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Nation : British
Local Price : £210.00

British Lee Enfield 1907 Pattern Bayonet, Ampleforth College Officers Training Corps. Straight single-fullered knife blade, steel hilt with muzzle ring, wood slab grips secured by two screws, steel beaked pommel with oil hole and locking button. Black leather No. 1 Mk 2 scabbard with steel locket & circular frog stud and steel chape piece. The ricasso is stamped on one side with a crown over ER, 1907 (the pattern) ‘10 16’, indicating the manufacture date of November 1916, the manufacturer’s mark ‘WILKINSON’, two crown inspection stamps with ‘E’ indicating the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, and a reissue stamp dated ’27. On the other side it is stamped with a ‘broad arrow’ War Department stores mark, four more crown inspection stamps with ‘E’, a reissue stamp ’19 and an ‘X’ indicating that it passed a manufacturer’s bending test. The pommel is stamped with ‘O.T.C’ over ‘AMP’ over ‘170’. This indicates that this was bayonet number 170 used by the Ampleforth College OTC (Officers’ Training Corps). The leather of the scabbard is stamped next to the seam on one side with another broad arrow, the manufacturer’s mark ‘EFD’ for Enfield, another crown inspection mark with ‘E’, and the manufacture date ’26. On the other side of the seam is stamped a letter ‘W’ indicating that the scabbard leather was made with a waxed finish. The throat piece of the scabbard is stamped at the mouth with the serial number ‘223’, and next to the staple with another crown inspection mark. The chape piece is stamped next to the staple with ‘RE’, indicating that this component was manufactured by Remington in the United States. Most of the blade markings are somewhat rubbed yet are blued over, with the exception of the ’27 reissue stamp which looks crisper. Combining this fact with the 1926 manufacture date of the scabbard suggests to me that this bayonet may have been officially refurbished in around 1927 involving refinishing of the blade and fitting of a new scabbard. A large number of volunteer units sprang up across the United Kingdom during the late 1850s after a national appeal by the Secretary of State for War, due to a perceived threat of invasion of Britain by France. Oxford and Cambridge universities were quick to join in with the formation of their own units of Rifle Volunteers, and some schools also followed suit from 1860. As years went by the number of school volunteer units only increased until by 1898 there were 39, with another surge of interest due to the Boer War nearly doubling that number by 1902. These units provided early experience for young men who would then be in a good position to move up to the university units and perhaps a military career afterward. There was lively competition between Corps for shooting prizes in particular – although it may be said that success came in part with a school’s willingness to spend on equipment and training. The Officers’ Training Corps were established in 1906 as part of the wide-ranging Haldane Reforms to the British Army’s structure. The OTCs were intended to alleviate the shortage of trained officers in the various volunteer units (Militia, Yeomanry, Volunteer Force and Reserve of Officers) by forming a system of junior training units in public schools and senior ones in universities. Some of the junior OTCs were formed out of the existing school Cadet Corps, which by this date numbered more than fifty, while senior OTCs were often formed from the university units. Ampleforth College’s OTC was established in 1911, relatively late and with no previous history of Cadet activity at the school. 9 boys from its OTC were gazetted as Army officers from its founding up to 1914. During WW1 the OTCs became training units for supplying officers to the regiments, an OTC Certificate generally being considered full qualification to become an officer, although some individuals chose for various reasons to enlist in the ranks. Ampleforth OTC supplied 24 officer recruits and 15 other ranks between August 1914 and March 1915. During WW2 a group of related officers who trained in the OTC together at Ampleforth in the 1920s came to play key roles in the British special forces – David Stirling and his brother William joined the SOE then were founding members of the SAS, while their cousin Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, led 4 Commando at Dieppe and the Special Service Brigade at the Normandy landings. The Ampleforth College Corps still exists today as part of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), with Army and RAF contingents. Under the modern Army structure it serves as a leadership and training organisation, teaching a number of military skills but with no obligation to go on to full military service. The blade has a matt parkerised finish with some small spots of light patination. No damage to its edge, which is sharp, while its tip is very fractionally rolled. The blued band at the shoulder of the blade is intact although as noted may have been refinished during its service life. The hilt, exposed tang, pommel and scabbard fittings are blued with some light rubbing on raised edges, most notably the locking button. Some very small spots of rust patination on the pommel end. A few small dents to the wood grips. The leather scabbard body has some light dents and surface abrasion to the otherwise glossy waxed finish. All the scabbard’s stitching remains intact.

Nation : British
Local Price : £285.00

British 1887 Pattern MkIV Martini Henry Sword Bayonet by Enfield, 1887. Straight unfullered spear-pointed blade. Steel hilt with comma-shaped quillon and stepped muzzle ring, steel beaked pommel. Chequered leather grips (technically, knurled) secured by four steel rivets, leaf spring locking mechanism secured to one side with a screw. Black leather scabbard with steel mounts at the throat and chape, with frog hook. The blade is stamped at the ricasso on one side with a crown over ‘V.R.’ for Queen Victoria (this mark mostly erased by polishing with only the V.R. clearly visible), the manufacture date /87 for 1887, a reissue stamp 98 for 1898 and a crown inspection mark with ‘B’. It is stamped on the other side with a War Department mark of a broad arrow over ‘WD’, and a crown inspection mark with ‘E’ for Enfield and an ‘X’ indicating the blade passed a manufacturer’s bending test. The spine of the blade is stamped with two further crown inspection stamps for Enfield. The exposed tang is stamped with a Birmingham repair mark: a crown over ‘BR’ over ‘66’. ‘N’ and a chevron-shaped mark. The pommel is stamped with the serial number ‘5307’. The scabbard is stamped next to the throat with the serial number ‘5312’, which has been stamped over another mark which appears to read ‘CIF 200’. The 1887 Pattern bayonet was introduced into service in the face of the ‘British Bayonet Scandal’ – a controversy (eagerly whipped up by the media) that British Army bayonets were made of inferior metal and/or badly heat-treated, and the Army was outsourcing blade manufacture overseas to the detriment of British industry. The Government responded by centralising bayonet manufacture as much as possible at the RSAF in Enfield. Enfield produced two successive models of trials bayonets in 1886-7 in order to settle on the design for the new model, with 23,668 of the first and 23,569 of the second type. The final design having been worked out, Enfield then manufactured 36,400 new 1887 Pattern Mk I bayonets, but trials bayonets could also be put into service by converting them to the final design. 21,113 of the 23,668 second model trials bayonets were converted in 1887 to Mk I specification. The Mk II and Mk III models were all newly manufactured but in 1891, the Mk IV was approved. This model was another reuse of old stock: it was made initially out 22,845 (nearly all) of the 1 st model trials bayonets, but later in 1894 1,196 of the Mk I bayonets were converted too. This bayonet lacks any of the ‘E-M’ stamps seen on the trials models, suggesting it was a newly-made Mk I produced in 1887 then converted to Mk IV in 1894, which if true would make it uncommon among Mk IVs. The blade is bright with some old polishing marks, refinished during its service life either upon conversion or as part of the marked repair at Birmingham. A few tiny spots of cleaned pitting along its edge. Its tip is undamaged. The hilt is bright with a few tiny spots of patination, the pommel more mottled light patination. The leather grips have light handling wear, a spot of heavier wear to the knurling and one indentation on the leaf spring side. The scabbard fittings have some old polishing marks, light speckled patination to the throat piece, a couple of spots of heavier patination to the chape piece at the edge and at the very tip, the latter also with some light pitting. The leather of the scabbard is good with only light surface rubbing, a couple of small dents at the edges.

