I obtained this lantern many years ago, not long after I started collecting. I thought that it was a military 305, but it turns out that it's made up of parts from several periods. It was probably cobbled together in the Army stores, they did a lot of that, a working lantern was what was important, which is true! Anyway, I restored it and it's a decent lantern, Jeff.
Well, I think that's the beauty and the curse of Willis & Bates output! Because they got the design right from the outset there was no need to change it drastically so, generally speaking, all the major parts fit all the lanterns. Hence, hybrids are very common! As you say, I think the military serviced these in batches, so, on reassembly, all the parts became mixed. They weren't fussed as long as the lantern still worked!
