Yard Sales, Flea Markets and Antique Shops 2025

[Aragorn243]

I had a pretty good day today. I have not found a bayonet at a yard sale in a couple of years but found one today. I wasn't positive as to what it was when I found it but believed it to be a Belgian M1924 contract bayonet and at home research seems to confirm it. What country it went to remains a mystery. Serial number on side of bayonet lug.









The next item is a tricky one. M.H. Coles book U. S. Military Knives Bayonets & Machetes listed these as legitimate WWII machete's but they are believed to have been made by Ontario in the 1970's for Shreck Wholesale Industries so while dated 1944, it is not a WWII machete. They have managed to find their way into most every serious collector's inventory. Now it's in mine.











This next one is a mystery. It looks like a training rifle, but I can't find anything like it. It weighs more than a Paris trainer but is about three inches shorter. The barrel, bolt, trigger assembly and action appear to be made of cast iron. It's not an official military one by any source I can find but seems well made and has a unique bayonet lug. But at the opposite end, no butt plate. There are similarities to the Paris Trainer but sizes are off, materials are off, the cast receiver is off. Shapes are close.



























The last item today is a Cover, spare barrel M8.











Yesterday I picked up an Army Pamphlet from 1952. I'm wondering if it was put out in response to the Korean War, while not exactly encircled, US forces were forced into several coastal enclaves.



Found two missing Balentine books, War Leaders Churchill and Yamashita. I still need 17 of these blasted things. I used to love these when I was a kid. They were often my allowance money purchase for the week. At a dollar a shot, that was still pretty significant back then. Ballentine book or a couple of packs of football/baseball cards.