FN Trials magazine marked X2 E1

[tankhunter]

We've got a few of the EX marked bayonets at work Tankie and the actual EX markings along the edge of the handle/blade bit and the same on the top of the scabbard mouthpieces all look like the same font. Not your usual Armourers tool box/workshop sort of stamps. Is it this EX mark that's individually stamped or the rifle/matching serial number?

Hi Pete, Dont forget. They were stamped in a time when craftsman ship mattered! & Armourers took thier time & patience with virtualy EVERYTHING they worked on. The Old chap said he stamped one or two replacements that broke during trials. You couldnt tell the difference with his work! Lol! I would ASSUME that the vast majority were done at Enfield or through Donington or the like. before being issued to various theatre units for the trials proper. He said there were TWO variants of the 'New' Rifle on trial. One had a small Optic sight that YOU would know about. ALL the Trials Bayonets were released & sold off in the Seventies through Wallis & Wallis of Lewes, UK. We KNOW this for a fact, as the old boy was Fireams Cataloger & Manager with them before he set up his own shop. He obtained a couple through wallis's & still has them in his collection. There are a few floating about at the moment at Militaria fairs, buth the dealers want STUPID money for them! Personaly, I would stamp one upo myself to fill a gap! At what they are asking for them, you could buy four different decent bayonets!

I believe the number after the EX was the rifle number.

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[LesterH]

Just for interest. I have an Enfield Trials bayonet in my collection. Got it from a fellow collector who was selling up. I thought they only existed in the reference books. This one came up so I bought it. Only seen one other for sale. The marking on the grip is X2E1 5472 ( I assume this is the serial or rifle number). I am told the bayonet is the same or similar to the FN bayonet of the early 1950s.
Any comments on this bayonet would be helpful to me, I don't know much about this type. It is very very different to the SLR bayonets in the above photograph.

Kind regards, Lester.

[LesterH]

Thanks Tankhunter. I paid £100 for mine and it's mint. The other one I saw was really tatty. The chap is still asking £185. Yes ,you are proved right. Get more than four good bayonets for £185 and a set of mess tins!