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Interesting Slim's pointy sticks

JayTee

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That's cos you southern softies couldn't handle a two handed, nearly 6ft long sword. You're too used to doing things one handed. :D
Bloody porridge chompers, “mines bigger than yours, nah nah nah nah nah” it’s not the size of yer weapon that matters, it’s what you do with it that counts.
Reminds me of a mate who used to say “it’s not that big but it’ll easy have yer eye out if you’re not careful “.
 

slim63

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Now the German, this is interesting for different reasons to the others :)

This is a German produced Ersatz bayonet that has had a really hard life the latest it would have been made is 1912


Ersatz simply means replacement & they were meant as a stopgap in the rush to rearm before ww1

Identifying these is a right royal pain in the arse as there were many makers all over Germany at the start of ww1 some used captured blades from other armies some used older blades that had left service previously to ww1 & other simply used new blades


As you can see from these pics the condition is poor with damage to the scabbard, the grip & even the blade itself, the muzzle ring is loose the blade tang is bent so the blade is no longer inline with the grip, it could be battle damage it could be from a plough if it was dug up somewhere or it could just be misuse, it will never fit on a rifle again due to the grip & catch damage

Add to that some numpty over the last 100 odd years hit the blade with an angle grinder in an poor attempt so sharpen it :(




So by now you must be wondering why this is important or interesting to a collector considering the state of it ?
Well here is the reason in a crap pic


Unit marked to the 4th Ersatz machine gun company which is very rare, matching scabbard which is doubly rare and then some, without markings the thing its virtually worthless with them its value is 3 times the pittance I paid at the very least

During the 1990's loads of these were exported to Turkey so a lot were unit marked there but they are not original german stamps so easy to differentiate once you know........... this one is 100% genuine :thumbup:
 
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Cougar377

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Bloody porridge chompers, “mines bigger than yours, nah nah nah nah nah” it’s not the size of yer weapon that matters, it’s what you do with it that counts.
Reminds me of a mate who used to say “it’s not that big but it’ll easy have yer eye out if you’re not careful “.
Are we still talking about swords...?
 

slim63

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This French one surrendered to me this week :)


M1874 for the Gras rifle developed by Colonel Basile Gras hence the name, the bayonets were produced by Styer in Austria and at the French state arms plants



The blade is T shaped and nearly all have an inscription along the top of the spine detailing the factory, month & year of manufacture



I have not finished researching this one yet but from the spine I can read "de Belle Nous 1874" which translates to beautiful us and the date at the moment I cant read the first part so don't know where this particular one was made or who by but it does not gel with any of the known common inscriptions

Unit or rack numbers on the hooked quillion (curvy bit by the grip) tell me it was issued & a stamp on the ricasso could be the acceptance mark a number 2 on the other ricasso has me baffled at the moment but could be another inspection mark
 
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slim63

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And finally late as ever the Americans arrive in numbers :D

These are both 1917 Remington sword bayonets made at the factory in ilion, New York


Made for the 30-60 caliber us rifle of 1917 which were almost identical to the 1913 Enfield rifle they were still seeing us service well into the 1980's

Put it simply most British soldiers would recognize this as as the bayonet for the early Enfield's or later SMLE note the two grooves cut into the grips, this was for quick & easy identification in the dark or under pressure


Both of these are well marked up with the Remington name all the acceptance & inspector marks including the bend test X, the most recognizable mark being the famous Remington exploding bomb
Neither have unit marks

Going back to an earlier post there are as close to having a real edge as you are ever going to get on any bayonet of the period 17 inch of steel blade with an reasonable edge isn't something you would want to see coming your way I imagine especially if attached to a trench shotgun
 
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slim63

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One of the 1917 Remingtons is now up for grabs if any of you fine fellows know anybody who may be interested

Its had a mild clean & re-oil to protect it since the pics above new ones are available on request if there is any interest

Only for sale as something just popped up that I just have to have :)
 

slim63

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3 more pointy things :)



All private purchase from the 30's & 40's at an educated guess



The first is probably the most interesting, William Rodgers of Sheffield with a grip design I have never seen before in may years of looking, that one will take a bit of research

The second is also William Rodgers, the grip design is known as "wasp" with the narrow bands of brass, fairly common on these & not as rare as the ones with wide brass spacers, I had to buy this to get the first one, but am no way disappointed with it

The third is John Nowill & sons another well known Sheffield maker, this is a 3rd pattern replica of the original Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife that is still issued to commando's today, made in the 40's there is very little difference to an original issue one

I did well on these only paying half what they are really worth so while not bayonets or even military issue which is my main interest I am chuffed to bits
 

slim63

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Ernest Pack parade/dress bayonet KS98 with incorrect scabbard
I bought this as a birthday present to myself and at the time was unsure if it was a repro but it was cheap enough to not matter as the genuine K98 Horster scabbard was worth most of the asking price anyway :)



As it turns out the bayonet is absolutely correct but difficult to age as these dress bayonets are rarely date or unit marked, it could age from late ww1 on, used by german army, police, fire brigade etc to impress the ladies with shiny stuff, never had an edge & never issued for combat



Now I need to find the correct scabbard for this one and a K98 bayonet for the scabbard pictured :rolleyes:
 

