Printable View
Watching ebay the past week and these aren't going cheap but there are so many of them and so many in the same or similar condition as the release of the 1918 bayonets that I'm wondering if these recently hit the surplus market from the Swiss armories.
Done the usual searches but nothing coming up. Anyone know of someone selling for less than the ebay prices?
if they sold for less than ebay prices they woudl be sold and then resodl on Ebay someone woudl be out there to make the small amount of money involed. Lots of people make a living buying to resell on EBAY so little cheap stuff makes it out there, most sellers have Ebay prices or higher for their items. if IMA gests a stock of cheap blades they are rapidly bought and appear on Ebay for a few dollars more. You need to be in with the trade I am afraid or very lucky at a show/flea market etc.
Thanks Carl, that's pretty much what I was afraid of. I had hoped they were still available from someone in "surplus" state.
You need the carbine to put it on. difficult to find. I have both. I use it for show and tell. Their Long obsolete history... gary
Try JC militaria in the UK, his stuff is 100% genuine he has a very good web site and he is prompt with postage but he is not cheap.
I have one, that's why I'm looking for the bayonet. 1917 production so while the 1918 will fit it just fine, probably not the first one it had,Quote:
Originally Posted by arado
It seems lately that anyone selling decent bayonets looks on ebay and whatever the highest sales price for the past period they list, that is the price they want. Even if it is a stupid, crazy high price. They simply tell you "that's what they're selling for on ebay".
If someone asks me what a bayonet is worth I simply tell them to check ebay. I know that may be somewhat contrary to my opinion based on the above statement, but if you tell them a realistic price that is below what something has recently sold for, they think you're trying to screw them. You can't win, so I don't bother to get involved.
I bought my chromed 1914 Pioneer bayonet on E-bay for £105.00 inc post. I assume no one wanted a chrome one! There is a Lady e-bay name is Sig Sal. She trades in vintage Swiss Army knives and sometimes has a few bayonets.Please see ebay.ch
UK retail for a 1914 Pioneer Bayonet is about £250! But they are a quality bayonet.
I think the general public have woken up to the quality of Swiss Army equipment. Now is the time to buy. Every one should have a Swiss Sig 57 bayonet, get one whilst they are still £20!
I have purchased long Garand bayonets from JC Militaria. He does sell good stuff. You can normally include GB postage in his advertised price. I always look at his stall at Bisley Arms Fair.
He has supplied my friends in S.Ireland with No5 bayonets. The friends were happy with their purchases.
Hope the above is of help. kind regards, Lester
My year old price guide lists them at $75-$175 and would appear to be "out of date" for this item anyway. Ebay seems to start them at $150 although some are trying to start them at $250 which they do not appear to be able to get, yet. I was hoping to get one that had a coat of rust on the handle but it went for just over$150, I stopped there and lost it by $2, hate that. Figured all these nice shinny ones were refinished by the arsenal so polishing up the rusty one wouldn't be any different. I was watching one with a busted and crooked welded blade that I stopped watching when it got over $50. Last I noticed it it was over $80 but not sure what the final selling price was. It would have needed to be re-cut, re-welded, re-polished and you would still end up with a bad bayonet.
I for one love the Swiss bayonets. They are in my opinion, in their respective time periods, the nicest of any bayonet.
Do not worry about chromed Swiss bayonets. It is an official unofficial modification to stop them going rusty. I have not seen a refinished Swiss bayonet on the UK market ( save for chrome ones). They seem to keep well as standard. However most of the Swiss Army is in reserve so their kit does not see a lot of action. Another nice bit of kit is their 1940s issue entrenching tool.
keep on looking and you will find a nice condition Pioneer bayonet for a fair price.
E-bay in the UK does not allow the sale of edged weapons and knives. Since the prohibition has come in . Bayonet prices in the UK have shot up quite a bit because of the lack of competition on E-bay. Only the dealers seem to have bayonets for sale now. The best value/ over condition has always been to buy from a fellow collector, trading up or selling his or hers collection.
One thing you can never put a price on is doing the leg work trying to find these old bayonets!
Kind regards, Lester
Aragorn243, just a suggestion. I note you live in the USA. The 1914 Pioneer bayonet for sale on JC Militarias site ( Stock number SR7115) is on sale for £245.00 inc UK postage and value added tax. As a USA export customer, he should supply you vat free. That would be approx 20% off. Postage to US would be expensive and would off set some of the vat savings.
In the UK militaria older than 1919 is considered antique. You may enjoy a lower rate of taxes upon importation to the USA if it is correctly declared as an antique item. The frog fitted to this bayonet is worth about £10.00. In my humble opinion, this bayonet would be worthwhile if you could get it for about £200 as an export sale ( Plus postage and import duties of course).
Kind regards, Lester
Lester, I can get them for less here in the States. They seem to be selling for between $150-$200 and the dollar is about 61% of the British Pound right now. It's not that I'm not willing to pay that but I would prefer not paying that much. I found that source in Canada for the K31 (& K11) which was half the ebay prices and was just hoping someone knew of a similar source for these. Ebay seems to have no shortage of them lately.
Well, there is this one on sale on eBay right now with three days to go:
Swiss M.1914 Sawback Bayonet And Scabbard | eBay
Condition is not too bad and no frog (a $25 - $35 item IF you can find one) so, what do you think? (And this is not my item but if moderators feel it is an inappropriate link, please shut it down. :cheers:)
The above looks like a nice one. Worth bidding on me thinks. Still has the leather tab on the scabbard.
I know tradeexcanada had some Swiss Bayonets for sale. I have purchased from them in the past.
Kind regaeds, Lester
I've been watching that one. Price is good now but probably won't be a few minutes before it ends. My only issue with it and it isn't a huge issue is the date. It's a 1930 and my rifle is a 1917. If the price is right at the end, that won't hold me back.
---------- Post added at 07:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:19 PM ----------
I like that Steyr bayonet price. No 1914 bayonets right now but they have the 1918's. The shipping from Canada just kills the bargains though.Quote:
Originally Posted by LesterH
---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 PM ----------
On these bayonets. My gun auction, tomorrow, has a Swiss bayonet for sale. It's the one after the 1918 and before the newest, the one everyone seems to have for sale for $25 right now. What caught my eye was the frog that comes with it. It is in very nice shape but looks older than what this bayonet would normally have. On the back it has the large oval sattlers logo that has a 3 on the left side and a 7 on the right side. I may be mis-interpreting that as a 1937 date but if that is what it is, I'll try to get the bayonet for the frog. I love those bayonets anyway. I did notice stitching on the bottom where the buckle would have once been so again, I'm guessing this would be the right frog for a 1918 bayonet.
Aragorn243. If you are referring to the Sig57 bayonet. The previous issue 1914/18 leather frogs fit the Sig 57 as well. The proper frog for the 57 is a small green plastic one.
Just in case you don't know. The real early leather bayonet frogs circa 1896 ish. Used the leather tongue on the scabbard for fixing. Later around 1914, the scabbards leather tongues were cut off and a modified leather frog had a strap and buckle to pass through the old leather tongues fixing bracket. a lot of the old leather frogs were reworked to the new design. Look for redundent stitching holes. The stampings on the back of the frog may or may not reveal the history.
I would suggest buying a Sig57 with a leather frog if you can get one for USD25.00. In the Uk at the moment you can buy a nice Sig57 bayonet for about £15+ without a frog. The leather frogs sell for about £10.00. Plastic version about £3. USD25/GB£16 is a good deal compared to the UK.
Lester,
You have to realize that this gun auction I refer to as the gun auction from hell is just that. This was a Sig57 bayonet in proper sheath and the old style leather frog with the stitch holes in it. The bayonets tip, just the very tip, tiny part, was broken off.
It sold for $65 US dollars. I was sitting there just shaking my head. The same guy paid $50 for a beat up Turkish bayonet, $65 for a lot which included a Savage No4 MK II bayonet, an unknown maker bayonet and an unmarked No9 bayonet (without scabbard). He left the good bayonets go without bidding. These included an M7 US bayonet and the large British SMLE bayonet of which the name escapes me right now. That sold in combination with an RFI Jungle SMLE bayonet for $175.
I was in a foul mood long before the bayonets came up for bid. A Gew 98 in fair condition, most of the bluing was gone and the stock had been refinished sold for $1360.00. I had it figured for about $300 or so due to condition. These people are nuts. I know with the rifles at least it may be hard to relate the prices but a Mosin Nagant 30/59 which maxes out at $175 sold for $365. I've watched this same auction house get $350 for the refurbished 91/30's which I can buy at a store called Dunhams for $79, THE EXACT SAME GUN, PROBABLY WHERE THE SELLER GOT THEM FROM.
I hate that auction. In 20 years I've bought two rifles there, and I honestly can't complain about those two but there have been dozens that I would have liked to have brought home that were simply bid to 40% above their value because there are crazy people in attendance.
I found the scabbards on the net last evening. With shipping one will cost me a bit more than $10 I think which isn't bad.
Aragorn243. Thank you for the above note, all points taken. Some folks don't want to do the "leg work" and find nice exhibits for a fair price. Some people don't mind paying a lot of money for exhibits the experienced collectors know is over priced.They just take the easy path and pay up!
Over the years I have done some commissioned buying for gun clubs in S.Ireland, a film props maker and some Enfield rifle shooters in the Danish Army. I am pleased to report nothing has ever been returned to me as unsatisfactory.
I started my own militaria collection ( mainly bayonets) a few years ago, because I was fed up with museums, charging poeple good money to look at wrong and worn out stuff! I was sure I could do better. All of us current collectors must remember these historic items are only "lent" to us. We are saving them for the education future generations. We need to save some correct and mint equipment. Someone one day may wish to measure and test it. I get young kids who play on Playstation to run round my garden with a Brengun. Then they realise how fit their soldier Grandads had to be! You don't learn than from reading a book or watching TV! ( apologies to all our member for ranting).
Well done for finding the frogs.Your leg work paid off.
Kind regards, Lester
I don't have a lot of money which is why I do the leg work. What money I have has to count for something. I did my first presentation of my collection this past Thursday. I think it went pretty well. I had about an hour and a half to go over why I collect, what to look for, optional ways to collect and then the individual pieces themselves. I had 12 rifles and 2 handguns from WWI and WWII and bayonets for 11 of the rifles. One, the No4 MKI had three bayonets, and one, the 03A3 had two bayonets. The bayonet I was missing was the 1914 Sawback for my K11.
That presentation was why I've had a flurry of activity these past few months. I have been trying to get nice pieces to present and with a limited budget, that's hard. Planning had been in place for about 6 months.
One piece of good news from the presentation. One of the fellows in attendance asked me to look at a "Marine Corps" knife he had. Turned out to be a model 1917 bolo knife from WWI. No scabbard and it was bent in a few places but the handle was in decent shape and if the bends were worked out it wouldn't be a bad piece at all. He said he bought it in a box of junk many years ago for $1 and had been using it to cut corn stalks. So at least one historic piece will now be preserved rather than destroyed.
I'd like to do this sort of thing more often, this was a trial run at my church in an effort to establish a regular "men's night" for some friendly fellowship. I'm not ready for prime time yet but it was fun. I got some of the nervousness worked out. I'm usually pretty patient with making purchases, waiting for the combination of something I can afford and quality I can live with. I believe I made a mistake in the purchase of the No 5 bayonet that I impulse purchased to complete the pairing with my No 5 Jungle carbine. It's not in a condition I'm really happy with and the price was higher than I liked paying. I plan to now slow down and be patient again. I may do this same presentation or a modified version of it again next year.
