Japanese Model 30 - Serial Number

The wife came across a very nice model 30 bayonet. It is a Mukden and has the serial number (6685) on the end of the pommel. The serial number is not preceded by any numbers or letters. We have seen some Japanese bayonets preceded by a series number. Does the 4 digit serial number indicate an early manufacture?

Best we can gather off of the internet, the Mukden arsenal was in operation from 1939 to sometime in 1945. It would be neat to know that it was made closer to 1939 than 1945.

John M
Mesa, AZ

That sn is usually of the rifle it was issued with.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by apachedawg

That sn is usually of the rifle it was issued with.

---

Not on Japanese bayonets.

Only very early rifles had matching bayonets and very early for the Type 38 is 1906. This is according to Duncan McCollum in his book Japanese Rifles of World War II.

Early production will have all the bells and whistles. Nice finish, hooked quillon, etc. As the war progressed, they got cruder. My bayonet has an impossibly long serial number on it yet it still has all the appropriate early characteristics. It was produced by a different arsenal however, Kokura I believe.