Bayonets? I have a few but $'s worth is all over the board

[ACES&8S]

View attachment 1001250 First off I don't collect knives or bayonets.
I have only bought 4 blades in my life & they were all bayonets for
1903 & garand rifles that came without one.
But have received about 100 as gifts and such, a thing in my Wife's family
never close a knife you didn't open & give a knife for a bond that can't be cut. But while purchasing other rifles with bayonets I have 2 examples here.
The RIA 1906 Bayonet shows going from $150 to $500
The Artilleria Nacional from Tcledo -if I got it right-going from $80 to $100
Not wanting sell them, JUST WONDERING HOW $'s are figured on bayonets and
I know if I were betting I would say the Spanish [guessing] bayonet would be
worth more since it is better detailed, but not per my searching on a rainy day.
View attachment 1001247 View attachment 1001249 View attachment 1001250 View attachment 1001251

 

[AlexanderA]

Like everything else collectible, value is based on condition, rarity, and demand. Generally, bayonets for U.S. weapons are worth more than foreign bayonets in equivalent condition, because there are more collectors of U.S. weapons.

 

[CapnMac]

Scarcity and desirability drive demand.
With bayonets, the key is getting them in front of the eyes of the correct collector.
The collector is most likely to pay close to retail.
But, everyone is loathe to pay full retail--just human nature.

So, selling is complicated, just as complicated a selling a firearm. Purchased for resale, you'd be lucky to see 50% of retail. So, you have to know retail pricing.
Which takes a lot of poking through auction sites rather than retail ones, and looking at actual, realized, prices, and not simply bids.

This question winds up a bit similar to "What are revolvers worth?" Or "What's a car worth?"

 

[Mk-211]

I would like to know why 1903 bayonets are so expensive!? MILLIONS were made, so why are they hundreds of dollars?!

I finally found one that cost me around $200 but that was without a sheath! I haven't even tried looking for a sheath, they're the same when it comes to getting one.

Oh well, one day I'll pick one up.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I would like to know why 1903 bayonets are so expensive!? MILLIONS were made, so why are they hundreds of dollars?!

I finally found one that cost me around $200 but that was without a sheath! I haven't even tried looking for a sheath, they're the same when it comes to getting one.

Oh well, one day I'll pick one up.

Millions were made, but millions were also given away to foreign countries never to return, used as landfill, melted down, dumped in the ocean, or ground down and shortened.

There are actually some very accurate and nice quality reproductions out there. I got this one for $99 on Amazon-




Ya, its not GI, its painted, not blued (or white) and its made in (ugh) China, but for display purposes Im pretty happy with it.

 

[FL-NC]

I remember as a kid in the 80's US bayonets for Garands, 03's, etc. were about $15 all day long at flea markets and such. Bayonets of all kinds were at gun shows, surplus stores, etc. and they couldn't hardly give them away. I liberated a sizeable stash of weapons and gear from some bad people in haiti in '95. The guns went to a turn in point, to an unknown fate, but I filled a wood ammo crate with US bayonets (some brand new) and brought them back to the team, and guys just took what they wanted. I would see them on desks back in the US for years as letter openers. Nowadays, they would be worth a lot.

 

[ACES&8S]

Great stuff here, But I have another question about Garands & 1903 ww1 & ww11, I have not got the
low down on which bayonet was on what ?????
I asked Dad = WW11 VETERAN-before he passed away but his hearing was
so bad he misunderstood me, he would have know for sure about the Garand.
I did read that the Garand started with the long one then went to a shorter one because of the weight
of the rifle. Then I have seen on several sites, the 1903 varied greatly thru the years.
I knew an old VETERAN name of Andy, back in 1967, who had fought in WW1 TRENCH WARFARE era. He had
a 1903 propped in a corner with the trench coat, helmet, the uniform, and I remember how threatening that
rifle looked with the LONG bayonet on it. I really admired that old fellow.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I’ve got a bunch and two more coming. Haven’t given much thought to the value of the ones I have, but there are some that I like more the others.
There was a guy on the surplus gun forums that went by Marry’s Dad. He was a big time bayonet collector. He had a website, but I don’t remember the name of it.

 

[P89DCSS]

This guy?
http://worldbayonets.com/index.htm

 

[GunnyUSMC]

This guy?
http://worldbayonets.com/index.htm

Yes, that’s him.

