My new CITO WW1 98/05 bayonet

[Julekpl]

Hello everybody Julekpl again. I wanted to thank you all for the great tips when purchasing a 98/05 bayonet. I have recently purchased a nice CITO marked bayonet, with a leather scabbard. I am not sure about the year though, I cannot seem to find it. The bayonet and scabbard are marked with what appears to be either a B or a D with a crown above it. Any thoughts? Oh and I have removed the grips, they were practically falling apart. Thanks!

[Richie B]

CITO was a registered trademark of Ernst Packe Sohn who were cutlery wholesalers and distributors in Solingen, founded in 1909.

Their bayonets do not appear to be dated.

Source: Anthony Carter - The Models 98/02 and 98/05.

The Crown/letter markings are inspection stamps.

[Julekpl]

Was it common for CITO to use leather scabbards? After 90 or so years, I'm surprised this thing is still holding together.

[AntonEbans]

Julekpl,

I ran across this 98/05 with the sawback. If you wanted to up grade. (although I'll have to admit, it's a little high.) The Collector's Guild

Anton

[Richie B]

Was it common for CITO to use leather scabbards? After 90 or so years, I'm surprised this thing is still holding together.

When the S98/05 was first issued it came with a leather and steel scabbard such as yours.

The all steel scabbard first came into use in 1915. Only one major manufacturer marked their scabbards - Mauser, although there were also a couple of minor makers.

Your bayonet is the new pattern which was introduced in September 1915. Without a date on the blade, the exact date of manufacture is unknown so it is very difficult to tell which type of scabbard the CITO 98/05 would have been issued with.

Some leather scabbards survive in remarkably good condition - mainly due to how they have been stored and maintained - shrinkage is sometimes a problems which then prevents the bayonet from being fully inserted into the scabbard.

Regards

Richie

[paul a]

Hello Julekpl,I have a Cito 98-05 sawback but with a steel scabbard , it is not dated but has a stamping on the spine of the blade ,i posted it on the forum a while back to see if anybody could work out the meening of the stamp ,it could be a inspection stamp but not realy sure ,check the pics out see what you think ,Regards Paul.

[Julekpl]

I think the "8" might be an inspection stamp. I have looked at a few CITO 98-05, but I have not seen any with any marking similar to yours. What I have found out is that CITO made bayonets are R3, which are rare. Supposedly these were made only from 1915-1916. That what the guys say here: CITO 98/05 "Butcher" Bayonet - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums