Hello,
took some photos of this strange saw back at a local gun show.
What is it?
Thanks for your help.
took some photos of this strange saw back at a local gun show.
What is it?
Thanks for your help.
Well not to be a nervous Nelly, but I do not like it much, for one the only German maker I have heard of is Ernst Busch, a Solingen firm and they are reportedly marked C/17, but sawback in 1917? What is this other marking under the cypher? Doesn't look much like the Busch examples I have seen either.. I looked up John Walters comments on the variation, less than excited about his thoughts too. He seems to think some German soldiers might have carried Austrian rifles in Italy, I rather doubt it, but his connection of Württemberg and Rommel's unit is less than convincing imo.
Anyway, as the only bayonets that I know of that Mauser made were the Sg98/05, and they are marked quite differently, this is a rather suspect bayonet. I will see if Carter has anything on these M95 bayonets made by Germany, but my guess is some huckster used Mauser's well known name to make a rare bayonet, fake sawbacks are known also.
Maybe I'm crazy, but that looks like a "15" to me, not a "17".
I'm sorry, I hope you didn't buy it, a number of less experienced bayonet collectors have been taken in by these.