Hi I`m new to these forums and have come here for a bit of advice if I may.....a bit of a story....whilst knocking down an old brick outhouse in the back yard I found in the peak of the roof an old bayonet.....its about 18" long....a bit rusty...the wooden (if it was wooden) handle has gone....its obviously seen better days, but there are still markings on it...anyway I just dont know what to do with it??? I know having such knives are no frowned upon by the law but its a shame to hand it in to the cops as it will just get melted down......are there any collectors out there???? dose anyone want it???? or is it as worthless as scrap and I`ll just chuck it in the bin?? It looks very much like this (but without the wooden bits on the handle) what should I do with it?
Looks like a 1907 pattern bayonet on my lousy, really dark computer monitor. It may be more valuable than you think.
Hello , By all means dont chuck it away, many collectors would love to have it and would be happy to pay for the shipping too. I would just advice you send in the country you come from as sending it abroad might be difficult. Are you in the UK ?
yep thats a bayonet for a smle enfield cause I have seen that bayonet before but I think you should keep it just replace the wooden grips as best as possible and shine the blade if you can its,s kind of strange though cause it kinda resembles a m1 garand long bayonet
okay I got it the 1907 bayonet has a 21and3/4 inch blade and the1917 bayonet aka enfield/trench gun bayonet has a 17"inch blade so it,s most likely a m1917
Can you read any of the markings? If it's a Patten 1907 bayonet, you'll see "1907" and a crown on one side of the blade, near the hilt (this area is called the ricasso) and in the same spot on the other side most likely will be an X and the broad arrow (looks like " ^ "). On the "1907" side, you may be able to see two sets of numbers below the 1907 ... the number on the left will be the month of manufacture and on the right will be the year made, usually written with an apostrophe and two numerals (e.g. '18 for 1918-made blade). You may even be able to see a name written below those numerals ... "Wilkinson," "Chapman" and "Sanderson" are common to see stamped there. I don't think the UK has any laws about knives, do they?
one question for you insanity 74 was the area where you live at ever a battle zone of any of the two world wars
It definitely looks like a 1907 Pattern bayonet - I have one just like it - which was of course the 'standard' bayonet for the British .303 SMLE throughout WW1 and also the early part of WWII. As such it isn't particularly scarce and being in rather poor condition it won't be worth much - but it is certainly an interesting curio and shouldn't just be thrown away. There is no law against possession in the UK ( only the usual one for any large knife ie that it shouldn't be brandished in public....)
Thanksfor the advice.....I`ll post up some pictures later on when I get home.....I cant see any 1907 marks on the blade marking look a bit like this 3YE `24 ID X IT E F there are other markings above and below these, but they are too worn to make out. the other side of the blade which was the side facing up when I found it us rusted and nothing at all is visible.....only rust sadly. An expert could probably restore it guess.....I`d like to keep it, but if I do it`ll just sit gathering dust....I`d much rather it go to someone who will appreciate it as part of a collection. I`m in the UK....north east. On closer examination it is a little different from the picture I posted.....is a hole at the very end of the handle...one side is round...the other is oval and theres a slit lengthways where I guess it clips onto the gun somehow.
thats a m1917 bayonet because the trench gun of ww2 had this little metal piece towards the bottom of the barrel which that slit would have went over
