Bayonet again....

[Chris Boonzaier]

I am really not a Bayonet collector, but they seem to come on thheir own of late...

I bought this on impulse, then thought "Aaaaarrgghh! What have I done!!"

It has a square ring on the sheath instead of the tongue slider for the German Bayonet frog. There is no crown with letter stamped on the back of the blade, and it has a piece missing from the muzzle ring.

Buuuut in the end, alls well that ends well.... obviously a bullet took out the missing part... anyone guess why the other two points (stamp and Square ring instead of slider) were explained?

Best

Chria

[Chris Boonzaier]

2

[christerd]

Hmm Very nice m/1871 bayonet , but the lack of stamps is a mystery , ..... or could it be a bayonet sold to Argentina ???

I know that Argentina bought rifles ( very rare) but I never seen a m/71 bayonet for them ? (probably even rarer)

A real collectors item !

Christer

[Chris Boonzaier]

naaaahhh.... the key is not outside of Germany.......

[IrishGunner]

Well, I'm now quite curious since I saw one of these for sale a few months ago - without scabbard though. I almost bought it, but wasn't sure about it's origin. Come on now - make me feel disappointed I didn't grab it when I could.

[tbk0000]

Hi, I have an m71 with the crown and manufacture date machined off - interestingly the unit marking on the crosspiece had also been remarked B.A.XIX.13. possibly indicating a reissue date of 1913. Definitely a professional job - anyone seen anything like this? Terry

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi Terry,

I think yours is Beschaffungs Amt of the XIX Armee Corps as opposed to Bavarian?

Nice piece.

Usually the 13 would be a weapon number from the unit. Maybe a guard at the XIX Armee Korps ? It is an unusual and interesting stamp!

[KIR]

Hi Chris,

I'm really not sure, but your stamp (maybe) means: "Bayerische 15. Regiment 3. Kompanie, Waffe 43" ????

And the other (maybe) means: sächsische Bekleidungsamt XIX, Waffe 13 ?????

Best regards,

Jens

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi Chris,

I'm really not sure, but your stamp (maybe) means: "Bayerische 15. Regiment 3. Kompanie, Waffe 43" ????

And the other (maybe) means: sächsische Bekleidungsamt XIX, Waffe 13 ?????

Best regards,

Jens

Jup,

thats it...

Due to the fact that mine is bavarian stamped, the crown and letter on the spine should not be there (is not), the sheath should have the loop instead of the slider.

It is a textbook Bavarian.

Best

Chris

[tbk0000]

Chris, nice bayonet - that makes three I have seen with the date and cypher machined off - any reason why this practice is textbook Bavarian? - and is that another number on the opposite side to the regimetal marking on the crossguard?

Thanks Chris and Jens - B.A.XIX is the Bekleidungsamt (Clothing Depot) for the Second Saxon Armee-Korps which borders on Bavaria - unsure about the weapon number 13 though - I have seen another post elsewhere about a tunic with a BA XIX 18 marking so it could just be the year (it would seem strange to start your inventory with obsolete bayonets but who knows) - the only other Armee Korp marked M71 I have seen didn't have a B.A. mark but the AK number and the full regimental/company/weapon number.

Unfortunately, the scabbard (with slider) is marked 53.R.R.15.49 - Recruitment Depot for the 53rd Reserve Infantry Regiment (which had 16 Companies) which was part of Vll Armee Korps so the bayonet and scabbard are mismatched.

If you are looking for a good M71 site try this http://www.waffensammler-kuratorium.de/sgm71/sgm71ti.html .

Cheers, Terry

[KIR]

Hi Terry,

... unsure about the weapon number 13 though - I have seen another post elsewhere about a tunic with a BA XIX 18 marking so it could just be the year ....

... I'm not really an expert on this, but I think the stamps for tunics and weapons are different.

In a tunic the stamp could be the year, but on a bayonet there is also an "Abnahmestempel" on the blade.

So I think the last number (for bayonets) is the weapon-number. Best regards,

Jens

[tbk0000]

Thanks Jens, I agree with you about the weapon number.

It's also possible that B.A.XIX. stands for the Betreibs Abteilung of the Eisenbahn (Railway) unit of the XIX Armee Korps.

The 2nd Royal Saxon Train Battalion No. 19 was part of this AK. Terry

[KIR]

... It's also possible that B.A.XIX. stands for the Betreibs Abteilung of the Eisenbahn (Railway) unit of the XIX Armee Korps.

The 2nd Royal Saxon Train Battalion No. 19 was part of this AK.

Hi Terry,

I don't think so, anything around Eisenbahn (Railway) was stamped with an "E".

But I'm not an expert! Best regards,

Jens

[Chris Boonzaier]

There we go, Bekleidungs Amt !

[tbk0000]

Nice work Jens! Looks like there was a lot of diversity in Armee Korps and Eisenbahn markings. Can you advise the source for the last list? Thanks Terry

[KIR]

Hi Terry,

sure, it's out from a small book (44 pages): "Deutsche Truppenstempel bis 1918 und Abkürzungen der Truppenteile" 2006.

But there must be another new and very good book about stamps: "Handbuch deutscher Waffenstempel" (440 pages):

Handbuch Deutscher Waffenstempel: auf Militär- und Diensthandwaffen 1871-2000: Amazon.de: Joachim Görtz, Albrecht Wacker: Bücher

Best regards,

Jens