Jump to content

My desert tan M9 bayonet


MattS
 Share

Recommended Posts

I was in the army during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and as an aircrew member, my issued weapon was the Beretta M9 9mm. My dad taught me to always carry a knife and I bought this one at a surplus store, possibly outside of Fort Bragg, to use 'in the field'. It is in desert tan instead of the OD green that the M-16 guys carried. The blade is stamped "U.S.A. PAT. NO. 4,821,356" on one side and "M9A1 PHROBIS III SPAIN" on the other so maybe it's a foreign copy? Anyone know any more about it? Thanks!

post-32676-1301493982.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will let Bill Porter or some other specialist in these bayonets give you a more detailed answer, but your bayonet was made/assembled by Phrobis International in the US using blades made for them by Marto in Spain. It was a commercial item. From what little I know about these (and I admit to a very limited knowledge of these commercial bayonets), it is odd in that the M9A1 designation applied mostly to a variation in the scabbard and yours does not have that variant. But as I said, Bill will probably be able to give you full details.

 

Here is the "common" M9A1 in Desert Tan - note the differences in the scabbard between it and yours. The photo is from the outstanding website on bayonets from Old Smithy with the M9s covered here: http://www.old-smithy.info/bayonets/m9_bay..._variations.htm

 

His home page is here: http://www.old-smithy.info/default.htm and anyone looking for information on bayonets would do well to start there.

 

m9A1T_1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for that link, interesting variations! I thought it might have been some sort of commercial "Desert Storm" special edition in desert tan, but I haven't come across any others since 1991. It's pretty well retired now and just hangs around on my old LBE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phrobis had the original M9 bayonet contract before other companies got involved like Gerber. I have never seen a Phrobis issued with desert tan handle and scabbard, but the Phrobis bayonets are the more sought after and desired ones to own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine they were trying to save money with the design of that new sheath, probably under the guise of saving weight...and I know these rigs are heavy...but I don't think too much of that molded plastic hanger design. I'd rather carry a few more ozs and feel more secure about it. I don't have an M9, as I'm not much of a bayonet man...but I have an M11 and I know I'd better be seeing a real need to use it that day before I went around with it hanging on my belt.

I'm also not too fond of the knee jerk weight reduction solution of putting holes in the blade, either. I don't know about the blade grind on the Phrobis models, but the Lan-Cay M11 model I have has a horrible grind on it. The only possible way to put a decent edge on it is to convex it...not a great field solution.

With all that said, I still think they are kinda neat knives/bayonets...at least in a collection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't understand the 'improved' scabbard either. The one I have has the quick detach buckle so you can use it as a wire cutter then just put the bayonet back in and snap it back onto the hanger. If you don't secure the top retaining strap it will beat the hell out of your leg though. I found a photo of me wearing my M9 (middle) from 1993. We were getting ready to go out on a route recon mission I believe.

post-32676-1301507515.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a little tip: locate one of those little rubber cable end caps and pop it on over the wire cutter lug on the sheath. It will help keep the lug from snagging on brush, etc. and also keep the lug from doing damage should it bang into something you don't want messed up.

 

post-11898-1301510588.jpg

 

You might have to slice it off when you need to use the lug, as they tend to form fit pretty well when they're on for a spell...but unless you're using the lug alot, it's a definite improvement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is some data I had filed on the Phrobis / Buck M9 bayonet. Since yours is a M9A1, would seem to be a commercial copy. sorry for the spacing, didn't come across in the past like the posting.

 

 

Phrobis and Buck M9 Bayonet History

 

 

 

The M9 Bayonet traces it's history to a small R&D company called Qual-A-Tec. You can see a full history here. In brief, the company was created to support Special Forces and the Rambo movies were just out so they developed a knife which would later become the Buck-184 Buckmaster. In order to deal with the licensing of this knife to Buck Qual-A-Tec created the company Phrobis, Ltd. A few years later, there was a request for Proposal from the US Military for prototype bayonets and the Qual-A-Tec folks took the Buckmaster and modified it to become what we know as the M9 Bayonet today. Qual-A-Tec went on to establish a new company to handle this knife and they named this company Phrobis III, Ltd.