Nation : British
Local Price : £280.00

British Lee Enfield No. 7 Mk 1 Land Service Bayonet. Single-fullered bowie knife blade with clipped point, blued for 5mm at the ricasso. Red-brown grips made of Paxolin (resin-impregnated paper, similar to Micarta, and widely used today in circuit boards). Steel scabbard with brass throat piece, khaki canvas No. 6 postwar 1937 Pattern frog with unstitched slit for the frog stud. Hilt and pommel blued. The blade is stamped on one side at the ricasso with ‘No 7 MK 1/L’ and on the other side with a broad arrow War Department mark and what looks like a ‘C’. The hilt is stamped on one side with ‘P 9’. The pommel is faintly stamped on one side with another broad arrow and on its base with ‘V’ over ‘114’ and the letter ‘B’. The exposed track for the sliding button is stamped with a broad arrow War Department mark. The reverse of the frog is printed with a broad arrow and the partly rubbed maker’s mark ‘___AND LTD. 1955’. The penultimate model of bayonet designed for the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle and Sten Mk 5 submachine gun, the No. 7 was an attempt to produce a bayonet that was equally useful as a utility/fighting knife and a mounted bayonet, by way of an innovative rotating pommel which contains the locking mechanism. 330,000 were produced between 1944 and 1948, but doubts about the rigidity of the mechanism under stress and its high cost of manufacture meant that the No. 7 was largely passed over for the simpler No. 9. The bayonet designed for the ill-fated EM series of experimental bullpup service rifles was essentially a strengthened No. 7.

Nation : US
Local Price : £200.00

US M1873 Socket Bayonet for the Springfield Trapdoor Rifle, Massachusetts National Guard. Socket bayonet for the Model 1873 .45-70 Springfield Trapdoor rifle, with fullered triangular blade and steel scabbard. Scabbard with drainage hole and frog hanging hook, black leather frog with rotating belt loop. The ricasso of the blade is stamped ‘MASS US’. The brass swivel of the belt frog is also cast with ‘MASS’ indicating that it was made for the Massachusetts National Guard. The leather inside of the scabbard loop is also roughly inscribed with ‘AL’, presumably a soldier’s initials. The last model of standard-issue socket bayonet, the M1873 was used with the 1873 and 1879 ‘Trapdoor’ Springfield rifles, until 1884 when the new model introduced a rod bayonet. Both bayonet and scabbard have been deeply blued and retain a great deal of this original finish. The leather frog is partly cracked along the seam attaching the semicircular ‘ear’ piece to the scabbard loop – it can support its own weight but should be handled with care. Some very minor flaking to the frog’s surface in places. The loop still rotates freely. One small dent to the flat side of the scabbard body.

Nation : British
Local Price : £200.00

British L1A3 Bayonet, Converted L1A1, Dated 1957 by Enfield. Straight single fullered blade with clipped Bowie point. Black finished steel hilt, black painted sheet steel slab grips secured by two rivets around concealed tang. Steel pommel with locking button, black finished steel scabbard with circular frog stud, frog of white woven plastic. The blade is stamped at the ricasso on one side with a broad arrow War Office ownership stamp and ‘57D’, the ‘D’ having a horizontal stroke extending from the vertical. The ‘D’ with a stroke extending from the vertical is a mark of the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, while 57 is the date of manufacture. The grip slabs are each stamped with another ‘D’ with a stroke Enfield stamp and another broad arrow. The pommel is stamped on its base with the model ‘L1A3’, as well as with ‘0’ and ‘257’, the latter probably a serial or weapon number. The L1A1 bayonet for the SLR rifle was sealed as a pattern in 1957, and the L1A3 bayonet in 1958. Most of the newly made L1A1s were converted to L1A3s (which only involved milling a recess into the pommel allowing the press stud to be replaced) and later more L1A3s were newly manufactured. Being dated 1957 this example is most likely one such conversion of an L1A1. Its markings also show signs of conversion: the grips of either an L1A1 or L1A3 would normally be stamped with their model and NATO item number, but these would be incorrect after conversion and I think they have been deliberately removed on this example by grinding, and only new Enfield ‘D’ stamps were applied before the grips were refinished. The new model mark ‘L1A3’ was then applied by manual stamping on the pommel rather than trying to replace the factory stamping on the grips. The blade retains its black parkerised finish with only tiny bright spots of wear on raised edges. Some dimpled forging imperfections to the blade which have been parkerised over. Likewise some spots of wear to the finish on raised edges of the hilt, grips and pommel, a couple of very small chips to the scabbard with light rubbing at its chape end.

