theodessakid Posted March 11, 2007 Share #1 Posted March 11, 2007 OK here is the problem. I picked up a excellent shape USM8A1 at a gun show and would like to get the correct bayonet. Can I put a leather grip M4 in or should it be the later black plastic handel. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Robinson Posted March 11, 2007 Share #2 Posted March 11, 2007 OK here is the problem. I picked up a excellent shape USM8A1 at a gun show and would like to get the correct bayonet. Can I put a leather grip M4 in or should it be the later black plastic handel.Thanks The M8A1 was the standard bayonet-knife scabbard from 1944 until just recently. So it carried the M3 trench knife, M4 bayonets in all it's handle configurations, M5 and M5A1 bayonets, M6 bayonets, and M7 bayonets. The WW2 M8A1 was made by Beckwith Mfg Co (maker marked B M CO) and had no metal protector on the tip. Early post WW2 M8A1's were made by Victory Plastics (maker marked V P CO) and were made both with and without the tip protector. All other makers of the M8A1 had metal tip protectors which was a specification change dated to the mid 1950's but I'm not sure when it was implemented. For sure, by 1961 all of them had this feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooter Posted March 12, 2007 Share #3 Posted March 12, 2007 Please correct me if I am wrong but, wasnt the scabbard without the metal protector tip the M8? The M8A1 was an improved version with the metal tip. The original M8 was also devoid of the 1910 belt hook. But some were added interim the M8A1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Robinson Posted March 12, 2007 Share #4 Posted March 12, 2007 Please correct me if I am wrong but, wasnt the scabbard without the metal protector tip the M8? The M8A1 was an improved version with the metal tip. The original M8 was also devoid of the 1910 belt hook. But some were added interim the M8A1. The metal tip protector didn't come along until the mid '50's years after the adoption of the M8A1. The original M8A1 as adopted in the Spring of 1944 didn't have this feature. What made a scabbard an M8A1 and not an M8 was the addition of cartridge belt hooks. And it had a longer web belt loop that would slip on to a pistol belt but this was a minor change. It was the cartridge belt hooks that defined it as an M8A1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlymb Posted March 12, 2007 Share #5 Posted March 12, 2007 Many M8's were modified to the new M8A1 configuration by adding the hanger. These are marked 'M8' on the metal throat though. No original M8 scabbard (modified or not) had the metal tip. Unmodified M8 scabbards are actually quite scarce. Greetz David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Robinson Posted March 12, 2007 Share #6 Posted March 12, 2007 Many M8's were modified to the new M8A1 configuration by adding the hanger. These are marked 'M8' on the metal throat though. No original M8 scabbard (modified or not) had the metal tip. Unmodified M8 scabbards are actually quite scarce. Greetz David I own a mint in factory box WW2 M4 which has a brand new M8A1 in the box that has a metal throat marked "M8" which proves to me they used left over M8 parts when manufacturing wartime M8A1's. I've owned several M8's and wish I'd kept the ones I'd sold....they've become hard to find and expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunbarrel Posted March 12, 2007 Share #7 Posted March 12, 2007 Greg, I know you've seen this, but for others who may not have I'm posting a link to Gary's Bayonet Points on the M8 scabbard. http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/bayo_points_18.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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