US M4 bayonet

Interesting find.

That leather wrap can't be factory?

The scabbard alone is worth what you paid.

Could the 66 be a unit level stamp for inventory? Looks very similar to the M6 bayonets that were issued years later for the M14.

I have an M6 I got at a garage sale for $5, no scabbard. I bought a 'repro' M8A1 scabbard for it, cost more than the bayonet.

Neato!
I grabbed this strange M3/M4 hybrid at the last gunshow for $20-

The scabbard is original GI, as is the tang (Camillus)-

but the blade is from the recent production Camillus M3-

The pommel is an M3 type, and has an Ordnance Dept. Flaming bomb, but I doubt its GI, especially as its pinned, not welded in place-


Why anyone would construct such a thing, I have no idea, but for a Jefferson note, I thought, why not? Lol.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

The pommel is an M3 type, and has an Ordnance Dept. Flaming bomb, but I doubt its GI, especially as its pinned, not welded in place-

Click to expand...

I am not going to say I am an expert on identification of M3 bayonets, but I will tell you, welded versus pinned, that would be an engineering change proposal that I would have approved. If the manufacturing technique, that is pinning, saved money, improved production rate, and gave the same function and durability, than why not pin the pommel?

The blade stamping is suspicious.

Camillus made a run of repop M3s a few years ago, pretty sure the blade and pommel are from one of those.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

amillus made a run of repop M3s a few years ago, pretty sure the blade and pommel are from one of those.

Click to expand...

From a quick web search, this is a geniune American Camillus reproduction, circa 1995. Made for the 50th anniversery of WW2. As this is an American Camillus, company went bust in 2007, I would claim, that any American Camillus knife has its own bit of collectability

Without a doubt it is a good knife, good steel, American made.

I know some of the knife snobs turn up their noses at it, but the M3-4-5-6-7 blade is my favorite fighting knife style.

I loved the things RC Model did with them.

I regret not picking up a box of the blades and assorted M5A1 parts at a surpus place in my early twenties. I picked up one and boggered it up so bad Bubba won't have it.

I carried an M5A1 for a camp knife from age nine to 18 when Uncle Sam did not want me to have it, but loaned me an M7 instead. I was about 30 when it was stolen from a storage unit along with an AK47 bayonet that few back then had any idea what it was. I used the M5A1 in High School JROTC for old style bayonet training until I could get an M1 bayonet. Some first year teacher from up yonder some where saw us training with them and we made the NY Times "Ain't the Army awful teaching school kids to kill" or words to that effect. Stupid teacher, 1/3 of the boys in my highschool expected to get letters from the Selective Service folks around a year after highschool graduation and some of us wanted every edge we could get.

I have a Nipponese M4 with a light colored leather washer handle that Dad bought in about 1968 or 69 to go with his Police Auxillery M1 Carbine. I will see if I can find it and the old camera. I had one like it for my carbine at the time but sold/traded it to another young guy that wanted it pretty bad for some cash and French Carbine Berdan primed ammo.

-kBob

Pulled out mine for a quick picture. Stamp says M5A1 bayonet. Bought it from a college friend of mine for $12, no scabbard. I bought 2 and gave one away as a gift to my brother.

kBob said:

I loved the things RC Model did with them.

Click to expand...

That has me curious. I'll have to dig around here to see what rc did. I'd bet it's pretty cool.

GunnyUSMC said:

I’ve got one of those M5 bayonets around here somewhere. Might have to dig it out. I think I paid $45 for mine a few years ago.

Click to expand...

According to the guy I bought them from, these bayonets are "Korean edition." Supposedly the release buttons are bigger to help being used with gloved hands. Not sure how much truth there is to that, this guy had a pretty high BS factor about most things.

A couple years after I got my M1 Carbine from the CMP, I got an email that they had received Norwegian made Carbine bayonets, and were selling them. $35, I think. They were identical to US issue, and made for the Norwegian military.
Here it is on my Carbine. The sheath is an M8...my Dad brought it home from WWII, just the sheath, no blade.
He used a Garand, and carried a custom fighter he picked up near Ft Hood, prewar, so I don’t know why he had it.