MiL House Cleanout - Bayonet. What do I have here?

Rockrivr1

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So my MIL passed away a little over a year ago and we've finally gotten around to cleaning out her house so we can put it onto the market. I was moving stuff out of her basement when I ran across this bayonet with scabbard hanging on a very old and moldy web belt. I can't tell the age of it so it might be WWII or Korea. Looking the bayonet over it's in really good shape with some surface rust. The scabbard is US marked. I don't see any markings on the bayonet itself. I'm thinking it goes with a Garand or maybe a 1903. So to the experts, what do I have?

Going to have to clean it up some and get rid of the surface rust.

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Do NOT clean it or do anything to it until you know exactly what it is, what it’s worth and if anybody is buying them still.

This is one of the biggest mistakes people make with antiques according to the antique road show.
 

I believe the length of the blade will determine what you have.
What he said. By length alone, I was leaning towards the 1905 from WWI...

But you picture looks dark, like the "U.S. Navy Mark 1 Training Bayonet" from WWII
 
What he said. By length alone, I was leaning towards the 1905 from WWI...

But you picture looks dark, like the "U.S. Navy Mark 1 Training Bayonet" from WWII

Going from the web site I'm leaning towards the Training Bayonet as well. It's dull so that would make sense if it's just for training.
 
What does it say on the tang? Probably wouldn’t hurt to take a rag with a little CLP on it and just give it a rubdown where the red rust is. Maybe keep away from the handle for now. The CLP will help to read the marks on the tang.
 
Going from the web site I'm leaning towards the Training Bayonet as well. It's dull so that would make sense if it's just for training.
I think you can answer it even easier. Is the handle black Bakelite or metal and wood?

1905:
B1070-2.jpg


Trainer:
b1613_2.jpg


I'm seeing the Trainer, but I'm not there. If that's true, NB: "The bayonet is fragile and could not stand up to rigorous use. Most examples encountered today exhibit breakage" i.e. if it's not damaged, it's probably worth more to the right collector.
 
The longer Garand bayonets (Im short on time to look up the exact model) are pretty desirable as there are fewer of them. In short.....at some point we realized, hey, swords aren't really a thing now so we don't need 18" to stab someone and mess up their day. Plus, we got trucks now and are more mechanized and carrying these long assed SOB's on our belts makes it a hassle, so, why don't we cut these down and re-use that nice steel for the war effort. Going forward, they made them shorter.

How I heard it anyways. I have one of the longer Garand bayonets, made by AFH "American Fork and Hoe"
 
If the blade is plastic, it's rare. DO NOT mess with it. Last one I sold, years ago, we for a goodly sum. Had a few nicks to the edge

One reason that they're rare (or so I heard) was that when they were surplussed out, kids used to play with them, and they'd break.

If it's metal, it was for the '03, '03-A3, and Garand. After the Garand was out for a while, the longer, ~16-inch blades were cut down officially, to the shorter ~10-inch bayonet.

So, if you have a metal, long blade, it's cool, but not uber-rare. Best thing to do, is get a rifle to attach to it (any of the above, or a 1917 Enfield are "correct."

Earlier web belts had brass buckles, later ones steel - use a magnet to check. You might be able to find a date on the inside of the female side of the belt, and a maker's name (use light at a shallow angle, to look.

The scabbard was WWII-ear issue (replaced the canvas-covered wood ones), and was used in Korea, too, I believe, but the shorter ones were more common.
 
It appears to be a m1905, as previously mentioned. There is another long bayonet- the m1917, which was made from WWI through Vietnam (for use on shotguns). However, I think a m1917 would have either wood or diamond textured grips which this does not.

BTW- bayonets are not supposed to be sharp. They are for stabbing, not slicing.
 
The other thing, is that when there's a war on, a lot of non-standard stuff appears.

The real key will be the markings that should be on the blade, just forward of the guard, typically the maker's initials, e.g. SA an Ordnance Dept flaming bomb, and a year of manufacture.
 
I happen to have a couple of books on the subject. I’d be happy to look it up if you find any markings. Better pictures would help too.

Don’t forget the scabbard- that is valuable itself. Despite the rust yours looks to be in excellent shape.
 
If you determine that it’s ok to restore it either for sale or keeps, these guys do restorations on old knives, swords, machetes etc. They could make that thing look like it came out of the field yesterday. It’s a great looking piece at that size. No homo. lol


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Looks like an M1Garand bayonet. Many were cut down to 10" and re-issued. If you have a Garand, see if it fits. If so keep it.
 
However, I think a m1917 would have either wood or diamond textured grips which this does not.

BTW- bayonets are not supposed to be sharp. They are for stabbing, not slicing.
Smooth wood grips with two prominent grooves in each side. The grooves were put there so the British wouldn't confuse Pattern 14 bayonets for SMLE bayonets (the Pattern 14 used the same bayonet as the M1917). I think they kept producing them that way even after WWI.
 
Must have been fun going over the top WWI...View attachment 689945
Running through a mine field dodging indirect fire hoping your gas mask holds then hoping i don't die of the Spanish flu when i get to a trench isn't too my idea of fun

If we are in a gunfight that's one thing but too many external factors there

If you ever see the ww1 docuseries on netflix the opening battle scene is f***ed a large number of German soldiers tried to cross a bridge in tight ranks. There were 2 water cooled belt feds on the other end of that bridge that dispelled them of the idea standing close to your buddy was good tactics
 
What a shit show that must have been! Took a lot of f—king balls to go over the top like that and into a hail of machine gun fire….
That's where the "Angry Anderson" came into its own...

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