BACKGROUND: The K98 bayonet was a modification of the already modified S84/98 bayonet that had been originally developed in 1915. Manufacture of this new modified bayonet began in 1934 with mass production beginning in 1936. The K98 bayonet was a standard issue item and was accompanied by a bayonet frog to be worn on the reverse left side of the weight bearing, waist belt. The K98 bayonet remained the standard issue bayonet through-out the war with minor manufacturing variations. As the war continued the quality of the bayonets deteriorated and in mid-1944 most manufacturers discontinued producing the bayonet to concentrate on producing other, essential, war materials. Originally the German army utilized two patterns of bayonet frogs with one pattern for unmounted personnel and another pattern with the addition of a horizontal retaining strap for mounted personnel. Regulations of January 25^TH 1939 dictated that the bayonet frog without the retaining strap was to be discontinued and replaced by the bayonet frog with the horizontal retaining strap for all personnel although the changeover was never completely achieved. Of Note: Luftwaffe personnel initially utilized brown leather accoutrements but during the war the leather items were generally blackened.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: The roughly, 10" long, drop forged, steel construction blade with wide fullers, retains about 80% of its original, blued finish with spots of wear to the base steel at the tip and light scabbard runner wear. Both sides of the ricasso are well marked with the deeply stamped serial number, "6503 e", to the obverse and the manufacturer’s name to the reverse, "E. u F.Hörster". The spine of the blade is also well marked with the stamped date, "38". The opened muzzle ring cross guard, the flash guard and the stylized eagle head pommel only retain remnants of their original bluing and have reverted to the flat matte grey of the base steel with minor surface scratching and spotting. The "TO" slotted, stylized eagle head pommel has dual, waffen-amt stamps with an additional waffen-amt stamped on the attachment stud button. The rifle attachment stud button still functions. The bayonet has molded, dark brown, bakelite grips with seven diagonally angled grooves for better grip. The grips are secured to the tang by two, flush, screw head bolts. The bayonet comes with its original blued, sheet metal scabbard. The scabbard only retains about 30% its original bluing with light surface spotting through-out. The obverse of the scabbard is well marked with matching stamped, serial numbers as on the blade, "6503 e", and the reverse has the matching stamped manufacturer’s name and date, "E. u F.Hörster 1938". The bottom ball tip of the scabbard is well marked with a stamped waffen-amt. The throat retaining screw and the frog attachment lug are both intact. The bayonet comes complete with an early pattern, molded chocolate brown, leather construction, K98 bayonet frog without the additional retaining strap. The frog consists of dual layered, hour glass shaped leather panels creating a belt loop to the top with two natural aluminum retaining rivets just above the narrowest part of frog. The frog has stitching to both outside edges from the top rivets to the bottom of the bayonet pocket and an additional short row of stitching running vertically down the center of both the obverse and reverse panels. Some of the outside seam stitching has let go. The bayonet pocket has a natural aluminum rivet at both of the top edge corners and is stitched down the outside seams, with a vertically oval lug hole to the front center. The reverse of the frog has the faint, impressed manufacturer’s name, location and date with only the location and date visible as, "Kaiserslautern 1939". The reverse of the frog also has an additional, faint, impressed marking that appears to be, "LBA", indicating Luftwaffenbekleidungsamt, (Air-Force Clothing Depot). The frog is in overall good condition with light to moderate chafe wear.

GRADE ***                             PRICE $188.00