 

Buck manufactured the first M9 bayonets for Phrobis in 1987. The first contract was for 315,600 pieces with a couple of 60,000 unit options at military discretion. In total, Buck made about 325,000 bayonets between 1987 and 1989 for the US Army. Buck, without the knowledge of Phrobis III, added their date code '>' to the first 1200 bayonets as shown in the image that follows. This was not in keeping with the Technical Data Package and Phrobis instructed Buck to immediately remove the mark from any subsequently manufactured bayonets for the military.

It is important to note that all military contract bayonets of this period will only have Phrobis Markings. All M9 Bayonets with BUCK 188 Markings are Commercial knives and if the Chevron is on the Buck 188 side of the blade it is NOT one of these 1200 knives and there are a great many Buck 188 knives out there with this chevron mark!

 

Chevron Marked Phrobis M9 Bayonet. Photo courtesy of Bill Porter

The majority of the Phrobis 'chevron' marked M9s had been shipped before the mark was discovered. One hundred sixty-six pieces of the 1200 piece run had not been shipped and these were held back. The bayonets were sequentially numbered on the right ricasso with the odd numbered bayonets going to Buck and the even numbered going to Phrobis. Buck sold their bayonets to members of the Buck Collectors Club. Phrobis manufactured an oak presentation plaque with the front end of an M16 rifle attached to it and sold the plaques to collectors as well as presenting them to dignitaries. These bayonets, like all the Phrobis military contract bayonets, had the Phrobis markings on the left blade ricasso and the right ricasso was unmarked.

 

Second Generation Phrobis III M9 Bayonet

 

Third Generation Phrobis III M9 Bayonet

Buck continued to manufacture the M9 bayonet under subcontract for Phrobis until 1989 when the contract was terminated for mutual convenience between Buck and the Phrobis. At the end of the contract there was a falling out between the two companies and as part of the settlement Buck ended up with the rights to the M9 bayonet in the United States. Buck did not buy out or take control of Phrobis III, instead Mickey Finn, the designer of the M9 bayonet and the owner of Phrobis III, still holds the Phrobis trademark.

 

Fourth Generation Patent Pending Phrobis III M9 Bayonet

Around the time of the Buck/Phrobis falling out, Mickey Finn incorporated under the name Phrobis Int'l. He had been working on some inproved designs for the M9 bayonets but no longer had Buck to manufacture the blades and component parts. He then turned to the well known firm of Marto in Spain. Marto manufactured the blades for Phrobis Int'l and due to the import laws the blades had to be marked with the country of origin. The patent information was also added to the right ricasso. Marto was permitted to manufacture the M9 bayonet with their name on the blade strictly for commercial sales in Europe.

 

Phrobis Int'l M9 Bayonet

Concurently to the manufacture of the Military Contract M9 Bayonets as described above, Buck was also manufacturing M9 bayonets for the commercial market. The commercial bayonets were almost identical to the military bayonet in that the left ricasso of the commercial M9 bayonet had the same markings as the military model but in addition it had Buck’s name and model number on the right ricasso. This carried through the length of the military contract that ended in 1989. In 1990, having completed the military contract and having broken ties with Phrobis, Buck moved their company name and model designation to the left ricasso and the right ricasso was left blank.

 

 

Commercial Buck - Phrobis III marked M9 Bayonet

More on Commercial Buck M9 Bayonets

 

In 1991, Buck made 5000 units for the US Marines when a contract was put on an open bid and Buck Knives won the contract for a division level field testing order. These bayonets were used by the 2nd Marine Division. By this time, Buck had parted company with Phrobis (early 1991) and were actually bidding against Phrobis for these contracts. This is the only group of bayonets made by Buck that are solely produced and supplied by Buck without Phrobis connection. All the bayonets are of the Phrobis first generation style but have the Buck cutter plate on the scabbard. All of the blades are marked with M9-USMC and a plus (+) mark as this is the Buck date code for 1991. All 5000 of the (+) marked M9 bayonets have the short threaded tang that projects through the crossguard and a standard tang rod.

 

1991 USMC M9 Bayonet

In 1993 Buck made what some consider the best version of the M9 bayonet. In this contract, Buck made 350 prototype M9 bayonets for the USMC. these are referred to as the "riveted Pommel" bayonets although only half of these were riveted while the other half had the tang drilled and threaded. These M9 bayonets were actually made in three separate and distinctly different styles, two of which were submitted to the USMC for testing and of these knives most were destroyed during the testing. These were made of all stainless steel instead of a mix of carbon steel for the parts and 425 mod for the blade. The marines liked this version,of the M9 bayonet but the military wanted to buy the same bayonets for all services and the Marine version was discontinued.

