The V2 saber definitely has a long lever on it. We found pictures in the archives that show it clear as day both in Jedi, and in A New Hope on the Obi-Wan stunt saber.
On the real saber, the lever when opened leaves the band free to rotate around and up and down the shaft of the saber as can be witnessed in many pictures of Sir Alec holding it behind the scenes. This explains the inconsistency in the line up of the band with the weathering on the front and the rear pommel from pic to pic in Jedi.
The saber was cast hollow to allow for the insertion of the motor and the shaft to which the blade was attached. The whole emitter head spins above the small groove in the neck. The blade was attached by a set screw through the side of the emitter head. The area below the clamp that approximates the part from the WWII anti-aircraft gun, housed the switch mechanism (on/off) and the power cord exited the body of the saber just below here in the step down between pommel. The pommel is removable. It spins and changes orientation with the main body of the saber, explaining why the pommel cubes/D-ring are inconsistent scene to scene.
The odd sized rings on the body of the piece vary considerably around their circumference. The saber in cross section is NOT a true round profile. It's slightly ovoid in profile due to the casting process used, most noticeable on the center section beneath the graflex band where the bands height is inconsistent around the diameter of the saber body.
The weathering changes throughout the movie as more black paint gets worn off from handling the prop. It's beat to hell and back.
The "shared stunt" or the saber painted to resemble the Luke Jedi "hero" that most people have seen pics of, features the usual graflex band and lever put on in reverse and has three holes drilled through it. This saber is, I believe, the one Luke wears when climbing up the side of Jabba's sail barge. I have a clearer pic of that and it's definitely the centre band from the "shared stunt".
I personally theorize that this saber may have been altered post production to more closely match the "hero" piece. The foil wrapped around its neck that has been painted bright copper, hides a black/brown copper beneath. The bright silver foil wrapped around the emitter head is directly over black paint. This may possibly have occurred when the various props first started travelling on exhibition to avoid confusion as to whose saber it was meant to be? But I have no definite proof.
A close examination of the saber reveals it was once painted black and dark brown/copper from its days as an Obi-Wan stunt.
On the MR replica saber the "idealization" was pretty minimal. We chose the picture of it sitting on the Emperor's chair arm and decided to do it in that configuration with regard to the line up of the cone knob, the clamp and the weathering. We measured consistently along one side of the saber for our inconsistent rings and all other length measurements. The saber is round in cross section. The uneven pommel cubes are evenly spaced. The band has stripes, but NO graflex logo. That is not allowed per MR's licensing agreement and never has been. It also doesn't feature the missing side bar, as that looks real ugly. I daresay some folks will rectify this when they get theirs. The cone knob features a very fine coin edge.
I think that's about it. It was great to be able to examine this piece in detail. This saber has been one of my favorites for donkey's years and I'm glad to finally be able to add it to my collection.
Barry