Clamshell opinions please

[zephyr4]

Please give opinions on this slotted clamshell bayonet blade length is 13 inches, sorry about the pictures its raining outside so the quality is not so good.

z4.

[harryamb2]

looks very nice.

[Billy G]

I think the stag grips have been replaced. No holes from a grip emblem so a Customs clamshell, right? If so, why are the crossguard & scabbard fitting marked to the Schutzpolizei in Koln? The rivets look a little fugazy too. Something else about that stag that I'm not sharing but that I don't like, sorry. Maybe it's just the pics but that's what it looks like here.

[Jim P]

Looks very nice. The markings appear to be per 1922 regulations, which I think translates to Shutzpolizei 6th centuria ,within command I in the Koeslin district. Things about it that I am curious about, simply because I am always trying to learn more about polizei sidearms, are some of the modifications being together. The blade is cut down and the handle appears to have been shortened as well, but no emblem or evidence of an emblem ever being mounted to the grips of which seem a darker shade that I am used to seeing. I know that there are instances of different mod's being put together with earlier attributes remaining. I am just curious about the 1922 markings and the clamshell remaining with the shortend blade and what appears to be a shortened handle.

All the parts look right to me, just trying to learn as much as I can, when I can.

Jim

[Jim P]

Billy, I see you were posting the same time I was. Glad to see I wasn't the only one with concerns.

Jim

[Billy G]

Jim,

I think the bayonet is period with the exception of the grip plates which look like they might have been redone. All the parts, blade, hilt, scabbard, look well enough detailed to be fine.

[Jim P]

Is the property markings for Koln or for Koeslin per the 1922 regs?

Jim

[zephyr4]

I was wondering myself why there was no badge on the grips, I missed one picture of the markings on the top of the blade spine
ine.

z4.

[Billy G]

Zephyr,

The fact your bayonet does not have a grip emblem shouldn't, by itself, be an issue. Customs Service bayonets had grip plates that had no emblems & were identical to Schutzpolizei bayonets in every other ways.

The crossguard/scabbard fittings are marked for the Schutzpolizei but the obverse grip plate has no emblem nor any holes which would show an emblem might have been there at some time. To me, that is a red flag because if you believe this to be a Customs bayonet, it likely wouldn't be marked to a completely other organization.

Another red flag is the rivets that hold the grip plates in place. As it said previously, there is something else that concerns me about the stag grips themselves. The replacement job isn't sloppy, per se, but it doesn't look period to me. It's also possible that the clamshell was added at that time in an attempt to bump up the asking price or cache of this item. Can't really tell from the pictures.

When taken together, I believe the grips were replaced at some time post-1945. From the pictures, I'd say all other components of this bayonet look correct & period.


Jim,

The code on this bayonet, Kö, is for Köln. Köslin bayonets had only a K.

[zephyr4]

Thanks for the information Billy.

z4.