Bayonet (S98/05)

[Chris Boonzaier]

I dont know if I am going to go down the rocky road of bayonet collecting, but here are the makers I have at the moment...

Deutschemachinenfabrik A.G. Duisberg - notice even the screws are stamped!! Abnahme 1916

[Chris Boonzaier]

Waffenbabrik Mauser A.G. Oberndorf Abnahme 1917

[Chris Boonzaier]

Erfurt a.A. Abnahme 1915

[Chris Boonzaier]

Ditto but n.A. also 1915

[Chris Boonzaier]

This one has no stamps at all! a few at the press stud, but nothinh on the blade, no maker, no adnahme, and nothing seems to have been removed.

[Chris Boonzaier]

I actually thought I had a few more of these, but only seem to have one sawback, P.D. Lüneschloss Solingen Adnahme 1916

[Chris Boonzaier]

If you have any to add, please do....

[Trajan]

The S98/05 is a highly underappreciated bayonet nowadays... But just look at them! In the time the "butcher's knife" was develloped, most of the bayonets were much longer and thinner. This made them sort of fragile weapons. With the S98/05 a shorter bayonet with wider blade was a great improvement and the bayonet could also be used for other purposes like cutting wood etc.

Actually, the S.98/05 was originally designed to be as much a robust cutting tool as a bayonet. When introduced, the sawback version was intended originally for issue to the Pioniere- and Eisenbahntruppen only, for cutting down and clearing small bushes and other vegetation, while issue of the non-sawback type was at first restricted to the Fussartillerie- and the Telegraphentruppen only, for field use as a basic chopping tool. It was only bcause of the shortage of S.98 and its unsuitability for field use that resulted in the issuing of the S.98/05 to all infantrymen commencing in late 1914 /early 1915.

Not a hammer amigo! The 1915 Erfurt were not straight along the back... even when tey added the metal plate they had to bend it.... Here is a 1915 Erfurt with one of the regular ones with a straight flat plate...

Nice pair of transitional ones there - the high ears were left on when the flashguard was fitted.

Although made in the industrial age, these WW1 bayonets are still artisanal in a way... they have "personality" that WW2 ones dont... just see the small differences.....

Too right they are highly personalised artefacts.... Try fitting the grips from one 98/05 onto another 98/05 - not always easy...

I dont know if I am going to go down the rocky road of bayonet collecting, but here are the makers I have at the moment...

 

Deutschemachinenfabrik A.G. Duisberg - notice even the screws are stamped!! Abnahme 1916

That's a bit of  rarity as in my limited experience, by 1916 they had generally stopped stamping the screws... Wonder if they are old stock? Does the 'fraktur' letter match the ones on the pommel and/or the spine?

 

Note incidentally the slightly bent 'back' - I have seen this on a fair few 98/05's, the tang being at a slight downwards angle to the blade spine. It can't be damage, IMHO, as it would take a heck of a lot to bend it like that. I guess a faulty press at the factory? The original blueprints for these bayonets are incredibly detailed and I can see how a mistake might have been made in the rush to get them produced.