Lebel 1886 Bayonet

[Eaglelord17]

Hi all,

Felt I would share my most recent acquisition to my collection. It is a Lebel 1886 bayonet. Over the last bit I have decided to help save money and to help bring my collection up to speed I would focus on bayonets and the little things (those have kinda fallen by the wayside, and my bayonet collection is woefully undersized for my firearm collection).

Overall my feelings on this bayonet is I honestly quite like it. It might even qualify as my favourite bayonet. Very nice lines, a hooked quillion (for whatever reason I love those), and in particular the Alpaca alloy handle (a mixture of Brass, Nickel, and Zinc) all add to the look of this bayonet. It also quite light, especially for its size. This is what I would call a long bayonet, as you can see in one of the photos below I compared it to some other 'long' bayonets and it towers over them. Mounted on the end of my Berthier M1907-15 it brings the overall length of the rifle to about 6'!

From what research I have done this particular example was made between 1886-1891 due to the inspector mark on the bayonet at MAS (St. Etienne). Overall it is hard to find any real information on these bayonet (and in that way they are much like French Rifles as well).






From the top down there is a Soviet M91/30 bayonet, Japanese Type 30 bayonet, the Lebel 1886 Bayonet, and finally a Swiss 1918 bayonet.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[porterkids]

Can't be 100% certain from your pictures, but it looks to be unmarked. If that is the case, it is most likely one of the bayonets manufactured by Remington in the US.

[Eaglelord17]

The other side of the bayonet has where the serial number was (pitting has removed it to the point of illegibility). I was going off the proofing marks on the side of it to get the information for manufacturer and date (based off of what someone who appeared to be knowledgeable about these bayonets on a other site said for a similar bayonet).

If you would like to see more pictures, and if possible provide more information on it here is the link to this exact bayonet (I won't take any more pictures myself as I fought for about 45min with photo bucket to get these few up).

WW1 FRENCH LEBEL 1886 BAYONET SCABBARD 1886 Mod Rosalie | eBay

[porterkids]

OK, these auction photos show that it is NOT a Remington manufactured bayonet.

[Aragorn243]

They are interesting. I have quite a few variations of them, with and without quillion, brass, alloy, long and short (for the WWII shortened Lebel). They've been a fairly common encounter in my area. I have one that I need the rear "nut" for. Probably going to have to make one.

[Eaglelord17]

I wish bayonets of any sort were a common encounter in my area. I am mostly limited to online sales, which can be a issue as you can't examine in person and it can be difficult to get a deal. My biggest concern particularly with this bayonet was that it was the proper length, as you have mentioned many were cut down either due to blades breaking or factory shortening programs. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to manufacture one, based on how simple the design is I can't see it being too complicated.

[Aragorn243]

Bayonets are drying up here also. I'm fortunate that I started collecting before that happened and have most types already. I still have a few guys in the area that deal in them. Most of my purchases were online and most of them ebay. I learned to be patient, wait on my price because someone will always list another one if the first goes too high. My most recent purchase has not yet arrived. A Vietnam production 1917 trench gun bayonet. I've actually picked up a few recently, full length Italian Vetterli, and the Danish rolling block bayonet. Prior to that, might not have bought one in six months. Good places to look are antique shops and malls, flea markets and yard sales. I try to have one for each rifle I own and I think I'm current. Not sure if my Chinese Hanyang bayonet is legit or not, and technically, I have two Polish rifles and one bayonet. Might be short a Japanese bayonet also. I am actively seeking an SA marked folding Carcano bayonet. I have three or four of them now but none are SA marked and I have an SA marked rifle.

I don't know how far you are interested in traveling but I've been told there is a great flea market in Conneticutt twice a year called the white elephant or something like that. I have yet to go there personally, probably a 6 hour drive but it's supposed to take two days to get through it and I don't know if you even manage that. Supposed to have a fair amount of military stuff.

[Eaglelord17]

At some point I want to go to some of the gun shows held in Michigan, just to get odds and ends like bayonets, ammo pouches, slings, and mannlicher clip/stripper clips (and also to see what is out there). I have to get a bit more stable for that to happen though. Generally I am working +/- 40 hours a week at the moment plus college. Schooling is finishing up so I need to find a more stable job, otherwise within a year or two it will be back to the Army for full time work (not a terrible thing, just not my first option at the moment). The good thing is where I live it is a fairly inexpensive place to live (average income is about 36,000$ a year) so it isn't too difficult to make a living here.

[Aragorn243]

Bayonets at gun shows here are tough. Plenty of them but the sellers seem to think they are made of gold. Two times the actual value is the norm.

[Eaglelord17]

I have noticed that with online sales as well. It is part of the reason I haven't really collected many bayonets as I find it hard to stomach paying essentially the cost of the rifle or 1/2 the cost of the rifle for the bayonet when the bayonet is essentially a decoration as far as collecting goes. For example this 1886 Lebel bayonet cost me about 200$ (Canadian) all in, well the 1907/15 in the photo cost me about 350$. Hard to justify the bayonet when I could just buy another rifle.