A KuK M-N M.91 bayonet?

[trajan]

And now for something completely different...

The Mosin-Nagant M.91 rifle was the standard firearm of the Russian Army, and vast numbers, along with their bayonets, were captured by the Germans and others in the early stages of the GW. Some of the rifles were then issued to Landsturm, Landwehr and the like, sometimes with the original socket bayonets, sometimes with an adaptor to take a German bayonet, sometimes with a special type of Ersatz bayonet. The original M.91 bayonets themselves did not come with scabbards - they were semi-permanently affixed to the rifles: thus the Germans and Austrians made their own versions, usually of zinc, but sometimes of steel, and I have a fair few of these. However, some of these bayonets do turn up now and again on the market with a shortened Lebel scabbard, as is the case with this one, and the consensus is that these were supplied by the KuK only. There is not a lot known about these - or, at least, I have not come across much about them - so any comments welcome!

Markings to come in the next post

[trajan]

The markings are surprisingly clear, (well, for a find made in Turkey), and include the bow-and-arrow of the Izhevsk arsenal, plus some others I have not worked out yet, and a serial number 215955:

Another serial on the other side is: 306859:

And finally, what looks to be a German-style 'M' and another mark I can't work out on the outer outer face of the locking ring:

Needless to say, no markings on the scabbard as the staple has been scrubbed clean...

[sawdoc34]

Trajan,

been thinking of adding one of these to the austro-hungarian part of the collection but unsure on how to tell if the bayonet was captured/reissued.

Are there any telltale non russian markings on these?

Have seen quite a few that claim to be austrian but all have had no obvious markings other than factory stamp & issue number

Aleck

[trajan]

... been thinking of adding one of these to the austro-hungarian part of the collection but unsure on how to tell if the bayonet was captured/reissued. ...

Some of these captured M.91 bayonets were certainly marked, with German Eagles, or Bavarian crowns, and even the odd 'Deutschland' mark.

Aside from this one here, I have three M.91's that came with German (fat) scabbards (one with the frog still attached), and two with Austrian (thin, like a Lebel) scabbards, but I have not seen any obvious German or other markings on these. Now that I have almost got my storage system up and running I'll have another check. That aside, I just assume that these five are all captures on the basis of the scabbard they came with, as these scabbards are so unusual (and badly made) that I cannot see how anyone would have thought to 'marry' a M.91 with a spare scabbard.

Julian

[trajan]

Well, the consensus on GBF is that it is probably a post WW1 combination, from one of the Eastern European countries, rather than a KuK GW period piece. Apparently Romania in particular had a lot of these bayonets and made scabbards for them - but these are of a different pattern, with a standard German / 'Austrian' tongue-type frog stud and no ball finial, and so it is not one of that series. However, they, like this one, use good steel not the zinc / tin of the GW German and KuK M.91 scabbards.