Heckler & Koch Bayonet

It is not clear whether this type of bayonet was originally developed by Heckler & Koch of Oberndorf or by Carl Eickhorn of Solingen. The design had emerged by 1959 when the G3 rifle and its bayonet were adopted by the West German military. Blades are of the style originally developed in the USA for the M3 trench knife and are unfullered, single-edged and flat-backed for the rear section and then assume a double-edged diamond section running to the spear point. Blades are however of 'reversed' or 'upside-down' orientation with the main cutting edge forward of the muzzle ring. The steel cross-guards are straight with large muzzle rings and virtually no opposing quillon. Four variant cross-guards may be encountered, classified here as Broad Plain, Broad Notched, Half Notched as is this example and Narrow Plain. The two notched styles of guard are most appropriately mated to scabbards which have a spring-catch just to the rear of their throats. The scabbard catch engages the crossguard notch to retain the bayonet when sheathed. The seven groove plastic one piece grip is in very good order with 23mm flashguard, as is the blade which is only showing minor signs of use. The scabbard with webbing frog is marked ‘U.S. M8A1’ is virtually unmarked. The price includes UK delivery. BAYO 376.