Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very good original U.S. WWII M1 10-inch bayonet manufactured by American Fork & Hoe of Geneva, Ohio, accompanied by a particularly scarce Detroit Gasket & Manufacturing Company M3 scabbard shortened to the 10-inch M7-length configuration. While the AFH bayonet is a desirable wartime example in its own right, the surviving cut-down Detroit Gasket scabbard is the especially unusual component of this set.

The body of the scabbard was made of different materials than Beckwith MFG Co used, consisting of cotton tubing impregnated with a phenol-formaldehyde thermosetting resin. Scabbards made of this material have a much finer weave in the body material, and the resin is a dark brown.

This bayonet is essentially the same as the earlier M1905 / M1942 bayonet, but with a 10 inch blade instead of 16 inches. In 1943, the U.S. Army made the decision to shorten the M1905 bayonet's blade to 10 inches (25.4 cm) and as many of the M1905 and M1942 bayonets were recalled, their blades were cut down to size, and were reissued. These shortened M1905 bayonets were re-designated as M1905E1. This one was originally made to be 10 inches.

The U.S. Army also introduced a new purpose-made shorter M1 bayonet which was designed to be used with the M1 Garand rifle. The M1 bayonet's blade is 10 inches (25.4 cm) long and the handle is 4 inches (10.1 cm) long. Like this example, they are easily identified by the blade fuller, which on a cut-down version runs to the edge of the blade. The shorter fuller indicates this is definitely a purpose-made M1 10 inch bayonet.

These shorter bayonets functioned well in the European theater, where in the rare bayonet-actions of the time they were matched up against the 9 3⁄4 inch long blade of the German S84/98 III bayonet fitted on the Karabiner 98k rifle. However, in the Pacific theater, the Japanese used the much longer, 15.75 inches (40.0 cm), bladed Type 30 sword bayonet on the already very long Arisaka rifle, which caused many American troops to retain the longer, unmodified M1905 bayonet.

This example is in great shape, with moderate overall wear. The blade ricasso is marked with maker A. F. H. (American Fork & Hoe of Geneva, Ohio) above U.S. around the Ordnance flaming bomb. Below this is the manufacture date but as per the pattern of AFH, it is not visible due to the crossguard. The original phosphate finish on the blade of this example is roughly 50% retained with heavy sharpening along the edge.

The original M3 scabbard on this example is a rare example, produced by Detroit Gasket & Manufacturing Company of Detroit, Michigan. Their contract, number 374ORD 1293 was for $251,000 and called for deliveries to be made from January 1942 to June 1943. The body of the scabbard was made of different materials than Beckwith MFG Co used, consisting of cotton tubing impregnated with a phenol-formaldehyde thermosetting resin. Scabbards made of this material have a much finer weave in the body material, and the resin is a dark brown. These were marked with a sideways "Lazy S" under the "flaming bomb" on the throat.

The combination of the purpose-made 10-inch AFH M1 bayonet, original U.S. Ordnance markings, surviving wartime phosphate finish, and particularly scarce shortened Detroit Gasket “Lazy S” M3 scabbard makes this a considerably more interesting set than a standard M1 bayonet and M7 scabbard pairing. The scabbard in particular documents the Army's wartime transition from the 16-inch bayonet system to the shorter M1 configuration and represents a conversion that was attempted only in relatively limited numbers because of the brittle Detroit Gasket body material.

Specifications:
Blade Length: 10"
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Overall length: 14 1/2“
Crossguard: 3 1/2”
Scabbard Length: 11 1/4"