DRK leaders

[Ostmaerker]

I had some sparetime and decided to take some pictures and do a comparison between 2 DRK-leaders. One made by Lüneschloss (right) and Klaas (left).

At first sight you spot the 2 different crossguards, the one on the right is wider.

Take a look at the eagles with the cross, Lüneschloss has much more details.

The srew at the end of the handle is straigth on the Klaas and a bit rounder on the Lünschloss.

Different srews are used on the scabbard.

At the end of the scabbard you can notice the differnt stylings very good.

The blades are always unmarked, in comaprison, the hewer´s are always marked "ges.gesch."

Please take your time to find some more small details, there are still plenty.

And take a look at the 3rd possible design-type, the scabbard with the srew.

Thank you very much for reading and have fun with the pictures.

Ostmaerker

[Ostmaerker]

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[Ostmaerker]

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[Ostmaerker]

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[Serge M.]

Quite apparent in the detail of the Luneschloss crossguard Eagle is crisp, the cross is wider and the swas appears thicker and better detailed.

Nice comparison for collector study.


-wagner-

[Wim Vangossum]

I agree. Nice to see the little differences between two makers.

Regards, Wim

[Ron Weinand]

But who made the one with the screw at the tip of the scabbard? I don't think it was Klaas or Luneschloss, Eickhorn??
Also, the Klaas material appears better and Luneschloss can develop stress cracks in the hilt fittings and the scabbards are more prone to rust IMO.

[Ron Weinand]

Also, I am not sure you don't have them identified in reverse. I think the Klaas is one the right. Compare the DRK hewers where we know who the manufacturer is and then compare them to the officers (especially the crossguards) and I think you will see what I am seeing.

[Ostmaerker]

Excuse me Ron, I took a picture of the leaders and the Hauers I have, and I named them.
Am I relly wrong here? The Hauer right has the screws in the scabbard, but as they come in both scabbards, this is no safety...

Ostmaerker

[Ron Weinand]

I have found that PDL daggers and hewers have poor metal base for the crossguards and reflect cracking over time like the two on the right in your comparison photos. This is not found in Klaas DRKs.
Also, Klaas scabbards have the screws in bottom fitting on the hewer and SOME PDL DRK Leaders have a P stamped in the flat area on the blade tang to help id the manufacturer.
This is not to say that some collector or veteran in the past might not have switched scabbards. Just my opinion and observations of many veteran acquired DRKs over the years.

[patrice]

Hope this is not a dumb question but how in the world can we tell which makers these daggers were from ????????? There's no maker marked anywhere ?

[Ron Weinand]

Some DRK hewers are marked PDL on the tang under the grip plates and, as stated above, some leader daggers have a P stamped on the tang.
Klaas was the only company to have produced a prototype hewer that was firm marked and is known to have had a contract with the DRK

[patrice]

Get it, thanks !

[Frogprince]

Some really nice condition daggers with the added bonus of accessories - these are outside of my regular areas. But still interesting to me because you can see the manufacturing differences by the makers. With the one in the first post on the right side looking like it might be a die casting(?) whereas the one the left is not quite as well defined. Am I on the right track? I also remember a while back coming across some period information where it stated that zinc itself was made by a limited membership guild. And that as it lost skilled workers to the military buildup (even before the onset to hostilities) the quality of the metal went down. Could that be a factor with the cracking that Ron mentioned, or is it confined to just Luneschloss? FP

[Ron Weinand]

Not limited to just PDL; in other instances like WKC with crossguards on RLB Jr. and some small producers on M98 Dress Bayonet hilts.
This can also be seen on late war Naval pommels and crossguards to mention q few.
Ron