"Good Luck" M-43 arrived!

Thomas Linton

Thomas Linton

Joined
Jun 16, 2003
Messages
20,207
This will be most meaningful to the MWKK04 folk. The "lucky" $50 M-43 arrived today. Blade and handle of this old warhorse are in fantastic shape. No rust. No nicks. No cracks. Sheath (no chape) is also good considering age -- just some shallow scuffs. One strap on frog is busted - as advertised, but the buckle is still there. Karda and chakma AP&AF and 5.5" OA each. Only anomaly looks like an "arsenal" repair - 2mm thick well-patinated copper for butt plate, held in place by two rivets carefully ground flush at some point long ago. 17.25" OA. 10mm thick blade at max. 60 mm deep at belly. 5 mm deep final convex bevel. Boy oh boy oh boy! :D My HI M-43 has a worthy "brother."
 
Luck streak extended..!!

Now post us some pics...:D :eek: :p
 
Yvsa said:
Tom what is AP&AF if you will please?:)
Click to expand...

Sorry. All present or accounted for. (Really should be "all present.")

Really a different feel to these M-43's.

Hard to acquire because most are in UK and bidders over there offer staggering prices for them - $300, $350, $400, $425. Then there's the monster shipping costs and waiting for weeks.

Every once and a while (or two or three), you get lucky. :)
 
pendentive said:
Luck streak extended..!!

Now post us some pics...:D :eek: :p
Click to expand...

No tickee, no postee.

JDP has a picture of seven M-43's in HI FAQ article on military khuks. It's like the bottom one - horn handle slabs with prominant rivets. Just the question of the old copper butt plate.

It is also like the one I brought to MWKK04 that had the pimp's dream green and brass decorative cover on the front of the military sheath. This one is in MUCH better condition - no corrosion, no worm damage to horn, no markings ground off, no garish alteration of sheath. In fact, it never had markings, as sometimes happens.

It's slightly over spec as to thickness at 3/8" and weight at 970 grams. It's 1/4" under spec in length.

And Dan, it has wood all around the blade, as I think is standard in the old ones I have. Slower to make, but better protection for blade and user.

Tom
 
Another detail: no handle rings. Horn is thicker where the rivets appear, so the handle has slight "waist" between the rivets. "Pimped-up" M-43 at MWKK04 does not have this feature. It's handle slabs are of uniform thickness along their length.
 
Hi Tal,
Sounds like a good find! a real horn M43 for $50! wow! lucky indeed!

Slighty confused over the one M43 you list specs for though?

970 grammes? 34+ oz. total?
Thats about 320g overweight{nearly 10 oz.} The length & thickness & weight normaly vary but the average M43 is 23 oz. {650 g} Although up to 700g {25oz.} is common enough.

So have I misunderstood something?

I think I must have!

Is this a HI one rather than military or something?

You have certainly got my curiosity going though! Any chance of photos?

Please excuse my confusian!

Cheers,
Spiral
 
Good catch, Spiral. "Confusion"? You are too polite.

I had to use an add-on weight to weigh the M-43 on my triple-beam balance and I messed up. :rolleyes:

The correct weight for the newbie is 786 grams - still heavy and to be expected due to the thickness (max = 3/8"/10 mm).

In comparison, the other M-43 I already I had weighs in at 703 grams, although the worms probably got the odd gram off it in tunneling into one side of the handle.

No. Definitely not HI. It is as illustrated in Mr. Powell's article on "Modern Military Khukuri Styles" in HI FAQ pages - bottom item in picture showing seven different M-43's. It has no handle rings and a greater scale thickness at the location of each rivet head. (My original, less-than-ideal- M-43 does not have that last feature.)

Sorry about the lack of pics, but the one at the FAQ's does the job.

The real laugh would be to see a picture of what was done to the scabbard on my first M-43 - front covered with green cloth and that cloth decorated with elaborate brass (gold washed?) stampings and two colored stones/marbles? That one clearly has markings ground off both sides near cho. My theory is that the Rifleman wanted to take it home and "demilitarized" it. :barf:

Tom
 
Hi Again Tal,
As horn is unusual on issue M43s that implys to me officer issue, so I wonder if the copper buttplate could be original?

Those officer kuks often have different metals on buttplates compared to the wooden issue versians, I have seen, brass, nickel silver, & silver instead of steel.

I guess its also possible the regimental kami just took an issue kuk & replaced the wooden slabs & buttplate with whatever the officer wanted.

What do you reckon?

