French Bayo

**cornish1** · 07-11-2012, 12:32 PM

Hi guys,well i bought another bayonet the other day. I know its French and it has the script on the top side of the blade(not very good pics of it) but its either 1868 or 1886,i know there were the Chassepot blades being made around this time but i dont think this is one.Have looked around trying to find this exact one but only found similars.Can anyone help with id? Maker marks are a "B" and an "M" with a crown looking type symbol above it.Also a "5" on the other side.The blade from tip to guard is 23inch`s,very very good condition!. Any thoughts or comments be much appreciated ;-)
Mark

**sebfrench76** · 07-11-2012, 01:05 PM

try this...

Nouvelle page 1

**cornish1** · 07-11-2012, 01:33 PM

sebfrench76......thanks,nice link. That answers many questions...but still, pinpointing it to a particular time/date...(1866 onwards i guess!). is difficult as different sites are saying different things about it!??? I actually cant get over how good a condition its in for its age,and i love the curved blade,and reason for this?

**lithgow** · 07-11-2012, 01:50 PM

It's called a 'Yataghan' blade-common on muzzle loading fire arms of the early-mid 19th century-having the blade curved away from the muzzle made the loading process easier and the blade was carried over to early breech loaders especially those that started as conversions of muzzle loaders-in British service they were more common on short rifle or carbine models of the Enfield/Snider/Martini Henry series-the next French bayo after the M1866 Chassepot was for the Gras M1874-was straight-see attached.

**Scout** · 07-11-2012, 01:54 PM

Impressive bayonet

**lithgow** · 07-11-2012, 02:11 PM

PS-It was French practice to engrave the maker and month/year of manufacture on the spine of the M1866 and M1874 bayos.

**cornish1** · 07-11-2012, 08:09 PM

lithgow....thank you very much indeed for the info!!(Yataghan?,is that french?lol) Love your bayo! very interesting.I`ve not really given french bayonets much thought in the past but i saw this beauty and thought it looked amazing and i loved the blade!Great condition (have scabbard not shown in pics also) in matt black which i beleive to be how they painted them back them to stop them glinting in sunlight?. Out of curiosity is there an average price range for these?,it is irrelevant really as i paid what i wanted to pay for it but knowing how old and the condition its in now,(vg) i`d like to be aware. Thanks all
Mark

**lithgow** · 07-11-2012, 09:01 PM

Hello Mark-I live in Australia so the market is somewhat different here but good examples are worth several hundred AUD$-19th century bayos are an expensive area as the numbers made and the time and wars they have had to survive limit the number of good examples available even for major production types like the M1866 and M1874 (Yataghan is a Turkish word for the type of curved blade).

**cornish1** · 07-11-2012, 10:13 PM

lithgow--thank you,i`m really not sure but in the uk french items dont seem to be demand as much,although as these bayo`s are so old and as you say must have seen many wars/battles to find good examples as mine/yours i can see them making £150-200 but not sure in my country.Maybe its cos of the long standing..errr relationship we have with the french!?lol. Turkish! i got ya,sounds great off the tongue ! ;-)
Mark