Identification Please Chaps !!!

Brendan

Brendan

Joined
Feb 13, 2002
Messages
3,679
What a lovely day I have had today. My friend phoned me up and said I have a gift for, come up to the server room.

Off I went. I was expecting some software but hell was I wrong. His wife made him throw out all his weapons, guns, knifes, etc.

He handed a packet with a tourist indian khuk, a WW1 American bayonet and an unidentified English Bayonet. He wouldn't take anything for it !!

Here's the dilema, I know nothing about bayonets.

1. 20inch bayonet, full tang, wooden slabs, number 98 carved/stamped into handled, blade has a deep blood groove and the date 1917 carved/stamped into it with the letter W in a circle at base !! On the other side there the letters US are carved/stamped in above which there is a picture which looks either like an upside down octopus or a circle with flames (these marks are on the same side as the 98 carving on handle, which are on the right hand side of the blade !! Blade and scabbard in perfect condition.

2. 16 inch bayonet, full tang with wooden slabs. Left hand side of blade has a smudged £ sign and the number '97 stamped/carved - under this it reads "wilkinson london". The right hand side, top line reads - WD, next line - 8f or p (smudged), next line - queens crown symbol, next line - f 35, next line - w, next line '16 last line - x.
Metal chape from sheath missing but blade in reasonable condition - some rust damage.

Any help on history or worth greatly appreciated.

Brendan
 
Forgot to mention.

The English blade is double edged and the American is single edged !!

B
 
The only way I would allow my wife to throw out my weapons was if I was institutionalized in a coma. Even then, I'd come back from a complete psychotic state to remind her those fine instruments were my gifts to my sons.

Good luck with your bayonets. Some are valuable.

That poor guy..I keep thinking about a woman who'd do that, and a guy who'd let her. Maybe he figured he was in Britain. Couldn't use them anyway.

What will she do next?


munk
 
does #1 have a loop for the barrel to fit into? It would be a circle in the top part of the hilt. Is the groove wide and flat, or is it more rounded? Does the blade have a false egde about 3-4" running along the top of the point

Knowing the above details, I might be able to help. If its an american one, I'd say M-1 Garand bayonet. Maybe also Lee Enfield rifle bayonet.

Keith
 
It must be WWl issue, Ferrous, it is stamped 1917, and it too long to have ever been a Garand bayonet. Either the 03 or 17 or both, but bayonet guys would still be able to tell if that particular one was collectable.

munk
 
bayonets

it has the loop, i can't tell the diifs between rounded or flat groove as I have nothing to compare it to. and I don't think it has a false edge.

It has the perpendicular handle grooves but no remmington mark - unless that octopus thingy is a remington mark !!

looks just like the one in the link
 
The upside-down octopus is an American ordnance mark. I think it's meant to represent an 18th century hand grenade, as used by the original 'grenadiers'. I've seen it on various American bayonets, pioneers' tools &c that I've owned over the years.

I have a good book about military swords and bayonets you can borrow if it'd help you identify the pieces you've acquired.
 
i guess it depends on who your selling it too.. i've seen aimsurplus sell 1917 bayos for $50 USD ... however i've also seen 1917 bayos for sale in ads wanting $175 USD, and i have seen cut down 1917 bayonets (ww2 modifyed) for around $60 USD so i guess between $50-175 USD for the 1917 bayonet

btw they can be used on both the 1903 rifle and the M1 garand thats why there are alota cut down 1917 bayos
 
I could easily be wrong, but the first specific to weapon, (wouldn't fit others,) was the M14.

I guess I should add; in our modern era.
munk
 
I've got a British-made bayonet of this type, too. It will also fit the Enfield No.1 Mk.3 and No.1 Mk.4, along with several types of U.S. "Trenchguns"; 12 ga. pump shotguns issued to U.S. forces from about 1917 until the end of WWII.

Tom Holt is right about the "octopus". It's a U.S. ordinance mark that was adopted about the turn of the 20th century (IIRC).

The value of your bayonet will vary greatly based on a). condition, and b). what company made it. It's just a guess, but the "W" might mean Winchester manufacture? They did make a large number of Trenchguns, and could conceiveably have made bayonets for them also.

If you could post pictures of the other one, it would help. Does it have a clip-point? If so, it could be an FAL bayonet.
 
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Usually sell for something like $75-150 depending on condition.

n2s
 
Good catch! The W may indicate Winchester manufacture, rather than Eddystone/Remmington. I paid about $45USD for a similar one with scabbard last year. BTW, the P17 enfield bayonet should also fit the Pattern 14 English rifle in .303.

Pat
 
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