I have done a few exhibitions in the Brewery Museum in Romford, Essex. I lent them some WW1 bayonets and my 1918 SMLE. Later on they did a crime and punishment event and borrowed my Customs rummage equipment etc. Also did an event for the local plastic models club. Some one let them down at short notice. So I did a very quickly improvised British Army guns of WW2. It was most amusing watching the Grandads showing their Grandsons how to do the stoppages on a Brengun etc. Got some more invitations after that event.
I think if you do the "leg work" to find a nice exhibit, both yourself and the audience appreciate it more. Plus it makes a good story! I built up two Brengun tool kits the hard way. One tool at a time!
It's hard to find a good genuine No5 bayonet now. The WW2 production No5s were a bit rough when compared to the late Sterling /Hopkinson No5. However genuine British No5s are going up in value and now is the time to buy. As mentioned in another post Capt Laidler hints the last No5s got the chop, so no more to be released by the MOD in the UK. As with every collectable it quality/condition & supply and demand.
Better a pile of old bayonets to look at than empty beer bottles ( unless you collect beer bottles that is).
Thank you for the posts above. Lester
Quest complete. Won one on ebay today. Opted to go over my max by $10 and won it by 79cents. It's an early one, not the 1930 one so it's a better match for my rifle. Hope to have it soon.
Well done. Will we see a photograph of it? Or can you quote the e-bay listing? Hope you have room for it. It's really big!
Ebay listing:
WW2 SWISS BAYONET-GREAT SHAPE-NO DAMAGE | eBay
Photos aren't the best but it appears to be in pretty decent shape. It's marked "HS" probably made in 1916 which is one year before my rifle was manufactured.
Looks like a nice one for that money! These bayonets are about £250 retail in England now.
Lester,
Having watched them for a couple of weeks on ebay, they seem to be selling for $150 at the bottom and $200 at the top. There are guys trying to get more for them but they aren't getting any takers. Seems to be quite a few available which is what led me to think there is a less expensive outside source somewhere.
There was one with a broken blade that had bids up to $89 when I lost track of it which made little sense to me. It had been re-welded (crooked) and was being sold as such. I had thought if it went cheap, I could get a guy I know to cut it and re-weld it straight but I didn't see any collector value in that and it would have to have been a LOT less than $89. There is one for sale without the wood grips right now that I'm kind of curious to see what it goes for. I can make the grips but not the fasteners.
It's strange. Items in the USA seem to sell for about 30% less than the UK. Or another way of looking at is the Dollars price in the USA is the Pounds price in the UK.
I paid about £105.00 inc postage for my M1914 bayonet. Purchased it on E-bayCH from a lady called SigSal. Parcel was posted from Austria. The postage was £31.
Swiss Army gear is nearly always good quality and is quite cheap. If you had a WW1 German Sawback bayonet, that would cost £400+. So if you fancy a sawback bayonet. the M1914 is the one to buy!
Another expensive bayonet in the UK is the M9 for the AR15/M16. Retail is about £175.00. I Purchased a new Ontario M9 for £113.00 landed and tax paid . From knifesupply.com in the USA.
Kind regards, Lester
This isn't a bayonet, it's a blasted short sword with a saw on the back of it. It has to be the heaviest bayonet I own but I don't think it's the longest. I have a French Gras bayonet that is the longest I have.
Condition is good, photos didn't hide anything. Saw back is surprisingly sharp.
I was informed by Terry Foley some time ago. He knows some retired Swiss soldiers. Apparently if several of you get together with M1914 fitted you can lift barbed wire entanglements out of the way. The saw is a real saw and you can build a fairly good bunker with the aid of a M1914 bayonet. Swiss precision I suppose, all cuts perfect at 90*. That is why the fuller is only on one side of the blade!
I was wondering about the fuller. Good to know. The saw does work, I had to try it out on a 2x4 I have out here. Very neat cut and considering the width, very fast. I think this has become my favorite bayonet now.
And mine as well!