Was This 1915 Lithgow Bayonet A Hooked Quillion Model? Should I Refurb Or Conserve?

[TheAlpineWolf]

Hi Guys,
Been a while but I found an interesting piece and wanted to ask for some opinions!
Was this 1915 Lithgow bayonet a hooked Quillion model some time in its life?
I feel like in this condition it deserves a refurbishment and would sit well with my 1915 Lithgow.
If I found a reproduction cross guard, is there a way to disassemble the bayonet to fit a new cross guard?
Best Regards,
Sam.

Information

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[bigduke6]

Not Sure when Lithgow stopped with the Quillion, have seen 1914 made ones, which was a year after the UK stopped production, if you take the grips of you could weld a quillion on, lot easier than making a full knew one.

[TheAlpineWolf]

Hi Jim,
Fair point however I feel like I should at least try to bring a piece like this back to life instead of letting it go to the scrap bin!
I think I may go with bigdike6's idea of welding on a Quillion and refinishing the bayonet as to keep majority of original crosspiece and markings!
Best Regards,
Sam.

---------- Post added at 11:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:46 PM ----------

Hi Bigduke6,
I like your idea of welding on a new hook, with a bit of fine hand filing and sanding I can make it blend in to the original crosspiece without loosing any of the markings!
Then I can re-blue and hopefully conserve a nice piece of history that would otherwise go to scrap!
Best Regards,
Sam.

[TheAlpineWolf]

Also whats the rarity of an early Lithgow Bayonet?

[Melanie_Daniels]

Not Sure when Lithgow stopped with the Quillion, have seen 1914 made ones, which was a year after the UK stopped production, if you take the grips of you could weld a quillion on, lot easier than making a full knew one.

Lithgow made hooked quillon bayonets still in 1915 - and the highest serial number I found is over 50000. So it was a hooked quillon with a serial number over 20000.

[TheAlpineWolf]

Hi Melanie_Daniels,
Thanks for the info! So what's the rarity of a piece like this today if it was still in original condition?
Best regards,
Sam.

[Melanie_Daniels]

Also whats the rarity of an early Lithgow Bayonet?

From the British hooked quillons over 300.000 were made - so the Lithgows are rare.

From the Indian hooked quillons only less than 10.000 were made - so the Lithgows are quite common.

[TheAlpineWolf]

Very interesting! I didn't even know that India made Quillion Bayo's, thought they just went strait to the later patterns considering the simplifications done to their rifles during production. Ill see how the project goes, it would be nice to put one of these back into service even if it is only partially original! (Also I can't afford a nice original lol, some are going for over 3,000 on Ebay!)

[Melanie_Daniels]

I had luck with mine - I got it 20 years ago on a German arms fair for 125 $. And for my 1913-Indian with removed quillon (but the original 1913-Indian parade scabbard) I paid 150 $ in an auction.

[smerdon42]

Mate there’s a bloke on eBay Australia who sells the whole set up to repair the hooked part . Take a look I would refurb it .