Gras conversions

[Steve1871]

  Just surfing the web, because have too much time on my hands

 

I see Gras conversions, bayonet looks same, must be minor change, like milling down rear hump a little ( guessing here) ad's say for German 88 rifle, lately been looking into Greek Y1903 series bayonets. There are Gras conversions for those too. How do you know which gun one these Gras bayonets was changed for, or are they the same. Would most sellers even know?

[N White]

Just as a measure of what is available, the Greek and the German conversions are most common.  You can also find Irish converted Gras bayonets for the Vetterli.  Greek are easy, because they needed the crossguards converted or replaced.  There are a bunch of variants, from "just the crossguard" to ones that look like 03/14 bayonets, but have old script on the spine.

 

This link has a good side by side for the vetterli converted ones.  They didn't have to do much, relatively speaking.   http://www.irishbayonets.com/gras_conversion.html

 

The German Gew 88 conversions are (in my mind) more elegant.  There are 2 main ways that it was done.  To make gras fit on a Gew 88, the hump must be removed.  However, the distance between the front face of the muzzle ring and the press catch must also be lengthened.  In the link above, they show one way that was done, by milling out the pommel and adding a new, longer press stud, which had its locking surface further back.

 

The OTHER way, which is the cool solution is how mine was done. (See attached pic) They countersunk the rear half of the muzzle ring, then ground away half of the press stud's locking surface, thus achieving the necessary spacing.  No new pieces needed, just reshaping what is already there.  I have tested it on a Gew88 and it locks up TIGHT, but removes easily.

 

There are also other conversions, like one to fit 98 Mausers, but those had entirely new handle assemblies and are so rare as to be unobtainium.

Edited 6 August , 2018 by N White

[Steve1871]

Thank you N White

Your info,link and a pic of yours is a big help!!!! I need study some more. Right now in U.S., there are 2 or 3 Converted for Irish for sale. Not even sure what rifle those were for.For Itish rebellion, many obsolete rifles were obtained 

Thank you again!

[N White]

If they are Irish, then it should be only for the Gew88 or the Vetterli.  I'm curious where you are looking, my usual sources have a few Greek reworks as well as a German rework like mine, for $450.  (Which seems to be the going rate for those).

 

This thread has pics of some of the rarer variants, including a BELGIAN WW1 conversion. (Keeping things on topic for the forum!)

 

https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?885970-gras-bayonet-german-rework#/topics/885970?page=1

 

 

[Steve1871]

Hey N White here pics for Gras- Irish conv. The site is Bayonetsonline, I saw 2 more, say Gras - Irish conv. , will see if can find again