Article about: Hi, long time lurker, 1st time posting. I started collecting back in the early to mid 1970's. I sold much of my collection in the 1990's to buy a house, and have been collecting casually sin
Hi, long time lurker, 1st time posting. I started collecting back in the early to mid 1970's. I sold much of my collection in the 1990's to buy a house, and have been collecting casually since. This dagger is left from my early days, a chained m36 that I bought in July of 1979. I bought it at a mom-and-pop army surplus store in a rural eastern KY town - they didn't normally carry stuff like this, someone sold it to them off the street. I have no background on the dagger.
I cannot disassemble the dagger, because I can't find the proper wrench.
I will admit that I scrubbed the blade with steel wool when I got it, to remove surface rust. I was 17, it seemed like the thing to do.
Any comments or information would be greatly appreciated. It may be real, or it may be repro, I'd just like to know more about it. Thanks for your time. Now, let me see if I can get photos to load!
The main issue is the fit of the wooden handle, which is not great, but the eagle has certainly been replaced. Look at the chipping of the wood around the eagle and the generally poor fit.
Cheers, Ade.
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I would say most of this dagger is from the 1970s including a bit more than what Ade has pointed out and will address this more tonight.
Other thoughts and opinions welcome.
Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!! - Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
Thank you for the comments thus far! This dagger, along with the body of my collection, will be passed on to my grandson. I am not at all knowledgeable about daggers, owning only 4 (a Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, and this SS) and welcome any information that I can give him. He is very interested in collecting, and I'd like to encourage that.
The greatest gift to pass down to your grandson..is knowledge ..and without it..these daggers will have no meaning or value in many areas.
I do not know how old your grandson is...but show him this website and this forum. I find it heartening that you want to encourage your grandson about this part of history..which so many schools are not teaching it . Some schools do.
On to your dagger.
Much if not all of the fittings are post war and there are many threads here within this forum that would be a great beginning to see the reasons why.
The chain is not period at all check this link out > Chained SS Study of the 4 Chain types
There were 4 time periods of production which this dagger type.
Type A early nickel fittings black painted scabbard with septum in nasal cavity of the tab skulls
Type B1 latter part of the early production type all nickel fittings black scabbard ( no septum )
Type B2 mid period production plated fittings sometimes seen with black or anodized scabbard with a support screw on top close to the chain on the scabbard center ramp.
Type C all plated fittings anodized scabbard all the tab skulls are much larger.
The blade is junk with a heavily frosted motto...M36 daggers had shallow mottos no frosting ( save that for cupcakes )
I would be safe to open this dagger up which will be a great learning tool for this community ...and sinceyou had commented you didnt have the right tool ...find a piece of cotton cloth put it around the tang nut and then use a pair of pliers to open it.
Authentic fittings will have internal markings including the blade tang and will show billet clamp marks.
The center ramp intertwined swastikas are a bit off also.
As pointed out by Adrian Stevenson the grip fit to the guards are very poor and should show no gaps and should be very tight ..especially if this daggeer is trying to be a Type B1 or B2 type.
It only takes on wrong detail ..and the dagger is devalued and will be shunned by the knowledged and will never be sold.
The accent grooves on the crossguards are also incorrect and are too shallow.
The SS proof stamp on the reverse tab is the type seen on Types B2 and C.
A thread to follow which will be a good start and you will see the differences in detail compared to the example you posted.
The CH SS dagger topic is very extensive and there would not be enough time in the day to write all that would be need to be said...which is the reason why the many threads that are present here are available through the forum search engine at the top right side typing in Chained SS dagger or similar wording.
There are many pinned threads above in this SS dagger forum also worth reading.
Looking forward to any photos you could provide of any markings of the dagger you posted.
Regards Larry
Sorry for the late reply
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!! - Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
Thank you for taking time for such full reply! My grandson is 15, and has always been mature for his age. I know he has been reading these forums, and I look forward to discussing the observations here with him this weekend, with dagger in hand. I'll try to fabricate a wrench for the pommel nut and will post some photos back to this thread. Many thanks to everyone who replied!
M36 for Evaluation and Comment
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- Larry C
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