NSKK Dienstdolch: help

[Eddie]

Hi guys, I'm considering this dagger. Maybe it's just my eyes, but does the eagle look replaced? Is there too much of a gap between the grip and the crossguards on one side of the grip?
Thanks,
Eddie

[Larry C]

Eddie, can you get a better close up of the eagle,, but i think it is ok as i do not see any stress or "pick" marks around the eagle. It also may be the shadowing around the eagle in the photo,, that gives it a "raised effect". Closer pics would help. Dont worry about the wood as different woods were used and there were a wide variety. The after 70 years depending on the wood ,, you will see shrinkage. hard to tell from the photos but is the scabbard "Black anodized"?....as this would be common to see with an early maker such as Merten. Nice to see that if its anodized. Some SA men ,, did have the funds and buy a black anodized scabbard, instead of paint it. Regards Larry

[Eddie]

Larry, you're the best! I tried to get better pics from the seller awhile back, and he sent me these pics of the scabbard, which aren't a whole lot better.

[Larry C]

Hi Eddie thanks for the pics as they are a little closer,, It looks anodized to me,,but in good shape. Go for it!! Larry

[Adrian Stevenson]

I would agree with Larry's observations.

Cheers, Ade.

[Eddie]

Wow, it came today! It smells very musty and is a bit smaller than I expected for some reason. My first TR dagger, yeah! Everything seems very tight and un-messed with to my eyes. I took a picture of the pommel nut to try and show some of the "gunk" that is present on the nut, which makes me think it may not have been taken apart? I'm quite pleased that the scabbard has all the screws and is well intact. My only issue is that it looks like someone cut off the hanger, damaging the scabbard ring... But, the nice early Nickel pieces are quite nice. Would anyone be able to take a rough guess at when it was issued? I like that it is marked SW, because I studied and lived in SW Germany near Stuttgart for awhile. It's also neat that an NSKK dagger would be labeled such, as Stuttgart was/is the Detroit of Germany, making a good home for an NSKK man. I'd like to give many thanks to Larry and Ade for their help!
Best,
Eddie
P.S. I believe I have the dagger in the correct way, right Ade?

[gerrit]

The gruppe mark Sw is for Sa-Gruppe Sudwest , southwest free state of Baden and Wurttemberg.
It has a nice well fit grip, pity about the scabbard ring.....but things like this happened.

Cheers,
Ger

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Eddie, congrats!

These were issued in the 1933 - 1935 time frame. The black scabbard was authorised from 1936.

Cheers, Ade.

[Eric Zentner]

Congrats Eddie and welcome to the Dagger club I bet it dont stop here lol.

Eric

[Eddie]

Thanks fellas! I'm really really excited about this one, literally grinning! I love how early it is, I've always been fascinated with the "Night of Long Knives", so anything around that time period is really neat to me. I love the craftsmanship of these, so well made and beautiful, I can really understand why people have more than one of these.