glad I could help out, Jack. I just made an edit to include a reference to William Scagel, as Bo was heavily influenced by what he did.

Thanks for your complement on my knives (Some I still have, some I don't). It took me a long time and a fair amount of luck and legwork to find them.

Last edited by BoBlade; 03-18-2012 at 01:50 PM.
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  #28  
Old 03-19-2012, 11:01 AM
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Ron, I'm really greatful for you sharing your research and knowledge. It cleared up some fundamental misconceptions I had. Furthermore, your pictorial summary is so good I bet it would make a great article for one of the magazines.

After a pretty decent search, I could not find another on-line cronology of that subject. Though it may be common knowledge for the core of major collectors, it is not for those of us with a more casual association with the hobby. Thanks again.
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  #29  
Old 03-19-2012, 11:26 AM
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Ron...
Very informative...images and dialog together...that even an 'old hillbilly' like me can understand.


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  #30  
Old 03-19-2012, 12:49 PM
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Jack,

To my knowledge, there is no published information on the chronology of pins in any of the Randall books. There are some snippets on pins in the archives of most of the Randall forums, but I think that's about it. I'm glad to share what I (think I) know, especially if it serves to facilitate interest in old Randalls.

Rex,

Glad you liked the write up. By the way, I had a hillbilly friend in the Army tell me one time that "There are only two kinds of people in this world: Them that's hillbilly's and them that wishes they was hillbilly's"!

Best,

Ron

Last edited by BoBlade; 03-19-2012 at 03:57 PM.
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