| Total length = mm | Blade length = mm | Blade width = mm | MRD = mm |
Chassepot Gendarmerie Socket, apparently the rarest of the three versions of this bayonet available
| Gendarmarie Socket | |||||
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Chassepot Gendarmerie Socket, apparently the rarest of the three versions of this bayonet available |
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| M1842 | |||||
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1842 second model
Steel cross guard identifies this as 1842, the earlier 1840 has a brass cross guard
Right ricasso marks
Right hilt showing leaf spring locking mechanism, the later 1842/59 has a locking mechanism operated by a coil spring
heavy scabbard has heavy frog strap |
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| M1842 | |||||
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French 1842 with what I believed was Chinese script on the cross guard, it is however on closer examination and cleaning actually the original numbers struck out using a X stamp, a case of excess expectation on my part. Luckily I didn't break the bank |
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| M1842/59 | |||||
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Mle 1842/59 bayonet, with internal coil spring locking. Much heavier blade than the 1866 and a "rough" cast iron cross guard instead of brass cross guard of 1842. | ||||
| M1866 | |||||
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An unmarked 1866 style bayonet, which bears several small differences from standard French issue: Blade is heavier being much thicker, with a completely flat spine, I am wondering if this is a modified 1842 type blade. Weight difference is noticeable on picking up the blade
Adjustment screw on the muzzle ring has square shoulders and not the rounded shoulders of a standard 1866
Ricasso is longer than any other example I have of the 1866 and fullers are earlier squared style
Cordons are deeper with much rounder profile
Quillion ball is less pronounced than normal
Slot appears shorter than normal 1866 but this is all down to a slightly shorter and more rounded pommel. Any ideas gratefully accepted. |
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| M1866 Belgian | |||||
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Belgian made 1866 with French serial number on cross guard, ricasso mark is Crown over CB or CH | ||||
| M1866 Reeves made | |||||
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Reeves Birmingham UK made 1866
Grips of Reeves made 1866 |
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| M1866 Chatterault | |||||
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1871 made Chat bayonet
inspection marks on ricasso
Z serialed show it was issued as a side arm rather than as a bayonet on a rifle |
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| M1866 Christofle | |||||
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Christofle made 1866 with Z serial, interesting inspection marks on ricasso and cross guard. Scabbard has hand painted olive drab finish, thought to be period, scabbard has no markings |
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| M1866 Wood Inserten | |||||
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Interesting conversion of 1866 with wooden inserts into modified grips, held by brass screws. Both fullers are inscribed by original collector who identifies the bayonet as a French model 1874 Gras, the inscription is dated 1877 in Frankfurt. Bayonet is R serialed, frog staple has been turned 90 degrees. |
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| M1866 AC | |||||
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An unknown 1866(?) with a makers mark of AC (unknown maker) but no other markings. the hilt shows evidence of having been painted green a long time ago, there was also evidence of black paint on the cross guard and the scabbard |
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| M1866 Mutzig | |||||
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E serialed 1866, indicating a Mutzig arsenal issue weapon, it has however no spine script and the ricasso is marked with a figure 5 on one side and an unknown makers mark on the other. The mark may indicate Belgian manufacture. The rivets on the the hilt are counter sunk brass rather than the steel ones used on normal 1866's |
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| M1866 Remington Hilt | |||||
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Defense Nationale bayonet made during Franco Prussian war. This uses a marked 1866 blade but is fitted to a Remington style hilt probably to allow it to fit to the Egyptian contact rifles taken over by the French at this time. This shows the lack of bottom rivet typical of these blades (all there is a dimple where the hole would be). It also shows the late deletion of the muzzle ring adjustment, being in this case fixed. Most well known are the examples with the re used sword blades, but many were made using other blades as well. |
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I have also picked up a completely unmarked 1866 Chassepot type bayonet with German style squared fullers, no inspection marks, makers marks or anything on either the scabbard or the bayonet itself. |
| M1866 Funcke | |||||
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Matching original numbers on 1886
April 72 made
Renumbered with Z serial showing its use as a side arm
Funcke made
1866 crossguard |
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| M1866 St Etienne | |||||
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1866 Chassepot back of blade marked "Mre d'armes de St Etiene Fevrier 1874". Right side of blade marked with M and G in circles, left side of cross guard marked AB97047. Quillion stamped with crowned D and two other stamps | ||||
| M1866 M&G | |||||
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1866 Chassepot Right side of blade marked with M and G in circles, left side of cross guard marked O 6090. Quillion stamped with crowned G and two other stamps. Scabbard painted black. stamped B 88006 | ||||
| M1866 Chromed | |||||
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Chromed 1866 Chassepot |
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| M1866 2nd Cordon | |||||
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Early production 1866 with the rivet in the second cordon, rather than the 3rd as in all later made ones. The date is not visible on the blade due to the surface corrosion, however it is probably prior to December 1866 |
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| M1866 three fullered blade DN bayonet | |||||
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Defense Nationale bayonet made using a modified side arm sword blade. This one has a distinctive 3 fuller blade |
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| M1866 DN | |||||
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A 1866 Chassepot style bayonet with a brass plug filling the location that the bottom rivet would have taken, it is possible that this is a late FP war version which were reputedly made without the rivet to make production easier but I have not been able to confirm this Identified as a Defense National model made during the Franco Prussian war, the more normal ones without lower rivet, have a dimple one one side without a hole on the other side, this one is different because of the brass infill
Brass plug doesn't penetrate the hilt |
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| M1866 DN double edged blade | |||||
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Defense Nationale bayonet using an 1866 style hilt and a re-used double edged sword blade
Chassepot style muzzle ring with cut out, and Remington style un chamfered slot
Bottom rivet is missing and shows only a dimple where the hole would be drilled
Serial on cross guard
Makers mark "U" on the ricasso |
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| M1866 Remington Re hilt | |||||
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Remington re-hilt of earlier Funcke blade |
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| M1866 Z marked Belgian | |||||
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Belgian makers mark on an 1866 Chassepot bayonet, Notice pommel differences to the normal 1866 model
Pommel has different shape than normal Chassepot blades with a sharper beak and more rounded back. Although this bayonet has a French serial who was it originally for Z serials were used to denote bayonets issued without rifles as side arms |
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| M1866 Hunting | |||||
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Doubled barrel muzzle ring, probably a hunting blade rather than a Franco Prussian war period model but .....
