Garand bayonet

[douglas2496]

Hello, just received this Garand bayonet by Utica Cutlery. I understand this maker also produced these bayonets for a short production run in 1953. Is there anyway to tell if this one is wartime? Many thanks, Douglas

[guns ltd]

Not my line of Expertise.. But it looks good.
I have my dad's, he had during WWII and it appears a little longer than the one you have. I think.

John

[guns ltd]

Measure the blade for me and I will check mine.

thanks,
John

[douglas2496]

thank you, its 10".

[douglas2496]

John, do you feel that the length of the blade is an important issue in deciding the date of manufacture? It seems to me that this pattern of bayonet (M1 1943) all had 10" blades (though I am aware of course of the earlier Springfield and Garand types had 16" blades.)

[ruddersrangers44]

Only my 2 cents but why would Ultica Cutlery make this Bayonet in 1953 when they were contracted to produce the M5 Bayonet,there wartime contracts vary from finishing around sept 45 to april 46 but im pretty sure this would be wartime as the Garand was already being de-classified by the late 40's with its replacement being the M14,of coarse i may be completely wrong..........

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings Douglas,

I'm unaware of any method to conclusively date your M1 Bayonet. If you go to this page Bayo Points 24 you will see the WWII production data for this manufacturer (and others), but not sure if there is a way to tell if yours was in fact WWII production (or later). If you really want a confirmed WWII made 10" M1 Bayo, you can look for the early (and expensive) 1943 Blade Dated PAL ones, or buy one of the far cheaper cut down M1905E1s.

Regards,

Lance

[Carfin LEWYS]

Hi,

Look at this : "Gary Cunningham's Bayonet point's".
Best regards from Alsace , France.
Carfin.

[douglas2496]

Jake, thanks for your comments, other collectors (elsewhere on the internet for example WWII US 10" M1 GARAND BAYONET - EDGED WEAPONS - U.S. Militaria Forum) are stating very clearly that Utica did a further production run of these M1 bayonets (in 1953 only) before moving on to the M5 in 1954. Of course I have no way of knowing if this is correct. Having spent the afternoon researching it the view seems to be that these are not distinguishable from the wartime production. I am interested to know though if the scabbard might be distinguishable by the markings - is it a cut down scabbard from a 16" bayonet?

[douglas2496]

Thanks Lance for your comments and for the interesting link.

Greetings Douglas,

I'm unaware of any method to conclusively date your M1 Bayonet. If you go to this page Bayo Points 24 you will see the WWII production data for this manufacturer (and others), but not sure if there is a way to tell if yours was in fact WWII production (or later). If you really want a confirmed WWII made 10" M1 Bayo, you can look for the early (and expensive) 1943 Blade Dated PAL ones, or buy one of the far cheaper cut down M1905E1s.

Regards,

Lance