"Beater" WW2 Type 30 bayonet

[Shanghai McCoy]

In my "big box o' junk" there is a Type 30 Japanese bayonet that is missing the guard/quillion. The blade has the fuller but it's not in great shape between the missing part and the grinding marks left by someone's sharpening in the distant past.
So, I was wondering if it's going to be worth the trouble to find a guard for this and put it back together as an old beat up WW@ bayonet or just use the blade for something else ?

 

[hso]

Just use it as a donor.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Thanks hso, that's what I was thinking but it's usually good to get it confirmed by a second opinion.

 

[AJumbo]

Funny story about those Pacific Theater "war trophies"-

My godfather was a Marine, and participated in the invasion of Saipan. He saw the elephant. He also scrounged every piece of the Emperor's gear he could lay his hands on for resale to those unlucky souls who had to sit it out in the rear areas. He soon learned that Arisaka bayonets with the busted "parrying hook" were worth more money than pristine ones. One hears that Japanese soldiers would run their rifles dry then form up for a "bonzai" charge when victory was impossible. The assumption was that the hooks were snapped off in a bayonet duel with a victorious US Marine. He never tried to correct anyone's thinking on that subject if it got in the way of a sale.

I wonder what the quality of the steel is; if the bayonet isn't worth much otherwise, maybe it could be re-purposed.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Good story there AJ. Your godfather might have ridden on one of the LSTs that my dad was on back then.
This one had the guard taken off at some point so maybe the guy that gave it to me used it as a replacement for one that was broken. The blade might could work for a "project" I have in mind ...