My #3 son got it in his head that he would like a bayonet. Peer pressure or something. 8^)
I have toyed with the idea of getting a bayonet for myself, so I ordered the Smokey Mountain Knife Works "grab bag" of bayonets from their latest catalog. The part number is, no kidding, BYJUNK. And that should be the first warning. They warn you that they'll be in variable condition, missing parts etc. And absolutely NO RETURNS. But did that deter me? NAAAHHHH!!!
So when the box arrived, I shouldn't have been disappointed. The box contained 6 "bayonets," or things that USED to be bayonets. The breakdown as follows:
* 1 in good condition, handle intact, with a scabbard, nice long blade, looks like it came from a Mauser-era piece.
* 1 in okay condition, partly broken handle, with scabbard, mostly like the first.
* 1 "needing repair," scales broken off the handle, no scabbard, maybe once it looked like the first, long ago.
* 1 in bad shape, rusty, no scales, no scabbard, looks like it came from some later-era gun, short rusty blade.
* 1 with no handle at all, instead attached to a folding mechanism, probably intended to attach to an autoloader, not what I had in mind, but no rust.
* 1 salvaged from a troop carrier sunk in WWII, obviously after spending several years at the bottom of the ocean, no handle, absolute rust-encrusted junk.
So in the end I paid $25 for 2 bayonets, 2 pieces of metal that could be something, and 2 pieces of trash. The boys got to pick (nice guy that I am) so I got stuck with three pieces of junk.
I wanted to get something I could fix-up with a little work, make a new handle, whatever. I'll have MAJOR work to get anything useful out of the remaining pieces.
Oh well, shoulda known better.
Anyone know where I can get some handle material?
Anyone got a good source for REAL bayonets (with handles?)
- Tim
I have toyed with the idea of getting a bayonet for myself, so I ordered the Smokey Mountain Knife Works "grab bag" of bayonets from their latest catalog. The part number is, no kidding, BYJUNK. And that should be the first warning. They warn you that they'll be in variable condition, missing parts etc. And absolutely NO RETURNS. But did that deter me? NAAAHHHH!!!
So when the box arrived, I shouldn't have been disappointed. The box contained 6 "bayonets," or things that USED to be bayonets. The breakdown as follows:
* 1 in good condition, handle intact, with a scabbard, nice long blade, looks like it came from a Mauser-era piece.
* 1 in okay condition, partly broken handle, with scabbard, mostly like the first.
* 1 "needing repair," scales broken off the handle, no scabbard, maybe once it looked like the first, long ago.
* 1 in bad shape, rusty, no scales, no scabbard, looks like it came from some later-era gun, short rusty blade.
* 1 with no handle at all, instead attached to a folding mechanism, probably intended to attach to an autoloader, not what I had in mind, but no rust.
* 1 salvaged from a troop carrier sunk in WWII, obviously after spending several years at the bottom of the ocean, no handle, absolute rust-encrusted junk.
So in the end I paid $25 for 2 bayonets, 2 pieces of metal that could be something, and 2 pieces of trash. The boys got to pick (nice guy that I am) so I got stuck with three pieces of junk.
I wanted to get something I could fix-up with a little work, make a new handle, whatever. I'll have MAJOR work to get anything useful out of the remaining pieces.
Oh well, shoulda known better.
Anyone know where I can get some handle material?
Anyone got a good source for REAL bayonets (with handles?)
- Tim
