E F Horster K98 Etched blade and Stag panels!

[Combat Boots]

Hello,
Attached below are photos of my K98. Beautiful stag grip panels and green felt filler in attachment slot.
I do not know a lot about these so any comments are welcome. Thanks much, Bob

[Anderson]

Two years late, but a beautiful etched KS98 bayonet by E & F Horster that deserves a comment.
E & F Horster was one of the Solingen makers who for etchings made use of another company's designs. In their case the business relationship was with the FW Holler company who also supplied etching designs to six other Solingen makers. This standard "remembrance of service" etching has also the addition of the unit the owner served with, being "I.R.57 Siegen" (Infantry Regiment 57 Seigen). It's also interesting as this very etching is featured in Wayne Techet's book on page 135. There he shows the same etching for I.R. 57 on a Horster bayonet with stag grips. Is it the same bayonet? No as subtle differences in the stag horn show they are different bayonets. This little bit of information opens up our understanding on the circumstances of how etched bayonets were bought. Often we assume they were all ordered from an outfitter shop and a customer would specify what they wanted and then waited some time before dropping by to collect their etched bayonet. But it is also known that etched bayonets were sold by individual regiments through the mess, and very likely a supply of regimental etched bayonets were available to purchase at any time. In fact some outfitter shops in towns hosting a Infantry regiment may also have pre-etched KS98's and had them on display to catch the eye of soldiers. I think this was probably the case of the two Horsters, perhaps part of a much larger batch. And this particular one is in extra fine condition.