 

1993 Full Tang Buck USMC M9 Bayonet

Buck’s contract to manufacture the M9 lasted for 3 years, the options were not used and the contract was opened to lowest bidder. Buck cut margin to the bone, hoping to make up margin on civilian units but were underbid by LanCay . Buck continued to manufacture commercial bayonets until 1997 when their tooling wore out and production volumes did not justify replacing it.

Buck 188 Production numbers based on the number of knives shipped.

Data copied from old thread on: http://www.bladeforums.com

 

Type Buck Part # Quantity Comments

US Army 0188-00-0 330,254

Australian 0188-A1-0 20,050

Abu Dabi 0188-AD-0 1,500

Commercial(black) 0188-BK-0 14,213

Diamaco 0188-DM-0 8,681

Marine Prototype 0188-MC-0 350 1993 Half Riveted - Half threaded tang

Commercial (OD Green) 0188-CB-0 28,238

Field Knife, Japan I

(latchplate) 0188-J1-0 1,956 Modified Latchplate

Field Knife, Japan II

(Quillon / latchplate) 0188-J2-0 504 Modified Latchplate and Quillon

Total: 405,746

 

Buck Date Codes

________________________________________

Credits: I have gathered a considerable amount of information from the work of others and I wish to thank as many as possible. I would like to thank Bill Porter for helping me with quite a few corrections and updates of the information here as well as providing a huge amount of content to the website. I also wish to give credit to Frank Trzaska USMilitaryknives.com for some of the information as well as other information that was incorporated into this page. I also wish to share credit to the various members of bladeforums.com, knifeforums.com, and eBay where I have collected countless images and details that I have included.

 

 

 

Home

 

Development

 

Phrobis M9 Bayonet

Buck M9 Bayonet

 

LanCay M9 Bayonet

 

Ontario M9 Bayonet

 

M9 Bayonet Forums

 

The Library

 

M9 Bayonet Links

 

Contact Us

 

 

 

M9s for Sale:

M9 Bayonets on EBAY

 

Buck M9 Bayonets

 

Phrobis Bayonets

 

LanCay M9 Bayonets

 

Ontario M9 Bayonets

 

 

 

 

 

Home | Development | Buck & Phrobis M9 Bayonet | LanCay M9 Bayonet | Ontario M9 Bayonet | M9 Bayonet Forums | The Library | Contact Us

All information on this website is Copyrighted by Quarterbore Inc., 2006

http://www.m9bayonet.com/buck-phrobis-m9.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will let Bill Porter or some other specialist in these bayonets give you a more detailed answer, but your bayonet was made/assembled by Phrobis International in the US using blades made for them by Marto in Spain. It was a commercial item. From what little I know about these (and I admit to a very limited knowledge of these commercial bayonets), it is odd in that the M9A1 designation applied mostly to a variation in the scabbard and yours does not have that variant. But as I said, Bill will probably be able to give you full details.

 

These bayonets were made by Phrobis in the 1990 or 1991 time period, right around the time of Desert Shield/ Desert Storm. They are in the classic M9 configuration but they all have blades marked M9A1 that were produced by Marto in Spain then assembled here in the US. This was after the Buck/Phrobis Army contract had reached completion and Buck was not involved in this project. Phrobis had been working with Marto manufactured blades and was developing and marketing their new M9A1 design. They had the M9A1 blades on hand so that is what was used for this run of bayonets. These were strictly commercial pieces and I purchased mine directly from US Cavalry. I'm not positive, but I believe these bayonets were made specifically for US Cav.

 

The bayonets originally had tan pouches but I have seen them for sale over the years with black pouches also. Don't know if they had more bayonets then tan pouches or if they got swapped out somewhere along the way. These are one of the harder to find Phrobis M9s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

YES, the US Cavalry store on Yadkin outside of Bragg is where I bought this! Thanks for the jog to my memory, and it probably was 1991 or 92. The tan pouch came with it and I always kept a bottle of Break Free in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...