Enfield number 5 Mk 1 Bayonet help

[Aragorn243]

I was working on the repro blade yesterday and managed to break the one half of the grip. Not a huge deal as I was planning to replace them anyway as they seemed undersized. Found a piece of walnut and made new grips for it yesterday and installed them and drilled the hole through the pommel. The blade is unsharpened. Essentially, it has a flat edge to it common to some other bayonets that I have. I've looked at some photos but couldn't tell for sure if these are supposed to have an edge on them or not. As it was supposed to act as a knife as well as a bayonet, I would imagine it should have an edge on it but don't want to put one there until I know for sure. Does the No 5 come with an edge, did soldiers sharpen it or is it supposed to be unsharpened like other bayonets.

[LesterH]

Looked at my mint No5 and No9 Poole Ordenence Factory bayonets, Enfield No9 , BSA SLR and Sterling No5 bayonets. All are unsharpened when new. My Viners Cutlery No5 circa 1944/5 has been sharpened. This one did see service. I only tend to sharpen beyonets theat need restoration due to rust or dents in the blade. I did sharpen up a worn SLR bayonet. Not actually a very good knife. I used a sharpening steel and then buffed it up on my polishing machine ( DO NOT USE A GRIND STONE TO SHARPEN). You would be better off buying a Frost Moyra knife for £10 rather than spending several evenings down the shed.

[Aragorn243]

I don't want it for a knife, just want it to look as correct as possible. I'll let it unsharpened. I have a No 9 and it is sharpened. I bought it still wrapped in the paper. Not sure what company made it.

[LesterH]

Examine No9 bayonet for the following stampings (P)1949= Poole Ordenence Factory. ED54 (or similar)Enfield at Enfield Lock. RFI=India, P.O.F.= Pakistan. If you have a double edged blade and no stamping it's probably a South African ( modified Uzi bayonet). For No5 for correctness unsharpened is probably best.

[Aragorn243]

My No9 has an ED (combined) -51 and has several British acceptance "arrow" stamps on the blade, the catch release and the pommel. Blade isn't razor sharp but it definitely has an edge on it. It's also marked NO9Mk1. One other marking is like an umbrella with a 96 on the left side of the "handle" and a weird "J" on the right side. Looks closer to a fishhook. It came that way in the wax paper.

Here is the work in progress with the replacement handles I made for it. They are heavier than what was on it, maybe a bit too heavy in the middle now but they look about right on the edges. Let me know what you think.





And the No9

[Peter Laidler]

As Armourers responsible for looking after these bayonets, the blades were never sharp - as in doubling up as a razor but the edge was maintained so that it COULD be sharpened if and when the time/need arose. However, the edge didn't need to be razor sharp to do the job. The tip was sharp for jabbing and the edge was sharp enough to cut and hack as it would be when bayonet fighting.

The wood grips are a bit too 'full' Aragorn. Do you want a real one to copy?

[Aragorn243]

Peter,

I found a nice photo on the web last evening that is almost "lifesize". From that I was able to get a pretty good idea of how big it should be. I shaved about 3/16ths off the round portion and an 8th or so off the point where it contacts the cross piece. It looks pretty close now. I may take a bit more off of it when I get some time and I need to "round" it a bit more along the edges but I'm getting pretty happy with it. Thanks for the offer though.

[Aragorn243]

I hope I'm not regretting this decision in a week or so but I took a chance on an ebay #5 tonight. Looks to be well used. A fellow put four of them up and they were only getting one bid except the first, a WSC. Second one had a number code, (and is the one I got), third was a Poole and the fourth a WSC. Looked it up afterwards and turns out the one I bought is an Elkington. Blade looks to have been sharpened but really hard to tell for sure from the pics. Handle looked better than the other three, pommel and cross guard metal looked good. The purchase does have ebay's guarantee so it if's a repro, I should get my money back. Makes me nervous after the fact that this one was the only one of the three no one else bid on. It looks good to me from what I can see but photos can be deceiving. Markings match known examples I could find on the net.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I hope I'm not regretting this decision in a week or so but I took a chance on an ebay #5 tonight. Looks to be well used. A fellow put four of them up and they were only getting one bid except the first, a WSC. Second one had a number code, (and is the one I got), third was a Poole and the fourth a WSC. Looked it up afterwards and turns out the one I bought is an Elkington. Blade looks to have been sharpened but really hard to tell for sure from the pics. Handle looked better than the other three, pommel and cross guard metal looked good. The purchase does have ebay's guarantee so it if's a repro, I should get my money back. Makes me nervous after the fact that this one was the only one of the three no one else bid on. It looks good to me from what I can see but photos can be deceiving. Markings match known examples I could find on the net.

I am glad you scores one of those ,I had them bookmarked but was out of computer range yesterday and could not bid. They all went for relitively reasonalble prices.. Glad at least one went to a good home.

[Aragorn243]

Relatively reasonable is relative I suppose. My personal limit was $160 and I exceeded that by $5 because on watching these and looking for these for the last two years, I honestly don't see much chance of getting one for less unless I happen to luck into one at a yard sale or something and chances of that are slim. I most certainly am NOT paying $250-$350 for one which is where they have been selling for the last few months.

I did not decide to bid on that until there were 6 seconds left and I entered the minimum bid. Possibly the weirdest auction I've ever completed. I never figured there would still be one without a bid at that point. Had my hopes that with 4 up within about 8 minutes of each other and all in close to the same sort of shape that they would go "low" and they did.

Kind of happy that I scored the rarest of them, possibly balances out the condition for the price I paid more than the other three.