Cougar377

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Ernest Pack parade/dress bayonet KS98 with incorrect scabbard
I bought this as a birthday present to myself and at the time was unsure if it was a repro but it was cheap enough to not matter as the genuine K98 Horster scabbard was worth most of the asking price anyway :)



As it turns out the bayonet is absolutely correct but difficult to age as these dress bayonets are rarely date or unit marked, it could age from late ww1 on, used by german army, police, fire brigade etc to impress the ladies with shiny stuff, never had an edge & never issued for combat



Now I need to find the correct scabbard for this one and a K98 bayonet for the scabbard pictured :rolleyes:
And the missus falls for that story, does she...? :eusa_whistle:
 

slim63

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The British taking a rest in the shade all that is missing from the picture is a cup of tea and it would be perfect


The long fellow is a much better 1907 SLME made by Sanderson in 1917 (cant see the month) this one replaces the one I posted earlier and I made a tenner on the deal (y)

Also in the pic is a quite rare RAF bail out machete, broad arrow marked and dated 1945, a commercial military pattern jack knife, a more modern issued military jack knife from 1979 and a rare number 5 single screw WSC that deserves a post all of its own :)
 

slim63

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Carrying on with the theme ......

Operation Sea Lion never got off the ground which was a good thing at the time but i am quite glad a few Germans finally reached the midlands :)


Of interest here is the K98 on the left, made by Ernest Pack and Sohne of Solingen Germany its close relation to the dress bayonet next to it that you have seen before, the differnce being this one is the real deal and will have seen active service, the scabbard that goes with it has matching numbers so they were kept together from the day they were stamped before being issued, that makes quite a difference to the value believe it or not

Then there is this
Note some absolute testicle has polished the original paint off the scabbard :mad:


its a Bundeswher kampfmesser, these were issued to East German soldiers from the 1960's to the 1990's, the kissing Crane knife stamp tells me this particular one was made by Robert Klaas in Solingen Germany and the 70 tells me it was made in 1970
You have to be very careful buying these as the fiendishly clever chinky chonks made a load of copies of them in the 80's but as usual got a couple of things wrong so when you know what to look for its easy enough to spot the fakes, this one is absolutely correct (y)
 
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slim63

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Last for now and just for interest is one I caught then released back into the wild



A totally unmarked unused Fireman's dress bayonet, probably made in the 90's but there is no way of telling, i originally thought this was a reproduction (the bane of every collectors life) but no its exactly correct as was issued for parades up until very recently, i took a punt at it for repro money and as i turned out its spot on, took a couple of weeks research but eventually i sold it cheap but still made enough to buy the next thing i will show you in a while
 

slim63

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A bit of a jewel this one W.S.C (wilkinson sword company) made for the number 5 mk1 Lee Enfield 303, or the Sterling submachine gun, these are a little unusual as the wooden grips wrap completely around the tang unlike most bayonets of the period



Its a dinky little thing that feels great in the hand and its a very early one as can be evidenced by the single grip fixing screw, i cant stress how hard it is to find a "jungle carbine" bayonet like this much less a single screw factory cutdown like mine (muzzle ring and locking catch removed for fighting knife use)

This is one of those been there done that blades the edge on this is quite sharp but does not look to be a recent job as the patina is the same as the rest of the blade, this would have seen service in Malaysia, Burma or similar places
Its fully marked with all its original stamps W.S.C and the S294 dispersal code best of all the scabbard has the matching rack numbers and you know what that means :D
 

slim63

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Last thing for tonight before I bore you all silly :D
This Gras bayonet i posted before had now been replaced with one in much better condition from 1877, much better markings much clearer inspection stamps and much cleaner(read more valuable) (y)
This French one surrendered to me this week :)


M1874 for the Gras rifle developed by Colonel Basile Gras hence the name, the bayonets were produced by Styer in Austria and at the French state arms plants

3 more pointy things :)



All private purchase from the 30's & 40's at an educated guess



The first is probably the most interesting, William Rodgers of Sheffield with a grip design I have never seen before in may years of looking, that one will take a bit of research
After some research I now understand the first dagger in the above pic, the grip is much thinner than the other more standard type and the pommel is made of Bakelite all of which points to late 1940's or early 1950's as there were still government restrictions in place on the use of brass ally and even leather due to shortages after the war
 

Cougar377

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A bit of a jewel this one W.S.C (wilkinson sword company) made for the number 5 mk1 Lee Enfield 303, or the Sterling submachine gun, these are a little unusual as the wooden grips wrap completely around the tang unlike most bayonets of the period



Its a dinky little thing that feels great in the hand and its a very early one as can be evidenced by the single grip fixing screw, i cant stress how hard it is to find a "jungle carbine" bayonet like this much less a single screw factory cutdown like mine (muzzle ring and locking catch removed for fighting knife use)

This is one of those been there done that blades the edge on this is quite sharp but does not look to be a recent job as the patina is the same as the rest of the blade, this would have seen service in Malaysia, Burma or similar places
Its fully marked with all its original stamps W.S.C and the S294 dispersal code best of all the scabbard has the matching rack numbers and you know what that means :D
I vaguely remember the SMG bayonet having 2 screws, like the SLR one. The same bayonet if I remember rightly, or at least they were interchangeable. I think the WW2 era ones were spikes..?

The idea of an SMG fitted with a bayonet always made me laugh. If they're that close you might as well kick them in the gonads...!
 
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