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M9 Bayonet Question


thorin6
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I picked up a Phrobis three-line M9 bayonet this weekend (so-called 3rd Generation); it's military issue, not a commercial variety (no Buck markings on the reverse side to the Phrobis markings). Back when they were collectable, I bought a very nice, excellent condition four-line Phrobis M9 as an example, but the interest has certainly waned in the past few years. I went to the web site where they were discussed, and there hasn't been much action in the past two years or so. I don't know if anyone can answer this, but the one I picked up this weekend, which is well-used but solid, has a brown scabbard and handle while the one I bought years ago is the standard green. I've not seen any other M9 (Phrobis, Ontario, Lan-cay, etc.) in this color, although there are tan, black, white, and other colors. I don't think it's a rebuild (wear is certainly consistent) with replaced parts, particularly since I can't find any other M9 with a brown scabbard and handle. So at one time, did Buck (who made these for Phrobis) make these in brown?

Here are the handles side by side for comparison, three-line on the right:

post-11546-0-78112400-1470791624_thumb.jpg

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Does the darker sheath have the recess molded into it for the stone? From the last picture it looks like the stone may be missing.

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Does the darker sheath have the recess molded into it for the stone? From the last picture it looks like the stone may be missing.

 

The recess for the stone is there (stone is missing, I knew that when I picked it up), and just below that is the Phrobis dolphin mark.

 

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Maybe Bill Porter can shed some light on this. I'm thinking it's just a darker green. I've seen variances in the green color before. (not considering the lime green of the early Ontario M9s) Or maybe the bayonet and scabbard were exposed to some chemical solvent or oil. Just a thought.

Marv

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This may be an optical illusion, but, the grooves on the "brown" bayonet look to be OD not as brown as the rest of the grip.

 

Chuck

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This may be an optical illusion, but, the grooves on the "brown" bayonet look to be OD not as brown as the rest of the grip.

 

Chuck

 

The handle is uniformly brown; the illusion is most likely a result of the lighting.

 

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Maybe Bill Porter can shed some light on this. I'm thinking it's just a darker green. I've seen variances in the green color before. (not considering the lime green of the early Ontario M9s) Or maybe the bayonet and scabbard were exposed to some chemical solvent or oil. Just a thought.

Marv

It may be a variant of the green, but in that the handle and the scabbard are identical in color it seems more like a deliberate manufacturing process to match the two. For the same reason I don't think it's a result of exposure to sunlight or chemicals as that would most likely change the color of the handle and the scabbard in different ways, and there is no evidence of spotting or staining.

That said, it may still be a variant in the color for one particular run of the handles and scabbards, so I'm not discounting that.

It didn't look like anyone has been on the M9 website much for the past two years, only a couple of threads with a small number of posts. However, I may email Bill Porter directly and see what he says.

 

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