weimar era sawback bayonet?

[michal19]

hello
i have an opportunity to buy this swaback s 84/98 bayonet with weimar 1920 stamp.
this is the very first time i see the bayonet wich still have a sawback and was reissued to reichwehr.alsa the regimentals were survived.i'm little supsicious abiut the bayonet originality,or the originality of markings.is there something that wake Your doubts
best regards

[Larry C]

Any thoughts on this from the Bayo Gents? I think the opportunity is long past Michals chances of purchase..yet ,. thoughts on the details would still be helpful for this 3 month old thread.

My apologies Michal..I should of read this earlier and kept it at the top of the forum until quality answers were given.

Thoughts ricasso marked Gebr Heller ?

Regards Larry

[michal19]

thank You Larry for reactivation and no problem with the time that passed it's not real to see everything.
fortunately the bayonet belongs to my friend-collector not a dealer and in this case the bayo is still waiting.
from what i have read the marking m.g.k.601 propably means one of the german colonial contingent in palestine 1916/17.but also both-regimental and weimar marking on the secon side of ricasso seem to be ''beaten'' with very similiar enumerator,propably not immposible but strange in my opinion.
thank You

[Sleepwalker]

Hello

this or a identical bayonet was a long term guest in a German internet auction house....

to much stamps... also acceptance stamps at every Part... . A sawback bayonet...together with a 1920 stamp and a imperial unit marking in Reichswehr after 1920 is in my opinion not possible. IMO original bayonet but with faked stamps.

[nbushyager]

I have heard before that Germans captured with a sawback bayonet were executed, due to GI's thinking it was a cruel weapon if used on a person. Is this true to anyones knowledge?

[michal19]

Yes I too have doubts about the stamps it's strange and too beautiful ,thank You for opinion.
This can be the same bayonet I do not know my friend uploaded it somewhere but its not impossible.but now i remember sometimes pop up some beautiful bayonets like sawback butcher blades with fantastic and numerous markings so it can be a serial action.
i think that in every legend is a seed of truth nbuschyager.
best regards

[Anderson]

Actually this bayonet was dual posted also on WW1 section of forum. I recall commenting on it then. I still think some acid clean freak has got hold of it and destroyed patina and probably value.

As to the question about German soldiers caught with sawback bayonets in WW1 receiving "rough justice" there is some truth to that. So much so that German soldiers didn't want to carry them, or they feared that would happen if captured.

[Chopperman]

I would think that 1920 is not a date but a inventory number.

[Frogprince]

To satisfy the Armistice Commission in post WW I Germany all sorts of arms: swords, bayonets, rifles, pistols etc. had 1920 dates stamped on them. And every once in a great while you might even see a most likely early TR period blued rework of an ex-Imperial - Weimar bayonet that had been reissued not once, but twice. Having long ago seen in the collection of a friend of mine some exceptions that might even include a sawback or two because the orders to remove them were fairly late in the war and some did escape being modified. As for the Erfurt marked bayonet and the 1915 date, that also introduces some other factors like an arsenal and the manufacture of brand new bayonets (the S 84/98 versus the S 84/98 a/A). Erfurt being one of the places that used a lot inspection/acceptance marks on its arms - needing a further look into that practice it's probably something that AndyB can add his expertise to.

So, with all that said I personally would be very reluctant to add it to a collection (especially at a premium price). Because I get the sense that it was overhauled/blued. And then had the bluing on the bayonet itself removed to make it look more like an original WW I bayonet that just had the Weimar date added. Best Regards, Fred

[Chopperman]

To satisfy the Armistice Commission in post WW I Germany all sorts of arms: swords, bayonets, rifles, pistols etc. had 1920 dates stamped on them.

I did not know that