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Markings on leather handled ks98s , pic from Ian Jackson's book "kurzes seitengewehr"

this is VV on the pommel ( i think , german frakturs are hard for my eyes to read)

the screws are stamped S

the lettering on 1912 bayonets

debate is always appreciated , for leather gripped 1912s we expect to see C on the blade , CC or CL on the handle , and C or L on the screws , the wooden gripped trials should have C on the blade , VV or MV on the handle , and S or C or V on the screws

note that in 1912, erfurt made leather handles , and rubber handles and wood handle bayonets , this was the first year where all three types were made ..

hi , note the grey pic of the handles removed from the bayonet is from a book , not from my actual bayonet , i used the pic to highlight the 5 holes that exist on the trials bayonets

Horster received large contracts from the colonial office for wooden handled ks98s in 1913 , this specific example has no unit markings but is in a colonial issued frog marked "Pol Tr" hinting perhaps as it being used by the politzeitruppen in togo (open to debate , any input welcome)

One of the less common variations of the ks98s ,usually only found on the south african market, made by erfurt in 1914 , this has caoutchouc handles (the rubber was sourced from belgian congo and the supply ended with ww1). Around 2100 were made in total , 300 in 1912 for trials and then the...

This is one of the original 250 wooden handles trial bayonets created for the colonies by erfurt in 1912 , where it was found that the leather handles didnt survive the african climate (especially in DOA) , all the 1912 trial bayonets have been found in south african hinting at them being issued...

KS9245 issued to the schutztruppe in dwsa , each armourer had their own unique style of stamping ,this allows us to identify that this came from artillery depot 2 with the stampings by armourer d1 , the remnants of the original frog are attached (it was common for south african troops to cut it...

This is the most common variation of the ks98 found in south africa , leather handles make up 62.5% of all ks98s made . This is a 1904 erfurt , the beak shape was better finished than those made after 1909 , although its almost impossible to take a decent photo showing the difference (beak on...

a relatively scarce ks98 with unvulcanised rubber handles specifically for the colonies , more common to see on the south african market as almost all 2100 made ended up in DSWA and DOA

the success of the 1912 trials , of moving from leather to wood, led to contracts with horster from the colonial office , a 1913 horster

a 1912 erfurt , with wooden handles for trials

a 1911 erfurt , leather handled

Four KS98s from my collection , the leather version being the most common with about 20 000 being made (this is a matching erfurt bayonet/scabbard issued in DSWA dated to 1911) , followed by the wooden version with 10 000 being made (the colonial horster contract of 1913) , the harder to find...

as a ks98 collector i can recommend the book , its a wealth of knowledge ...

kS98'S are fairly common to find in South Africa thanks to our wars in DSWA and DOA during WW1 , the starting point of my collection was to buy Ian Jacksons book on this specific bayonet , that has allowed me to identify the various variations and their rarities , this is an Erfurt made...