Clamshell Railway Police Bayonet. Opinions appreciated.

[spandau]

Hi,

This item has come my way but never seen one before so just wanted to ask for any opinions on it. I know the Weimar bayonets had the clamshell but what about Third Reich ones ?

cheers

Tony

[spandau]

[Frogprince]

Hi,

This item has come my way but never seen one before so just wanted to ask for any opinions on it. I know the Weimar bayonets had the clamshell but what about Third Reich ones ?

cheers

Tony

Tony, the direct answer to the question is yes, clamshell bayonets were used in the TR era - but discontinued. That said, I 'm very sorry to have to say that I really do not care for this bayonet for multiple reasons, and would like to see some high resolution images to either confirm or disprove some of my suspicions. Best Regards, Fred

[spandau]

Thanks for your opinion Fred, can get some better pictures sorted out no problem. Will post them once it's daylight here again !

Interested to hear your view once you have the pictures..... kind regards, Tony

[jamie7d7]

Hey Tony

Well to say I've never seen one of these doesn't mean too much as I've not been collecting very long but have looked on probably every site that has ever existed in my mission to buy every piece of militaria that was ever made

As we all know Prussian Police bayonets did have the Clamshell, which was then ordered removed by TR officer dwellers.

This bayonet, apparently being the shortened version which, in itself is a pretty scarce thing, has a number of things which don't sit right with me. But like I say, if these do exist then I may be 100% wrong.


First off, the elephant in the room... The clamshell. For Himmler to order all Prussian bayos to have the clamshell on Polizei bayonets removed but ratify the Bahnschutzpolizei to be permitted to create an entirely new one would be very doubtful.

The detailing on the clamshell itself looks very soft.

The eagle on the grips is wrong.


A metal scabbard on a Polizei bayonet, also very scarce, if not completely wrong.


There is my quick tuppence worth.


Best regards


Jamie

[Anderson]

We need to be cautious with late period (1941/42) Police bayonets because they are able to be faked from parts. So Fred's call for close up sharp photos is wise. It is possible to disassemble a KS98 bayonet, (removal of the rivets are easy), then join the blade to surplus Police hilt, crossguards, staghorn grips that were sold off by the factories after the war. Various dealers sell these bits, including period rivets. It's much harder to construct a convincing Weimar era "Frankenstein."

[spandau]

Thanks for the input guys, appreciated. here are some more photos that may help....

[spandau]

Attachment 1240468Attachment 1240469Attachment 1240470Attachment 1240471Attachment 1240472Attachment 1240473Attachment 1240474Attachment 1240475

[Frogprince]

Briefly: Anderson and Jamie made some good points, but regrettably for some reason I could not open this latest set of attachment/photos from spandau. I don't have time at the moment - but I suspect that there is more than one "elephant in the room". Best Regards, Fred

[Larry C]

I was able to open only one of the photos and would hope Spandau would be able to furnish the rest.
Below is the one photo