When you started collecting

[Steve1871]

I think it is 84/98, new made, second model. It looks like it should clean up a good amount. Is it unit marked on the cross guard?. From what I have seen, Gerbr ( Brothers) shortened 

Gerber Heller, not rare, but scarce, I have not seen one before, but yours is double marked. One company, Erfurt, a state arsenal and production plant and the other, a commercial company, many times, orders/ contracts went out where one company would start out the bayonet from a steel blank and do most of the work, concentrating on mass, but did not have all the tooling for the complete bayonet, where I believe all state arsenals had everything, so the mostly complete pieces would be sent to the Gov’t shop to finish, assemble, grips, cross guard and the like. Your’s , being double marked like that is a nice combination to have

[sc-em]

I started collecting a few years ago. I made the mistake of going to a Militaria Fair nearby and bought a Snider Enfield. That set me on the trail of trying to collect some iconic British Guns, so then came the Brown Bess, SMLE 1907 and most recently my 1876 Martini Henry. All with bayonets. The SMLE being a 1915 Enfield (1907 pattern) My wife allows me one year   as I have too many hobbies as it is and fixing, restoring my cars takes a degree of capital. Perhaps as well! However, after visiting many of the sites in and around Verdun when I stayed there for a month many years ago, certainly left a lasting impression and interest in all things WW1.

[Gunner Bailey]

When I was about 7 years old a lad whose dad have been in the RAF in WW2 brought a brass model Spitfire into school.

 

Swapped it for my Mars bar. I still have the Spitfire but he.....

[Guest]

On 13/06/2020 at 00:22, Steve1871 said:

I think it is 84/98, new made, second model. It looks like it should clean up a good amount. Is it unit marked on the cross guard?. From what I have seen, Gerbr ( Brothers) shortened 

Gerber Heller, not rare, but scarce, I have not seen one before, but yours is double marked. One company, Erfurt, a state arsenal and production plant and the other, a commercial company, many times, orders/ contracts went out where one company would start out the bayonet from a steel blank and do most of the work, concentrating on mass, but did not have all the tooling for the complete bayonet, where I believe all state arsenals had everything, so the mostly complete pieces would be sent to the Gov’t shop to finish, assemble, grips, cross guard and the like. Your’s , being double marked like that is a nice combination to have

Wow, thankyou so much for the information Steve! Yes i have never seen anything like it before, so glad i'm not the only one! I will research on how to best clean it up right away.

[Steve1871]

In cleaning, you want to still show age, not clean up to polished shiny, your piece looks like a good simple clean would do. I would leave the grips on. Sawbacks are everyone’s favorites

[Guest]

 

On 17/06/2020 at 09:42, Steve1871 said:

In cleaning, you want to still show age, not clean up to polished shiny, your piece looks like a good simple clean would do. I would leave the grips on. Sawbacks are everyone’s favorites

Hi Steve sorry for the slow reply, but will do right now. Have taken your advice and have watched videos online. Should hopefully turn out quite nice.

Many thanks,

Harper