German Butcher bayonet

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Another of my purchases at the Liverpool Arms fair on 22nd June. I had gone there with the express intention of acquiring a nice bayonet to go alongside the Gew98 rifle I recently purchased. I got there for the preview, but the only bayonets I could find were both in rather rough condition. Another dealer I know told me that I had just missed out on a good one he had, and I was beginning to think my luck had run out.

I just happened to be passing the stall of Bill Tagg of Liverpool Militaria when something on his rack of swords caught my eye. Obviously the bayonet has been re-finished, but Bill was of the opinion it might have been done for re-issue during the period of the Weimar Republic. it certainly looks to be a factory re-finish anyway. Apart from one small dent to the scabbard and some wear to the finish on the blade, there is nothing wrong with it.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

[Jim P]

She looks like a nice one. The finish is a tough call, at first I didn't like it at all, looked like it had been done recently. But, I think the flash could be causing the color to be too blue. A picture in natural light without the flash would help a lot. Also, normally on an arsenal rebuild/re-blue, the press stud would have been slotted, most of the time, but not always.

Jim

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Jim,

The finish on the handle and the scabbard is fine in natural light. Its the finish on the blade that I have my suspicions about! There's a bit too much purple/blue showing through for my liking., and on top of that the finish has worn off towards the tip - probably through withdrawing it from the scabbard. I'm tempted to remove the finish from the blade and leave the rest as it is, but I will think about it for a while. Thanks for your thoughts anyway.

Cheers,
Steve.