AFGHAN WAR TYPE II AKM WITH FIELD ART

Post by **MDIvie** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:26 pm

Thought I'd start this section with one of the more interesting blades in my collection. This is an Afghan War period piece with some interesting "Trench Art". The blade has a mountain seen and the word "АФГАНИСТАН" (Afghanistan) carved into it on the right side. On the left side of the blade "103-й" over "ВДД" for 103rd Airborne Division is written in black ink. (Note - this should be 103-я for 103rd but the soldier's language skills might not have been that great). The knife is the variation without factory mark that may have been made by a subcontractor and is oft scene with reworked bayonets.

The scabbard is an Izhevsk marked scabbard. It has "103-й ВДД" inscribed down the center of the front to the left of the central mold hole, right readable with the hanger to the left, and the numbers "86-87" inscribed to the right of the central mold hole. I believe the "86-87" indicates years of service in Afghanistan. On the back of the scabbard, inscribed down the center to the left of the central mold hole, right readable with the hanger to the left, is "С ТИШКОВУ" (S. Tishkovu) which I believe to be the soldiers name. In addition over the serial number on the front of the scabbard is inscribed a rough DVD emblem of a Parachute flanked on either side by a plane.

The original serial number on the scabbard has obviously been ground off and the new serial number "1838" inscribed which matches the inscribed serial number on the knife handle. The artwork has obviously been inscribed over top of the new serial number on the scabbard.

Enjoy, and if you would like higher resolution pictures, please ask.

MDI

Post by **Brian** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 8:23 pm

Really interesting example. Nicely personalized. I'm guessing you don't hand back an example like this when you leave the army...so likely he didn't need it anymore and it was captured?