This is something that has been bugging me for many years. When Germany annexed Czechoslovakia and took control of the BRNO & BRUNN arms factories, the Vz24 (SG24(t)) bayonet continued to be manufactured into 1943. Original Czech production was issued out with Vz24 rifles. Both were often subsequently modified in the field to some degree, with change orders issued by the Germans. My question is, what about the FN M24 bayonet? The Belgian military used the earlier M1889 blade bayonet, and later M16/M35 patterns. The M24 was offered for export with FN's M98 model rifles. Since the Belgian military bayonets were not adaptable for the 4cm bayonet lug, they were reissued along with the rifles they were made for.
For whatever reason, FN M24 bayonet production was not continued like it's counterpart from Czechoslovakia. In addition, I have seen modification orders for the Polish, Czech, and Yugo bayonets, but no reference to the Belgian. So, has anyone encountered a pre-WW2 FN M24 bayonet (a.k.a. SG 105(b)) which exhibits signs of WW2 German reissue? Bayonet could be unmodified, or most likely, had the muzzle ring removed and bayonet blued. I know of one example and perhaps the most desirable variant one could imagine. A fellow collector once showed me a minty FN M24 sporting a German blue Luft tropical frog... but it gets even better. On the ricasso of the bayonet was a small stamp which looked like a sideways "E". However, it was the "Gates of Vilnius" marking as seen on some Lithuanian contract, FN M24 rifles, which made the pair a rare bird indeed! IMHO one of the difficulties has been many FN M24 bayonets were produced prior-to and after WW2, for countries around the globe. Now that quantities have come onto the surplus market, a M24 which remained in Europe, and possibly saw service during WW2, is not easily distinguished and is more or less camouflaged among the others...avoiding all but the most dedicated collector's attention. What say you...?
For whatever reason, FN M24 bayonet production was not continued like it's counterpart from Czechoslovakia. In addition, I have seen modification orders for the Polish, Czech, and Yugo bayonets, but no reference to the Belgian. So, has anyone encountered a pre-WW2 FN M24 bayonet (a.k.a. SG 105(b)) which exhibits signs of WW2 German reissue? Bayonet could be unmodified, or most likely, had the muzzle ring removed and bayonet blued. I know of one example and perhaps the most desirable variant one could imagine. A fellow collector once showed me a minty FN M24 sporting a German blue Luft tropical frog... but it gets even better. On the ricasso of the bayonet was a small stamp which looked like a sideways "E". However, it was the "Gates of Vilnius" marking as seen on some Lithuanian contract, FN M24 rifles, which made the pair a rare bird indeed! IMHO one of the difficulties has been many FN M24 bayonets were produced prior-to and after WW2, for countries around the globe. Now that quantities have come onto the surplus market, a M24 which remained in Europe, and possibly saw service during WW2, is not easily distinguished and is more or less camouflaged among the others...avoiding all but the most dedicated collector's attention. What say you...?
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