 

[CapnMac]

I would like to know why 1903 bayonets are so expensive!? MILLIONS were made, so why are they hundreds of dollars?!

Few appreciate how many military arms are lost in warfare, actual combat.
Also, in the case of 1905 bayonet, thousands (possibly tens of thousands) had the last 6" lopped off when the new, 10" M1 Garand bayonet was adopted, and the stub ends sent back to the foundries to be used in new steel items.

The "Recut" bayonets used to be very affordable, as they had a stigma for looking like just what they were, a Bubba-made makeshift.

Also, there's the factor of "Theys jus' cheap ol' bayonets--who cares?" Which is easy to do when they are in buckets for $50 or $10 each. (And more than few moms out there "You gimme that, you'll put your eye out!" Clank, straight into the trashbin.)

And, to some extent, they are collector's items, where folk distinguish between different markings & makers (Utica Cutlery, American Fork & Hoe, etc.)

The same argument can be made for Kar bayonets, Arisaka bayonets and the like. Even the humble Enfield bayonet, which comes in blizzard of varieties, and made, around the world, in millions. It used to be hard to collect such things. You had to follow show circuits, obscure dealers, have a really well-stocked surplus store nearby (and all the research materials, too).

Now, we have the interwebs. Want to sell Grea'Grampa's old pigsticker? World-wide audience if done right. Dealers who couldn't get $40 for a bayonet now had 5 or 10 guys willing to argue over dropping $50 or $60, and "Canya git me 3 more?"

Also, where firearms are very restricted, often bayonets are not--which can drive collecting.

 

[AlexanderA]

A little-known fact is that the U.S. Krag bayonet was based on a Swiss prototype although the rifle itself was based on a Norwegian prototype. Then, when the M1903 Springfield rifle was adopted -- and after a short-lived experiment with a rod bayonet -- a longer knife bayonet was needed to make up for the shorter length of the rifle (as compared to the Krag). So, other than the length, the M1905 Springfield bayonet is functionally interchangeable with the Krag bayonet although the latching mechanisms are different. You can actually mount a Krag bayonet on a Garand, which is exactly what the cadets at West Point did as long as they were issued Garands.

 

[P89DCSS]

Here's a Krag I bought at a garage sale for a quarter back in the early seventies (maybe fifth grade, lol)

 

[AlexanderA]

Here's a Krag I bought at a garage sale for a quarter back in the early seventies (maybe fifth grade, lol)

That looks like a good candidate for restoration. Look online for the needed parts. For example, S&S Firearms has the grip rivets for $8.50. I seem to recall that someplace else has repro grips.

 

[Speedo66]

This was a yard sale special, $3 a long time ago.

Turns out it’s the bayonet for an 1862 Remington Zouave Civil War rifle.

For its length it may be considered a sword bayonet. The barrel ring and top of grip where it attaches to a rifle are banged up good, pretty sure this thing saw some action.

 

[AlexanderA]

Sword bayonets were adopted for 2-band rifles because of the overall length issue -- they didn't want soldiers armed with 2-banders to be at a disadvantage against 3-band muskets with 18" socket (spike) bayonets. The problem was that this made the weapon muzzle-heavy, and there was a lot of stress on the attachment point. Sword bayonets were never practical, and this combined with the fact that Remington Zouaves were not actually issued during the Civil War, meant that your sword bayonet probably did not see any action, other than perhaps years later in a children's playground.

The overall length issue was also responsible for the 16" blade length of the M1905 Springfield bayonet. (The Springfield rifle was considerably shorter than the preceding Krag rifle, and they were trying to make up the difference in length.) It was found that overall length (reach) was not that critical in bayonet fighting, and so the blades were chopped to 10" for use with the Garand.

 

[CapnMac]

It was found that overall length (reach) was not that critical in bayonet fighting, and so the blades were chopped to 10" for use with the Garand.

Once the horse was removed from the battlefield the need to reach to the rider (and past his lance) also was removed.
After that, the key thing was to be beyond the arc of a foe with bayonet fixed.
As the risk of being at the charge, and also between reloading one's bolt rifle, decreased, so did the bayonet.

Until warfare evolves beyond having sandbag revetments, human wave charges, and/or infiltrators/trench raiders, there will be a need for a bayonet, of some sort.