I picked up a couple of WWI era bayonets recently and neither of them was something I'd seen before.

I have sold a few long sawback bayonets over the years, but this short model was new to me. It is a KS98 Mauser bayonet and from what I see online these were variously used by machine gun crews, as NCO dress bayonets and by officers after they stopped wearing swords at the front in WWI. Some writers said these were used into WWII.

The WKC (Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Cie) logo was also new to me: it has the King and Knight's heads as was done from about 1903 to the end of the war.

There are no stamped numbers I could find.

The blade had remnants of grease on it and has survived nicely. The blade is 194 mm long.

Is the grip rubber or wood? I thought it was rubber, but my woodworking buddy said it seems to be wood and there is one small area where some lighter-colored wood seems to be showing throgh the ebony finish.

 

???

 

Bob,

 

You are right on the money with your understanding of your KS98 bayonet. It was a private purchase sidearm by an Officer or NCO and that is why it does not have any inspection or property markings. The checkered grips are died wood although some of them had hard rubber (gutta percha) grips.

 

I hope this helps.

On 12/9/2018 at 5:21 PM, Bob Hudson said:

I picked up a couple of WWI era bayonets recently and neither of them was something I'd seen before.

I have sold a few long sawback bayonets over the years, but this short model was new to me. It is a KS98 Mauser bayonet and from what I see online these were variously used by machine gun crews, as NCO dress bayonets and by officers after they stopped wearing swords at the front in WWI. Some writers said these were used into WWII.

The WKC (Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Cie) logo was also new to me: it has the King and Knight's heads as was done from about 1903 to the end of the war.

There are no stamped numbers I could find.

The blade had remnants of grease on it and has survived nicely. The blade is 194 mm long.

 

Bob 

   Very interesting bayonet ! We learn something new every day. 

Thank you for the posting ! And thanks Dave for sharing yours.

Tony

 

Nice blade.  Rich A. in Pa.

for what i know,

differents soldiers and some departements used sawback bayo during WW1, but if they were catched by the enemy, they were fired immediately 'cause the use of that kind of bayo was considered as an eccessive cruelty

On 4/27/2020 at 8:14 AM, Luke66 said:

for what i know,

differents soldiers and some departements used sawback bayo during WW1, but if they were catched by the enemy, they were fired immediately 'cause the use of that kind of bayo was considered as an eccessive cruelty

Actually, they were intended for use by pioneer units to double as a light saw, and not to inflict more severe wounds on enemy soldiers.