Bayonet-Knife M1, U.C., Contract of 1953?

[Windraider]

Hello,

 

I have a Bayonet M1 of the manufacturer U.C. It is actually unused and has only storage tracks.

 

The handles do not match those of WWII production.

 

Is it possible that this is the 1953 production?

 

Best Regards

[Misfit 45]

A couple of months ago there was a NOS U.C. M1 in a 1953 original box, on ebay. Unfortunately, I did not win the bid. I would have loved to see what kind of grips it had. That being said, unless you have several known examples of a 1953 contract M1, there is no real way to determine which grips were commonly used. Utica Cutlery could have use a mixed bag of grips as they assembled each bayonet. Some WWII, and some made post war. Until then, or until someone digs up some good documentation, we will likely never know.

Marv

[Windraider]

Thank you very much. Only related to the handles. Are they rather WWII or post WWII?

 

Regards

[SKIPH]

Marv got it right. Checked out Gary's book for info, but nothing there. I have a UC that I just bought from Dupage, but having difficulty getting the grips off to see what make they are. The other point which could help is Windrider's UC has the "H" for heat treatment, stamped on the tang. Could be an indicator of a WW2 bayonet. Just a thought! SKIP

[Windraider]

Hello,

the metal parts are the same as the WWII pieces. The only conspicuous ones are the handles and the shape of the blazing bomb. I have also looked into the book by Cunningham

and other sources and found no comparison of handles from WWII production. They only have one mold number.

[Misfit 45]

Windraider,

The grips that Gary Cunningham has in his "new" book, U.S. Knife Bayonets & Scabbards shows three grip manufacturers during WWII. Columbus, Auburn Button Works, and Norton; each having their respective logos on the inside of the grips (WT grips are from an unknown maker). Your grip is interesting. I searched all the foreign made M1 grips and found that most of them are unmarked, and those that are marked, are not like yours. Yours has the "3" in a circle and has those many circle mold marks. I cannot recall seeing M1 grips with like that, but I cannot make any claims to any expertise in this matter. I have narrowed my collection to about 5 or 6 M1 bayonets, but have not really looked closely at the inside of the grips. There are M4 and M7 plastic grips that have numbers similar to yours. The M4 numbers are in a square rather than a circle. The M7 grips have single digit numbers in a circle, but are accompanied by a long product number. My wild guess is that your grips were made post war by a US supplier.

 

As for the flames, I know Gary suggested that the flames on the 1953 contract M1s might be different, however, UC does not seem to have a real consistent flame shape as I examine their M1s, but the "flaming Bomb" proof marks are all of similar design. The pictures below show a few variations.

 

 

The photo on the left, is a Greek return M1 that has a scrunched flame. The photo on the right is of an actual 1953 contract M1 (from Ebay). The photo on the bottom is a very early uncut dated UC M1.

Hope this helps.

Marv

 

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[Windraider]

The five handles of the M4 Turner production from 1954 have only one mold number. These only in a square