Wot you got.....?

Want/need/looking for a badly damaged No5 bayonet.
(transferred from WTB section)
Blade condition immaterial after the first couple of inches, as it will be cut-off and brazed into a half decent scabbard
Don't need the grips or screws/nuts nor the catch, nut and spring. So keep those bits yourself as spare parts..... I'm knee deep in them! But I ain't going to chop a decent bladed one up that's for sure.......

Will be used for display only. Go on, what scrapper have you got going cheap?
Peter Laidler

I'm not sure that there is a such thing as a cheap No5 bayonet in any condition.

What about a L1A1 blade with a No5 pommel and crosspiece?

Ok then..... what about just a No5 pommel? The L1A1 type blade/grip part is a much different shape, as are the grip screw holes. Nope, I've decided that I'll machine up a pommel this afternoon and make a good presentable repro. Where there's a will, there's a way of course. Ironically, if a crosspiece needs replacing the pommel has to come off anyway. Not that we would entertain such a notion in any of our workshops.
No cheap crap No5 bayonets....., for years I had a rusted-out No5 bayonet and scabbard salvaged from the Sir Galahad before it was towed out into the Atlantic and scuttled

Clearly there are many No5's out there, incomplete and missing plenty of parts judging from the requests I've already had in answer to my wants ad.

First pic, No5 bayonet blade top, L1A1 bayonet blade bottom. The fullers look to be visually almost exactly the same length but I have not measured them with verniers or anything. The L1A1 blade tang in the example shown, a new replacement blade blank, is a little larger than that of the No5's tang. The No5 bayonet blade shown may have been shortened slightly (blade tip) in use/service?

2nd pic No5 bayonet blade on top of L1A1 bayonet blade.

I do not wish to part with the No5 bayonet blade shown as it is part of my No5 style blade collection. However I may have been able to find another new, unused, L1A1 blade blank, similar to the one shown in the photo. I would have thought that someone with your knowledge, experience and skills would be able to grind the tang to the size/profile of the No5 bayonet and drill the appropriate holes in the correct place. If you have plenty of offers of No5 bayonets at very reasonable prices this, of-course, would be a complete waste of time.

One day, someone will need something I've got and.......

Or one of those No.8's with a guard from a No.7 grafted on to make a faux No.5 bayo?

Someone had a cottage industry making those up when No.8s and No.7s were cheap, but No.5's were in short supply.

Quite a few owners of No.5 bayos should remove their grips and take a look at how the guard is secured - unless they'd rather not know.:D

"There's many a slip twixt the guard and the grip! "

Got nowt Peter, or it would be in the mail to you...

You asked in your original post "Go on, what scrapper have you got going cheap?" I thought that I was making sensible, constructive and helpful suggestions, since you asked. I don't see any other such posts, so far, from anyone else, in this thread.

When I needed a No5 bayonet to get the blade for my No5 blade collection the cheapest No5 bayonet that I could find in really rough condition with a broken muzzle ring cost me £150. I didn't get a great rush of people offering me No5 bayonets at bargain basement prices.

It's handy having most of the No5 bayonet style blades available, in bare blade form, for comparison.

How many nos L1A1 blades do you need Peter? I still have a box full of bayonet kits. Email me and I'll send you one if it'll suit your project.

The No.5's unfortunately Peter the $'s for them have just gone to a ridiculous height monetary wise I think BD's offer will be your avenue of escape if its a faux pas then it does not really matter what you cobble together.
If you have not already known a little while ago I posted SLR bayonets here 5 years ago you could not give them away now they are going for $330/Aud, '07's have followed a similar trend with the Hookies just going right off the rails even the lowly no.7's are up in value!

Along with furniture for the MkIII rifle think alpinewolf got $1100+ Aud for a full stock and fittings no mag though, I'm positive that given your talents machining you'll get the job looking as it should.
I've wanted a No.5 for a long time but like the hooky I can dream about them, we will wait with anticipation on the resultant cobble item.

The last No 5 bayonets I saw anyone offering for "cheap" were $100 and from Royal Tiger Imports. I got one. They want that much for a reproduction now. I have one of those too that I bought when I figured I'd never find a No5. About two weeks after I got it I got my first real one, now I have four. I was pretty pleased with what I got from RTI. A lot of people complain about them but I've either been super lucky or a lot less picky than their average customer.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I've got plenty of spares and plenty of real No5's too....., a legacy of when the going was good and No5's plentiful. But my need isn't for anything even remotely useful.

Maybe too many out there seen my old post Peter ? https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=40522&page=1

I'd forgotten about that old '....how I did it thread'. Good to read again and hope that you are well Geoff. Peter

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigduke6

Maybe too many out there seen my old post

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Or traders sometimes offer a bayonet with a broken muzzle ring and or missing catch as "Converted to a fighting knife", presumably in an effort to get more than a broken/damaged bayonet with missing parts.

If you - or anyone sees one such sack of crap advertised, let me know. I'm not desperate though. But the thought of chopping a decent one is rather alien to me.......

Would one of those thinned blade "letter opener' types be any good to you Peter? Might have one kicking around somewhere.

Yep......., just the job Dan. It ain't being used as a bayonet ever again. You could even cut the blade off to 2" length And keep the bits.

Thinking on my feet, I mean....., a bayonet on s sub machine gun...... If you need a bayonet on an SMG, then you REALLY do need a bayonet!

Bbear me in mind if you find such a beast Dan.

Soldier of Fortune had these repro No5 bayonets, currently sold out, which they describe as being No5 Mk2. I thought that there was only ever one Mk of No5 bayonet (Mk1) with a few variations in the grip, metal/plastic, of some of the later produced ones intended for the Sterling SMG?

British N05 Mk2 Jungle Carbine Bayonet

There were plenty of variables in the parts for the bayonets. well rounded catch bolts and nuts and somewhat square variants. Same as the grio screws plus the old single screw and totally useless single hole grips. And occasionally, NO-hole grips! I haven't seen plastic type grips in service.

The steel grip No5 bayonets were a one-off large quantity buy by Sterling. They supplied the crosspieces and pommels plus a load of extras in order that the bayonet manufacturer could make extra No5''s to sell on. One way of identifying the genuine crosspieces is that the entry hole for the flash elminator is slightly chamfered

The grip screw/rivel hole centres are different between the No5 and L1A1 too. There was no further manufacture of No5 bayonets for the MoD because there were already zillions in stock to service the fleet of L2A3 SMG's
Scabbards seem to be plentiful now,.

.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peter Laidler

Yep......., just the job Dan. It ain't being used as a bayonet ever again. You could even cut the blade off to 2" length And keep the bits.

Thinking on my feet, I mean....., a bayonet on s sub machine gun...... If you need a bayonet on an SMG, then you REALLY do need a bayonet!

Bbear me in mind if you find such a beast Dan.

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Hi Peter

I've found the modified 'letter opener' No5 bayonet. Pics attached.

I'll strip it and can cut it at say the tape mark for postage if that would work?

Drop me a PM with your address and I can pop it in the post, early next week weather permitting!

Regards

Kevin