Italian Carcano Bayonet

[Patrick Chadwick]

Ok, now we are getting somewhere!

Aragorn, please position your baxonet with the hilt up and the blade down.
Now take another look at the marking on the ricasso:
That looks like an R superimposed, and slightly above a C. This is the monogram for the manufacturer ROCCA. CORRECTION Renato Castelli, not Rocca, see later posting!ROCCA made M91 bayonets in WWII for use with the M91/41

On the crosspiece, beteween the muzzle ring and the grip, we see a clear PS.
This is a stamp from the component supplier PS (full name unknown), also known as a supplier of parts in WWII, in particular bayonets, up to 1942.
The mark in front of that bothers me. It could be a worn or badly struck O (letter) or 0 (number). Either way, it lines up so badly with the PS, that I doubt it is a part of the PS stamp. Is thare any trace of further numbers in front of that - it could be the remains of a year stamp "1940".


The M91 bayonet was produced in quantity from 1940 on, and used both for the M91 and the M91/41. Bring it round to my place, and we'll see if it fits on "Roma". OK, not a realistic suggestion! But maybe you will come across an M91/41 somewhere.

On the crosspiece, the RB 389** would have been a matrix number back in WWI, with the format A xxxx or AB xxxx as previously described in identifying a Carcano on the General Discussion forum. But in WWII this system seems to have broken down, certainly for accessories, and the marking on the cross piece was often a manufacturers name (batch?)/number stamp. It is not a regimental marking - the Italians did not use a regimental marking system.

From the pics, the blade seems to have been blued. If original, that would date it to 1941 or later. Later still, a parkerisation was used.

My best guess: an M91 bayonet from ROCCA, I]CORRECTION Renato Castelli, not Rocca, see later posting![/I]made in 1941 (possibly 1942) from parts from more than one supplier (i.e. whatever was in the bin), probably for use with an M91/41.

Other informed guesses welcomed!



P.S. **I have found Rxxx and RFxxxx, both recorded for FAT/Terni on M91/41s made in 1941. But no trace of a manufacturer RB. So maybe RB 389 is a matrix number after all.

P.P.S. For those who do not know what a matrix number is. The matrix number was the master record number for the rifle (and in this case, maybe for the bayonet issued with it) from a block assigned to a particular arsenal/factory. This was not a regimental number - it was supposed to be invariant, wherever the rifle ended up.