Heer Dagger - Tiger

[weller]

Howdy guys. I wasn't really looking for a Heer dagger, but when I saw this one it seemed appropriate to add one to the dagger collection. Postman brought this earlier today and it looks like a nice one

Jeff

[zephyr4]

Very nice dagger love the handle colour.

z4

[weller]

Thanks z4, I too liked the pumpkin orange handle...different from the yellow types.

[dr73]

Hi Weller, it's a beautiful dagger. But, although the grip is spectacular, I don't think it was originally married to this dagger. The grip is a socalled slant grip (or type A), which was used in the early production period of german army daggers. The rest of the fittings are from a later period since all the other parts are generic parts. Also the blade has the later style trademark. Here's a picture of my tiger army dagger with the first style trademark.

Danny

[weller]

Hi Danny, thanks for the information. I thought the Tiger mark was a later type from looking at the threads here. Interesting about the handle. The fit and finish are all very nice and tight, and I got it for a good price from one of the "better" dealers. Looks cool in the small collection, but will investigate the handles better in the future...the blade caught most of my attention...

[heers68]

Have to agree with Danny, I have never seen a slant grip mated to a type "A" generic guard that I felt OK with.. great condition blade though! Kevin.

[big ned]

Here's a few shots of my Tiger's grip, crossguard and pommel, is this more inline with what is expected to be seen by this maker? The grip colour is also very similar, being a darker shade in hand than the photo's imply.

Regards, Ned.

[weller]

Thanks for the information and examples guys. I had a lengthy discussion with Danny on Saturday about this dagger, different era handles etc. The dagger is in great shape and the blade is excellent. As for the handle, I might track down the more appropriate type and switch this one out. Why someone would put an older, and more valuable, handle on this nice Tiger is a bit strange.

[Wagriff]

The original could have gotten cracked or broken, so someone salvaged an even nicer grip from a less than perfect other dagger-perhaps one that was reduced to being simply parts. It could even, theoretically, have been done by the original owner, but more than likely was from a postwar fix. No doubt the person that did it thought that they were fortunate in finding such a nice grip and was quite satisfied with their results. To them, a grip is a grip, I suppose. I have to admit, aside from it being incorrect for the time and era, it Does look fine.

[weller]

I'll most likely get a correct grip for the dagger. The rest of the dagger has a great fit and finish so the only real "issue" is the older grip. Thanks for the info.