Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. At the start of WWI the British adopted the P-1914 Enfield rifle, which was made in the United States in .303 caliber, together with its sword bayonet designated by the British as the P-1913. Once the Americans joined the war in 1917 it was found that there was a great shortage of bayonets for their .30-06 Enfield rifle, known as the M1917. The rifle was identical to the P1914, except chambered for the U.S. .30-06 cartridge.
This resulted in the War Department in Washington helping themselves to British marked P-13 bayonets awaiting shipment to Europe.
Here is such an example, made by REMINGTON ARMS CO, still showing P-1913 and the manufacture date of 1 17 with the markings on the other side too faint to read. The bayonet also appears to now have a "parkerized" finish, which may indicate reissue for use during WWII, when the Trench Shotguns were still very popular.
The bayonet comes with a 1960s Vietnam War-Issue scabbard, with a "Tennite" thermopastic impregnated "duck" canvas body and metal throat, which is marked: U.S. - M1917 / B.A. INC.. This model scabbard was based on the M3 scabbard for the M-1942 Garand Bayonet. The slightly longer blade length of the M-1917 bayonet was handled using the same body as the M3 scabbard but with a longer metal throat. These were made by various subsidiaries of Beckwith Manufacturing Company, in this case Beckwith-Arden Inc. of Hudson, MA, which made large numbers of fiberglass scabbards for knives and bayonets during the WWII period and later.
The scabbard is in very good condition, with very little wear to the scabbard body, which still has a great olive drab color. The throat has suffered some light corrosion, but most of the original finish is still present.
The bayonet overall has a very nice phosphate "parkerized" finish, with no signs of post arsenal sharpening. The bayonet itself appears to be in nearly unissued condition and is one of the best we have seen.
A very interesting example of a U.S. WWI Bayonet, "acquired" from the British, and then used in service for decades. Ready to display!
Specifications:
Blade Length: 17"
Blade Style: Single Edge with Fuller
Overall length: 21 3/4"
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 18"
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