M3 and M6 blade dated

[Walkwolf]

thanks Baryeye,
shes still not the bell of the ball, but she cleaned up pretty good. i wanted to leave the parkerizing so i did not get to carried away cleaning.

now i can tease drdata with it even more lol.

Wow, Andrew ! The M3 cleaned up really well !

I hesitate to suggest a price for these today - blade dated Imperial, early Barwood leather sheath - still, it's the condition !$350. - $500. plus or minus.............just a guess............( I have a few nice M3's and haven't added any more of them to the collection for 6 or 7 years! One day, I'll post them!! )

I've tried to research your knuckle knife, and come up with a few things, perhaps mentioned already. The guard's stud pattern is not unlike an unofficial "private purchase" type made by Taylor Huff and crew in WWII, but there are major differences overall. I would tend to lean toward it being a rework of an M3 or M4, judging
by the size, shape and ground lines on the blade. It's well made and probably worth a good buck too !

Thanks for showing us how great it looks now !!!

Regards, Steve.

[Andrew]

thanks Steve,
ya it cleaned up fairly well. i'm still looking for info on the knuckle duster. does the knuckle bow design look at all familiar ? what else would it have been used for? it is thick steel that has been formed in a press, not by hand. i'd like to find another one like it. just to know what it is. looking at its quality, i doubt it was a one of a kind. but thats just my thought.
andrew

[Walkwolf]

thanks Steve,
ya it cleaned up fairly well. i'm still looking for info on the knuckle duster. does the knuckle bow design look at all familiar ? what else would it have been used for? it is thick steel that has been formed in a press, not by hand. i'd like to find another one like it. just to know what it is. looking at its quality, i doubt it was a one of a kind. but thats just my thought.
andrew

This is the only "Knuckle Duster" like this I've seen that has these particular features. it could be a one-off, or made in very few number. The sheath may have been original to an M3, M4 or M5, but I don't think this was an issued knife. These types of knives are all rather rare IMO.

Yours is well made and probably worth a good amount !






Regards,





Steve.

[drdata]

Yeah, dated like that it's ~ 500 +, IMO. It did clean up well, darnit. Nice job.

Regards

[Walkwolf]

Yeah, dated like that it's ~ 500 +, IMO. It did clean up well, darnit. Nice job.

Regards

They just keep going up in price !

I'm surprised at how much poor to average quality and commonly marked ones are going for now!

Here's one that I picked up from the "U.S. Edged Weapon Museum" in Intercourse PA in 1998. They had 5 of these left they were selling off on consignment. It is mint unissued. ( Some of these knives were held in reserve as "Limited Standard" throughout the Vietnam war. )

Guard marked with red spacers and a later M8A1 scabbard, it has only "in-out" wear on the blade.........................

[Walkwolf]

Another blade dated Camillus with earlier M8 scabbard. Rather rough parkerizing, but it has been used !
( Note the different ways the pommels were attached on these two: one is pinned from the side, and the other was peened on the top. Both have the flaming
ordnance acceptance stamp.)

Regards, Steve.

[Andrew]

nice examples walkwolf. that blade dated one could go in in a leather sheath like mine. wait till you see what authentic ones sell for. i was shocked. i looked on ebay a while ago. just the sheath was bid up to 500 when i looked. i thought that was insane. but then i think prices took a big jump when i was not looking for a few years.
that knuckle duster i have is really well made, the lacquer finish on the leather, and over all quality made me think it was factory made. i was really hoping some one else had one, and knew something about them.
andrew

[drdata]

Well, after I heard it was a knife mans knife, I had to have one. Got the below for 125. Had some active rust, and I got a bit aggressive on the blade with a nylon brush and pb blaster. Blade was sharpened but not ground. Damn thing will shave. False edge is sharp also.

I hear the M3 stands for 1943. As there was a M4, does anyone know if they stopped making M3s in '43, or did they keep on going? I guess only first gen have the dated blades. I think mine is 3rd gen, but seems legit. Handle, guard and pommel are all tight.

Gotta say. Seems pretty wimpy compared to the K98, but a lot lighter to carry.

The last is from the seller, showing the rust. I did not take any before shots, but blade and sheath had active rust, so off it went. Then renwax, of course. Some is still stuck in the MM (imperial):

[Adrian Stevenson]

The M3 does not mean 1943. The M4 was the knife type bayonet used on the M1 Carbine.

I used to own a blade marked example back in the 1980's. I think it was by Case if I recall correctly?

Cheers, Ade.

[Andrew]

nice score drdata !!!