Hey Hawk... and WELCOME to the board!
I have actually assembled EXACTLY what you seek in the way of research, and the actual model snare drums Buddy played from 1949 to 1979, or up until he left Slingerland if you will. Needless to say, BR's career spanned from 1919 to 1987... so ... that's a LOT of snare drums! I limited my collection to the most active period with regard to drum/equipment changes made by Buddy. So,
Our most gracious webmaster/host will be posting a graphic/link of the timeline showing my snare drums and when BR played them. Stay tuned!
Regarding your snare drum head query: Buddy was a staunch Remo Diplomat fan... the Diplomat was his head of choice almost exclusively. This would also include the bottom/resonant head as well. However!... ( there's always a however! ) ... there are exceptions here and there, probably due to not being able to find/procure Diplomats on occasion. In those cases, Remo Ambassadors were fitted on his snare drum. For 99.9% of the time though, Diplomats were it for Buddy!
Tommyp