All brass hilt and crossguard, colour is lighter than the normal 1866 hilt. There is signs of verdigris on inside of muzzle ring showing it has some age. It is thought that the spring and lock stud have been replaced.
Blade shows 8bre 1868 date but no arsenal marks. Is this a reject chassepot blade re-used
Slot is the un-chamfered Remington style
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| M1866 Stahelin Bitschelin | |||||
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Stahelin and Bitschelin made 1866 Jan 1868, with S prefixed French serial on crossguard | ||||
| M1866 Weyersberg | |||||
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German Weyersberg made 1866 with U prefixed serial on crossguard |
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| M1866 CG | |||||
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CG? | ||||
| 1866 Gustav Felix | |||||
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Gustav Felix made | ||||
| 1866 Reeves Ricasso | |||||
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1866 with Reeves marked ricasso but no French serial |
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| DN M1866 Milward made | |||||
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Defense Nationale 1866 ordered from the UK maker William Millward, investigation has shown that they arrived to late to take part in the Franco Prussian war, and were unpacked after the war. Most are found without any French Markings other than a serial number on the pommel end (not seen on this example). This is not a common maker
UK made model has a slightly smaller and rounder hilt
this results in what appears to be a shorter slot, examination shows the difference to all be behind the locking bar and due to the pommel shape |
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| 1874 Telegraphers | |||||
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1874 Gras with muzzle ring filled with brass threaded plug
Stud is permanently fixed as adjustment screw on top of muzzle ring has been riveted
This conversion is to allow the bayonet to be used as an earth for telegraphers, since it no longer fixes to the rifle the telegraphers must have only used it as a sid arm. |
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| M1874 | |||||
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1874 Gras |
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| M1874 | |||||
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M1874 Gras | ||||
| M1874 | |||||
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M1874 Gras with cut outs in scabbard (for Scottish highland dancing, cuts allow scabbard and blade to be joined at right angles) | ||||
| Kropatschek | |||||
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Kropatschek bayonet made for France by Steyr in Austria. Similar to the 1874 Gras the back of the handle is straight and not humped, it is also Similar to the Rumanian Peabody but the hilt is shorter. This example has a Gras scabbard as evident from the scabbard serial. The back of the spine appears to have an anchor stamp which is normally seen on the crossguard. |
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| Kropatschek | |||||
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Kropatschek bayonet made by Steyr in Austria (as evident from spine inscription and press stud mark), This has no serial number on the crossguard and is therefore a stores weapon kept to be marked to match the rifle when replacing a issued blade. The scabbard serial may show scabbard is a correct Kropatschek scabbard as opposed to a Gras one. |
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| M1886 | |||||
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M1886 Lebel | ||||
| M1886/93/16 | |||||
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M1886/93/16 with quillion removed | ||||
| Modified 1886 | |||||
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1886 leather covered to convert to swagger stick
Professional leather covering |
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| M1886 | |||||
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Shortened steel hilt 1886 | ||||
| Modified 1886 | |||||
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Modified by removal of hilt and fitted with tape grip. Scabbard is a correctly modified 1886 one | ||||
| 1886 SHORT |
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| Shortened 1886 |
| Daudeteau | |||||
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Daudeteau bayonet, essentially similar to the 1886 Lebel with the addition of a groove down the side of the hilt to accept the cleaning road. This has been fitted with a brass riveted Lebel frog which has had an approved slit in the bottom of the frog to allow it to be used on the Gras. |
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| M1892 | |||||
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M1892 Mannlicher Berthier | ||||
| Modified 1886 | |||||
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Shortened M1886 Lebel |
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| Wire Breaker | |||||
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WWI wire cutter attachment for Lebel bayonet | ||||
| 1936 MAS | |||||
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Four variations on the MAS spike bayonet showing differences in the tips and the knurling rings |
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| Early 1936 MAS | |||||
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Early MAS 36 bayonet without the later hole added to allow "joined'" rifles to be separated. The hole was added after trainees linked two rifles by using the bayonet catches |
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| MAS 1936 1st Patern | |||||
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MAS 36 first pattern | ||||
| Fighting Knife from 1913 | |||||
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Fighting knife made from cut down Remington 1913 bayonet |
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| M1949 MAS | |||||
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1949-56 MAS | ||||
| FAMAS | |||||
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| FAMAS dress scababrd for ceremonial uses | |||||
| US M4 |
