Ak bayonet

German and DDR AK Bayonets

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NICO56
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Location: France

Ak bayonet

Post by NICO56 »

Here is my last acquisition. This bayonet East German that we can see represented in this book. Can someone give me more details? I know the 3 commonly seen models but not this one with a different scabbard.
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ilian
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by ilian »

it's the way that the rings are welded on the scabbard ;) certainly reused russian scabbard
NICO56
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by NICO56 »

Perhaps. It cannot be seen very well in the photo but the color of the scabbard is bluish black like on the other three models
ilian
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by ilian »

i have few AK DDR bayonets with russian Izhevsk mark and russian number completly refurbished with shiny rust blued finition
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Mr. B.
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by Mr. B. »

The numbered bayonet appears to be an original East German, (DDR) AK47. The scabbard body does not appear to be East German. The E.G. scabbards used two flat stamped hanger brackets that almost meet in the front. Yours has two separate hanger round loop bars. It also has a two tone brushed finish body not used by E.G., they were plain blued steel. I believe the scabbard body may be early Bulgarian as there is no drain hole in front. It is possible that E.G. used imported scabbard bodies when first starting AK47 production. However this scabbard does appear to have been reworked and the original spring rivet drilled out and replaced similar to the E.G. scabbards and the nylon hanger is the E.G. type used during replacement/rework. Mike
NICO56
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by NICO56 »

In this group photo, we can see that the scabbard is entirely bluish black and not bi-color.
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ilian
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by ilian »

It was certainly refishnished, so polished and rust blued
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Mr. B.
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by Mr. B. »

Yes, the scabbard is East German issue and has been reworked. There are several references and and collectors that document the usage of Russian AK47 scabbard bodies during the early E.G. AK47 production. Yes, a new blued finish has been applied either during original assembly or rework or both. However in your first two pictures the lighting shows the original two-tone metal sanding under the bluing. I suspect that the original drag spring was permanently riveted to the body Russian style. It appears to have been drilled out and replaced by the E.G. style drag with a button during rework. This can be confirmed by the drill hole going through both front and rear sides of the body and the style of the drag.

Just curious, is there a drain hole on the scabbard tip? If so, front or back side? The Russians usually had a drain hole in front. The Russian scabbard usually had a smooth finish. However some Russian made Finnish scabbards did have the Two-Tone sanding and were without a drain hole. So Russia could have supplied similar scabbards to E.G.

Overall a nice find! I like it. Documented in Zbigniew's book and several others. I need a similar one in my collection. Mike
InkedEast German AK47 2 band scabbard 1_LI.jpg
InkedEast German AK47 2 band scabbard 1_LI.jpg (37.64 KiB) Viewed 7053 times
InkedEast German AK47 2 band scabbard 2_LI.jpg
InkedEast German AK47 2 band scabbard 2_LI.jpg (40.23 KiB) Viewed 7053 times
ilian
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by ilian »

I do agree with Mike, it's a great find! I don't have it in my collection and never saw one
NICO56
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Re: Ak bayonet

Post by NICO56 »

No drain hole on the front or back
NICO56
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 2:25 pm
Location: France

Re: Ak bayonet

Post by NICO56 »

I bought it last week on a French site (naturabuy). A similar model was on sale on the todocolleciones site last month.
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