Fake British No4 MK1 cruciform Bayonet?

[njn]

I have put mine on ebay
jameslee2388
i could not put bayonet in the listing as ebay said there could be no international sales as it was a restricted item!!!!
I put pig sticker instead

[Flying10uk]

Is anyone able to tell me what the dimension across the socket width would have been when the bayonets were new before leaving the factory and before any refurbishment has taken place. Careful measurement with a micrometer on a number of No4 spike bayonets in my collection which I don't believe have been refurbished would seem to suggest a size of .875'' with a tolerance of perhaps +/- .005''. Would the tolerance have been tighter or more open than this? Does anyone happen to have an original factory engineering drawing by any chance, please? I thank-you in anticipation.

[Peter Laidler]

I think the No4 spike bayonet book will have that info.

[Flying10uk]

Thanks Peter. I wasn't aware that there was a No4 spike bayonet book available. Do you happen to know the author, please, as I can't see it on amazon. Also I have a Savage made spike bayonet but with a singer made release button. Would this be the result of a refurb would you think or did Singer supply Savage with parts to begin with? Thanks

[Time Bandit]

I presume Peter will be referring to 'The Spirit of the Pike' by Graham Priest. It's a great book for anyone who is a collector of No.4 Spikes (and various others are covered). It's out of print and can be hard to get hold of nowadays.

The Singer release catch will probably of come about because of a refurb, originally it'll of had a Savage release catch on it. I think Singer did supply release catches to some of the UK based makers of MKII* spikes though.

[Peter Laidler]

900 No4 Mk2 and 2* bayonets go into workshops prior to being returned to Ordnance from unit being re-equipped with L1A1's. All stripped, rebuilt and all go back together. As I say every few hours. We put back what was in the tray and not according to makers marks

[gsimmons]

As an example of that, my MkI bayonet has an SM43 marked catch.

[Flying10uk]

Thanks very-much to every-one for all this useful information, most interesting. It would seem that the No4 spike bayonet was refurbished more often than I thought. I do have several examples of this bayonet with serial numbers stamped on the bayonet but I don't have any with it on the scabbard. None of the stampings look professionally done more like Saturday morning in the garden shed done. The only other bayonet which I have seen with what appears to be rifle serial numbers stamped on the bayonet is the Mosin Nagent bayonet. I believe that this bayonet was not always able to fit every combination of model of the rifle that it was intended for?

[Time Bandit]

Thanks very-much to every-one for all this useful information, most interesting. It would seem that the No4 spike bayonet was refurbished more often than I thought. I do have several examples of this bayonet with serial numbers stamped on the bayonet but I don't have any with it on the scabbard. None of the stampings look professionally done more like Saturday morning in the garden shed done. The only other bayonet which I have seen with what appears to be rifle serial numbers stamped on the bayonet is the Mosin Nagent bayonet. I believe that this bayonet was not always able to fit every combination of model of the rifle that it was intended for?

If by the last part of your quote, the "...I believe that this bayonet was not always able to fit every combination of model of the rifle that it was intended for?"... is aimed at the No.4 bayonets/rifle rather than the Mosin bayonets/rifle, then I'm not sure this is correct? As far as I know all No.4 bayonets regardless of them being MK1, MKII, MKII* or MKIII should fit all No.4 rifle types?

[browningautorifle]

I believe he was referring to the Nagant cruciform. They were a bit crude and had to be fitted (in some cases). Then they put them on the rifle and left it there.