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Grandfathers bring back bayonet

Embalmer

Embalmer

Active member
Was looking at my cof42 bayonet my grandfather brought back from WW2. Blade and wood in excellent condition and finish. The scabbard and metal top of bayonet has turned to a brown patina from being stored in a closet unprotected for 53 years before I was given it in 98.

Part of me wants to restore it, but other part knows prob not wise being a heirloom. What would have the finish on scabbard been, blued?
 
Hard to tell what's going on without pictures. It's common for early-mid scabbards to brown over time.
 
Firstly it should be good oiled on metall parts, then You could made a pictures to provide more details.
 
Yes, the scabbard was blued. As luftpirate said, the scabbards can turn brown over time. Do not restore it, leave it as it is. Do as Andy says, just apply oil to all metal surfaces. Do not use any type of abrasives i.e. steel wool, sandpaper, wire brush etc. or chemicals. A soft cloth ( an old white T-shirt works well) and a light gun oil will work. Apply the oil let it sit a little while, then wipe excess oil off. Go gently, you do not want to remove any patina. Patina always looks better than shiny bare metal on an S84/98 III bayonet. If rust is present, the oil and cloth will remove a lot of it. I suggested using a white cloth so that you can see what is coming off. Rust will adhere to the cloth, so you need to turn the cloth to a clean spot when you see build up. Rust can act as an abrasive and remove blue or even scratch the metal. You may have to repeat oiling and wiping a few times. If you have really bad rust or corrosion, you can use extra fine brass or bronze wool to remove rust. Just go easy and take your time. Always wear cotton or Nitril gloves when you handle your bayonet. The acid in the oils on your fingers and hands can damage the blue. It doesn`t take long to do it either and can etch permanent fingerprints on the blue. And, as Andy said, we need pictures to see what is really going on.
 
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Beautiful, untouched matching example. A drop or two of Ballistol on the blade would help cutdown on finish wear from the scabbard's internal retention spring. I wipe all of my bayonets down with a mildly oily Ballistol cloth, others may cry foul. I would avoid putting anything on the leather.
 
I would not do anything, anyway someone already removed grips or proofed to dissasembly which is visible on traces around the head of screws. The 42cof is normal. Frog is ok, one rivet is missing, i assume maker would be impossible to determine. Metall parts should be oiled.
 
Aaron said:
Doing anything to this bayonet would be absolutely criminal, it is in excellent condition.
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What I figured. Just thought scabbard was rough from poor storage. Supposedly captured during battle of bulge near Luxembourg while his engineer battalion were participating in repealing a nighttime German counter attack.
 
AndyB said:
I would not do anything, anyway someone already removed grips which is visible on traces around the heads. The 42cof is normal. Frog is ok, one rivet is missing.
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Uncle's fooled around with it growing up, but never figured how to get out of scabbard
 
The frog probably in area of the leather had secured the blued finish with worrying traces, so the piece should be so as is from war bringback, the other remain is light rusted, good oil could help on the metall. The blueing was light on similar war pieces.
 
Great bayonet possessing character and the appearance of what a combat carried bayonet and scabbard would look like. Check the flashguard for hammering dents from zeltbahn and tent pegs ;) Light oil wipe on the metal as advised and that’s it. Your family’s history is on that bayonet, don’t wipe that out (y)
 
Hambone said:
Great bayonet possessing character and the appearance of what a combat carried bayonet and scabbard would look like. Check the flashguard for hammering dents from zeltbahn and tent pegs ;) Light oil wipe on the metal as advised and that’s it. Your family’s history is on that bayonet, don’t wipe that out (y)
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Flash guard? Metal part that faces barrel? If so looks battered...

https://flic.kr/p/2qmDWMj
 
Hambone said:
Yep. This was a hammer for tent pegs and such. I don’t often see a field carried bayonet without this. For a piece of daily kit carried around that was likely the most prevalent use. Bayonet charges being least common.
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The S84/98 III had several uses. Every field carried bayonet can kind of tell a story of sorts. This pic is one I posted a couple of years ago showing another use.
www.k98kforum.com

S84/98 III mine detector.

I thought this pic would shed a little light on why the blue is thin or missing on the end of your bayonet.
www.k98kforum.com www.k98kforum.com
I posted another pic of a German soldat using his bayonet to pry a Polish emblem off the side of a building when they occupied Poland.
That pic and others are on here somewhere, I am just too lazy to hunt them down
 
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