Unusual Pakistani No. 9 Mk. I Bayonet

[browningautorifle]

I knew about the SA bayonets but was unaware the blades were re-purposed Uzi bayonets...

[porterkids]

I knew about the SA bayonets but was unaware the blades were re-purposed Uzi bayonets...

There's an even more interesting one that the Italians made using blades from their Model 1891 Carcano bayonets.

[Flying10uk]

I did wonder as an alternative to the Uzi blade if the South Africans may/could/as well as used as a donor bayonet blade the FN FAL type similar to the example which I have photographed next to my South African No9 bayonet. I realise that the FAL bayonet is longer but that could have been cut back and the shaped parts of the blades line up and look the same. The scabbards look identical and the bayonets do fit in each other's scabbards. I have not yet discovered the country of origin of the FAL bayonet and there appear to be no markings on it. I think that this alternative is entirely possible from an engineering point of view but I don't know if it actually happened.

[browningautorifle]

may/could/as well as used as a donor bayonet blade the FN FAL type

That's where I would have been looking...not Uzi bayonets.

Model 1891 Carcano bayonets.

Never have seen one like that.

[Flying10uk]

There doesn't seem to be much in the way of hard facts actually known about the South African No9 bayonet. What we need is a Forum member who worked in the South African Armscor factory in the 1960s when the bayonet was made and who is willing to tell us more about it's production.

[porterkids]

Never have seen one like that.

Here are a couple of photos of the Italian No9

Attachment 78393 Attachment 78392

[browningautorifle]

the Italian No9

Very, very ugly looking example.

[tankhunter]

Very, very ugly looking example.

I quite agree! But.....I would very much like one for my own collection! Anybody got one up for grabs?...

[Peter Laidler]

The question really is what MORE do we really need to know about South African type No9 bayonets? They are locally made. Whether they are using old/used UK made No9 sockets is simplicity itself to ascertain using simple metallurgy or a micrometer! Whether they are using Israeli blades is also simple to ascertain too. But I would think not simply because a flat blade like that, ground to shape on a horizontal grinder, made by the thousands(?) would be a simple process too. I can't see SA using old blades simply because in my limited experience, it's the blades that get damaged and not the socket! It's academic whether you make them long or short too.

What else is there to know?

[porterkids]

I quite agree! But.....I would very much like one for my own collection! Anybody got one up for grabs?...

Other than the one in my collection, I've only seen one other change hands in the past 5-6 years. One showed up at the show in Baltimore and quickly sold for $1200.