Spiral
 
Spiral,

The metal surrounding the central, steel core of the rivets is the same copper color as the butt plate. I suspect a rehandle job, during which a new butt plate was installed from what was available. A neat job and certainly not recent. That might explian the increased handle thickness at the rivet heads: "Now this won't break."

An officer carry this brute? Perhaps, but a big un' then.

Tom
 
Here is the picture of various M43s. The only one in this picture that has horn scales is the 3rd from the top. The large rivets are hidden by matching horn plugs. The bolster and the buttcap are brass and this was a standard Indian Army Gurkha Regiment issue post 1947.

The bottom example has wood scales, brass rivets and does not have the integrated blade/bolster common to later manufacture.
6M43.jpg
 
Mr. Powell,

Thanks for the clarification.

Sorry, I was going for appearance only. My M-43's "look" like the bottom picture. Same blade and handles with obvious rivets. Bolsters on my two are definitely integral, scales definitely horn, rivets ground flush with scales.


Additionally comparing the "New" M-43 to my first, somewhat worm-damaged one:

New M-43: bolster 23 mm x 34.5 mm; handle 32mm thick at rivets, 30 mm between rivets; handle length (butt to top of bolster)123.5 mm

First M-43: bolster 23 mm x 34 mm; handle 24 mm thick at rivets and between rivets; handle length 121 mm.

So the new one has a much thicker handle. It swells out from the bolster.

Blade on first M-43 is 12.5 mm longer than the thicker blade on newbie.

The First M-43 exhibits 6 mm of "cho creep" compared to the newbie, but the cho style is the same.

Tom
 
Hi Tal,
aahhhhhh that explains that then! Cheers! Sounds like an interesting adaption. Has it got the integral bolster JP mentions?

Interesting bunch you have there JP! Nice collection of them {as always.} Is the 3rd one down {post1947} marked "made in India" it looks like it could be? near the shoulder ?

Actually as it has a separate bolster I guess its more of a markII than an M43.

I realy like the M43s , but I have only kept 4 so far.

E52_m43a.jpg


All are M43s & varients IMHO.{mkII/m43 & shotened etc.}
And Include 2 of the 3 styles of scabbard frogs.

1, A named mkII Army Traders Dheradon, 1942 with the later m43 style handle & matching dated scabbard & frog.
The precurser of the M43.

2,A Quetta Bros. 1944 m43 with 1944 scabbard & rosewood handle.

3, A very very high quality M43 carried by a named member of US military counter inteligence/Airbourne in Europe 1944,45. with steel chape scabbard. {normaly the steel chapes have been removed.}

4, A short fat officers versian carried by a named member of the US airforce in the CBI theatre, For use as a survival knife.{1944/45/46} No sign of it ever having been used or sharpened! I count it as an M43 veriation as it is identical to no.3. other than the shorter blade.

Funny realy 3 of these I got from the states & 2 have American military history! They both are very high quality models & have obviously been looked after not used & abused like the average Gurkha issue!


Cheers,
Spiral
 
that I brought to the HIMWKK04 Is exactly like the bottom one in JP's pic. It is stamped with "MkII43" like it is a hybrid or something.

Keith
 
Hi Ferrous,
My top one is marked ATD II 42 which I take to be MkII model made in 42 I think yours is the Mk.II model but made in 43, unless yours also has an integral bolster?

I think that in 1942 to speed up production & save on rosewood etc. they abolished handle rings.

When they brought out the M43 They continued with the late model mkII handle.

I think of these as precursers of the M43 or as you say a transitional/hybrid model.

But The II symbol stands for Mk.II.

Cheers,
Spiral
 
Speaking of integral bolsters, I have a couple of khuks with integral bolsters that look like the second from the left in the "Modern Military Khukuris" FAQ picture "Five Officer's khukuris. They are marked at the shoulder of the blade "TEMPERED STEEL MADE IN INDIA." (One of these has a negligable cho - three parts but very shallow.)

Another with the same overall look - and also with a negligable cho - actually has a separate bolster and no markings.

All are got up in the typical military rig.

Any idea when these were made? Post-independence ("Made in India")?
 
One of the best things about the M43 is all the variations and how it evolved from the MK II. Beyond the scabbards which became pretty standarized by the Indian Army are the inclusion or lack of a karda and chakmak, various marks and then there are the grips. While wood is the most common the aluminum grip is the rarest. I have included the ivory/horn gripped one since it's just so well done and beautiful. I consider these the best overall kukris and they really epitomize these knives.
M43.jpg
 
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