Nation : German
Local Price : £275.00

Bavarian M1794 Fusilier Trooper’s Sword. Single-edged hanger blade with narrow fuller running close to the spine and hatchet point. Solid cast brass hilt with ribbed grip, smooth backstrap, quillon with squared cushion finial, knucklebow hilt and tang button. No scabbard. Blade ~24½ inches (63.1cm) in length, the sword ~30 inches (76.9cm) overall. The hilt is stamped with ‘I.7.И o .60’, with some overstamping of the final two digits suggesting these were renumbered at some point. This may be a unit mark, although not one I can interpret. The blade has some patination and speckled light pitting, with patches of heavier pitting along the spine, towards the tip and at the shoulder. A number of nicks to the edge, which is sharp. The brass hilt has only a few small dents and a light, even patina.

Nation : Austro-Hungarian
Local Price : £275.00

Austro-Hungarian 19th Century Briquet Sabre by Pacholek. Curved unfullered hatchet pointed blade with false edge. One-piece cast brass hilt with ribbed grip, forward curving quillon with ball finial and simple knucklebow, domed pommel. No scabbard. Blade 25¼ inches (64.2cm) in length, the sword 30 5/8 inches (77.8cm) overall. The blade is stamped at the forte on one side with the maker’s mark ‘PACHOLEK GY _UDA_ES_’, some letters being only partially struck or double stamped. I believe this indicates the manufacturer György Pacholek of Budapest, Hungary. The same area is also stamped with ‘10S’ over ‘1174’ divided by a horizontal line, partly overstamping the maker’s mark, the numerals in an Austro-Hungarian style. Simple, sturdy and cheap to produce, the ‘briquet’ sabre was found across Europe in the mid-19 th century. Austro-Hungarian examples seem to be uncommon but may have been used for infantry or artillerymen. The blade has a quite even light patina, with a few small spots of darker patination. The edge has been sharpened, leaving visible grinding marks on the sides of the blade, and has a number of small nicks on its upper section. A few tiny dents to the brass hilt, which has a mostly even finish, with some darker patination on the quillon finial, pommel cap and on the top of the hilt next to the blade shoulder.

Nation : British
Local Price : £275.00

Argentine Model 1909 Infantry NCO’s Machete Sidearm. Single-edged blade with a swell towards the point, 14¾ inches in length (just under 20 inches overall). Steel S-shaped hilt, exposed tang and beaked pommel, wood grips secured by two rivets with washers. Blued steel scabbard with teardrop frog stud. The ricasso of the blade is stamped on one side with the Argentinian coat of arms surrounded by the text ‘Modelo Argentino 1909’, and on the other with ‘Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Co. Solingen’, the manufacturer. Both the hilt and the scabbard are stamped with the serial number ‘E01821’, indicating they are a matching pair. The pommel is stamped ‘RA’ within a circle, a government mark of the Republica Argentina. There are a few marks of individual letters with a cross on various components, these may be factory inspection marks. The spine of the blade has an ‘A’, the hilt a ‘P’, and the scabbard a ‘D’. The design of the 1909 sidearm was clearly inspired by the German Model 1898/05 bayonet: its blade is almost identical in shape and thickness, being just a fraction longer and without a fuller. Its scabbard and frog are also very close facsimiles. This example is one of those made by a German manufacturer and exported; some were also produced locally in Argentina. These sidearms were still carried by Argentinian NCOs by the time of the Falkands War in 1982. After Argentine forces surrendered to the British on June 14 their small arms were piled up by the thousand in the Islands’ capital Port Stanley, where most Argentine forces had been deployed or driven back to, as well as at their smaller garrisons at Goose Green and on West Falkland. Anecdotally, I have been told it was their artillerymen who were seen surrendering M1909 sidearms. The bayonets and sidearms frequently became personal trophies or souvenirs for British soldiers as they would not be illegal to own in civilian life. This example is almost certainly one such ‘bring-back’. The blade has some spots of patination and no edge damage. The hilt, pommel and exposed tang are likewise clean. The wood grips are in very good condition with no chipping, only a few surface dents. The scabbard is free of dents and retains much of its original blued finish, with some rubbing to the sides, the chape and where it would contact the frog when worn.