Dress bayonet

[Buster]

The wife got me this yesterday, as most of you already know what it is i won't ramble on lol . It's  an enlisted mans stag horn gripped  K98 dress / parade bayonet , as can be seen it was manufactured by Alexander  Coppel . I have been on the lookout for one for ages ! Cheers Santa. 

[Fritz]

Very nice, all you need now is a nice bayonet knot to complete it.  Good to see the fittings are nickel-plated steel, and not zinc, as zinc tends to deteriorate over time, and very hard to find the patent leather frog in such good condition, usually cracked, dry and hardened. The staghorn grips were often favoured by Gebirgsjäger, etc.

[Buster]

5 hours ago, Fritz said:

Very nice, all you need now is a nice bayonet knot to complete it.  Good to see the fittings are nickel-plated steel, and not zinc, as zinc tends to detiriorate over time, and very hard to find the patent leather frog in such good condition, usually cracked, dry and hardened. The staghorn grips were often favoured by Gebirgsjäger, etc.

Thanks Fritz,  Yes it would appear to be of good quality materials. Your right about the patent leather, any I have seen are in a bad state of repair, but on the other hand I have been looking at this to accompany it ! Do you think its suitable ?

[Fritz]

It looks ok, better state than many, but.... this version with the leather strap is for a sword of the cavalry unts. The knot for bayonets has a grey woven textile strap - see Forum chapter in this category (Wehrmacht Insignia) under uniforms and insignia with pictures. Also many leather straps are now hard or stiff due to age, and would be difficult to re-fit without damaging, to a sword, but are very collectable as such, and often cost more than a sword or bayonet! It's strange about the patent leather frogs (as with most patent leather), about 20-40 years back they were all in very reasonably good condition, but nowadays that is seldom the case! The age is beginning to tell, but patent leather always needs proper care. Cental heating in rooms over a longer period is the cause of the leather drying out and hardening. Note - Museums and galleries always have climatised conditions.

[Buster]

It was the leather that was putting me off buying it,I  would prefer a woven one as you say. I think your also right about modern heating destroying / drying out  the leather. I think i will hold out for the correct knot for it .

[Fritz]

Another part I forgot to mention is the slot filler, this was a piece of strong, compressed and shaped, coloured felt, which fitted neatly into the recess at the back of the pommel, which of course was purely decorative, all these bayonets had them, nowadays they are often missing. They were in various colours, usually in red, but a bayonet with stag grips probably had a green or dark green filler. They can still occasionally be found amongst odd dagger parts, which some dealers offer. Photo as example.

This example is not in top condition, has some moth grazing to the surface, and the zinc recess has some slight corrosion, which has caused the felt plug zu stick, so not advisable to attempt removing to avoid further damage.

[Buster]

2 hours ago, Fritz said:

Another part I forgot to mention is the slot filler, this was a piece of strong, compressed and shaped, coloured felt, which fitted neatly into the recess at the back of the pommel, which of course was purely decorative, all these bayonets had them, nowadays they are often missing. They were in various colours, usually in red, but a bayonet with stag grips probably had a green or dark green filler. They can still occasionally be found amongst odd dagger parts, which some dealers offer. Photo as example.

It was the leather that was putting me off buying it,I  would prefer a woven one as you say. I think your also right about modern heating destroying / drying out  the leather. I think i will hold out for the correct knot for it .

Just checked, the felt filler is absent, so will have to look out for one now .

[Fritz]

and these bayonets were not just designed overnight, but followed traditional lines, you can see this was based on the M.1871 bayonet and the previous Füsilier-Faschinenmesser M.1866 or Jäger Hirschfänger M.1865, which were derived from the Infanteriesäbel M.1818 and the French sabre briquet d'infanterie de ligne M.1803. See previous articles under these sections.

Here is an example of the long version, this one has real steel fittings which are nickel plated, some traces of rust I polished over with a commercial  chrome paste as used on cars. The later versions had nickel-plated zinc fittings, these tend to deteriorate in time, see my previous article on bayonets 1939-45. The red felt slot filler is missing on this example, I will be on the lookout for an original replacement. There is a well-known dealer and book author in the U.S., whom I will contact in due course, as he has a large stock of original dagger and sword parts.