AK47 Bayonet ?

[boristhepig]

Hi
Could any one please tell me the country of manufacture of this AK47 bayonet? seller says he can see no markers marks
Thanks Terry

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

I'm suprised that noones answered this yet. No, I don't know either! But several years ago we asked one of our WO's operating out of Basra to send back to us (officially) 20 identical AK bayonets that we could use for a large round circle of 40 bayonets (an AK, SA80, AK, SA80 and so on) but of all the hundreds of bayonets that he had amassed, there weren't 20 identical AK bayonets. Looking at the photos, there were AK bayonets of every sort but not 20 of one particular type.......... Amazing!

[WarPig1976]

Here you go.


AK Bayonets 101 - The Four Basic Types

[boristhepig]

Hi

Thanks for the help, it would appear that it is of Bulgarian manufacture

Thanks Terry

[Peter Laidler]

Warpigs thread shows just what a problem we encountered. The bayonet book authors really should have seen the variables available.........It was endless. We didn't even want scabbards - just 20 identical and in reasonable condition. That was another point. The condition of the blades really was attrocious. Very little care and the generally rough treatment was self evident. I suppose that 20 DIFFERENT bayonets would have made an interesting circular display.

[marysdad]

Scabbard is definitely Bulgarian. The Bayonet probably is as well. The best diagnostic between Bulgarian and Russian AK47 bayonets is the serial number orientation on the pommel. Vertical on Bulgarian; 45-degree angle on Russian.

I haven't gotten over here as often as I used to.

[Peter Laidler]

But good to see you back Mary's dad

[Aragorn243]

I have a book on AK bayonets and even that doesn't exactly make things clear but Bulgarian does seem to be the best match. It also says many of these bayonets were specifically made for US sales, many were shipped to Romania for their WASR-10 exports so those considered Romanian are actually Bulgarian.

[browningautorifle]

Thing I often see with the "Books" is that the more specific they are, the less they match. And the more books you refer to, the further away the truth seems at times.

[Aragorn243]

The book in question is "Kalashnikov Bayonets" by Martin D. Ivie. Lots of photos, lots of info. Can't say how accurate it is. I don't really collect them specifically but the book was dirt cheap. My biggest beef with the book is they went to the trouble of using high grade gloss paper and color photos and then used low quality digital images for the prints. It's 220 pages long so not just a simple pamphlet.