cleaning preserving 1903 Bayonet

[gixsermalc]

Hi Just picked up my first bayonett. Its a 1903 pattern stamped 12 03 and on the other side the crows foot with EFD which i assume is for Enfield the blade is not too bad but the scabboard is dry and the metal parts rusty. Any advice in cleaning/preserving it would be greatly recieved also am i right in thinking this would have been fitted to a Lee Metfords Riffle.

Many thanks

Malc

[4thGordons]

Hi Just picked up my first bayonett. Its a 1903 pattern stamped 12 03 and on the other side the crows foot with EFD which i assume is for Enfield the blade is not too bad but the scabboard is dry and the metal parts rusty. Any advice in cleaning/preserving it would be greatly recieved also am i right in thinking this would have been fitted to a Lee Metfords Riffle.

Many thanks

Malc

There is a really good thread about preserving leather on the forum. A search should turn it up.

Regarding the metal parts, a high quality machine oil (gun oil or sewing machine oil) and a gentle rubbing with fine bronze wool will remove any surface rust without damaging the underlying surface, then a wipe over with the same oil will serve to protect. Again there are quite a few threads on cleaning bayonets with lots of advice in them - a quick search should turn them up.

The Pattern 1903 bayonet was actually designed for the earliest models of Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield (but will fit all SMLEs) it will not fit MLEnfields or MLMetfords which take the P 1888 bayonet. The 1903 pattern was relatively short lived in terms of production with the introduction of the far more common p1907.

I am sure others will be along with additional suggestions.

Chris

[gixsermalc]

Hi Chris Once again many thanks for your advice. I wrongly thought this was the type shown in my grandfathers photo with his training lee metford. I did a quick search before i posted but will have anouther look. just found it glad i didnt do anything now.

Many thanks

Malc

[gixsermalc]

i have not had time to get round to cleaning it yet, but heres a few pics, am i right in thinking im not to try and clean the scratch marks off the the main blade.

[trajan]

i have not had time to get round to cleaning it yet, but heres a few pics, am i right in thinking im not to try and clean the scratch marks off the the main blade.

Hi gixsermalc,

You'll possibly get conflicting advice but in general I suspect the consensus would be 'leave it as it is'. This one does looks nice as is, and certainly much better than my 1903, but which I would never dream of cleaning. The thing is that once you start cleaning then you have to continue - and you might well end up with a bayonet that looked much better left as was. So, apart from dealing with any obvious problems, e.g., rust, it is best left alone. I speak from experience on this: I have a German ersatz I started working on, and now with one side of the blade 'cleaned' and the other left as is - and that's the side that looks nicer.

Trajan

PS: I have a 'Chamber of Horrors' of German erstatz bayonets bought over here and 'cleaned' before I got them. Might put them up on the Forum one day. E.g., the one that had the circular grinder applied (I jest not!) to get the black patina off, ruining the crossguard, etc; or the one which I think was shot blasted, so it is now a 'beautiful' silver colour all over... Aaaaagh!

[gixsermalc]

Hi and thank you yep ill leave it alone then.