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MODEL OF 1909 BOLO


Greg Robinson
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Greg Robinson

I consider these to be among the handsomest of all US military cutlery items. But being an edged tool rather than an edged weapon collectors have always shunned them. But this does seem to be changing. Where I once picked these off ebay for very reasonable money I don't hardly see them for sale anymore. I sold off all but this one example. Others were nicer....but this one is early and I've always liked it. These were typically carried by machine gun units in WW1 for clearing out fields of fire. I once owned one that had old dried sap on the blade. And several I've owned had unit markings on the scabbard. So it was a unit issue item and typically not issued to the individual soldier.

 

The example shown was made by Springfield Armory in 1909 with an early serial number and mated with 1909 dated Rock Island Arsenal scabbard with the early lanyard ring.

 

They were manufactured by Springfield Armory from 1909 thru 1915 and approximately 17,000 were made. Then in 1917 Fayette R Plumb of Philadephia made them. Most scabbards were made by Rock Island Arsenal although a contractor calling itself LADEW made some during WW1. Only the very early scabbards had that brass lanyard ring.

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Greg,

 

I agree with you--the Model of 1909 Bolo is a very handsome machete, and your examples of bolo and sheath are fantastic. Here is a picture of mine; it's dated 1910, and it's SA serial No. 6257. It is in good condition, except for the tip of the handle, which is broken off :( It also did not come with a scabbard, but on the other hand, I didn't pay much for it.

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This other photo is from my personal collection, and it shows young men from US Field Hospital No. 107 killing time in NYC Van Cortlandt Park while they wait to be shipped off to France. They are playing swashbuckler with their Model of 1904 Bolos!

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Greg Robinson
Greg,

 

I agree with you--the Model of 1909 Bolo is a very handsome machete, and your examples of bolo and sheath are fantastic. Here is a picture of mine; it's dated 1910, and it's SA serial No. 6257. It is in good condition, except for the tip of the handle, which is broken off :( It also did not come with a scabbard, but on the other hand, I didn't pay much for it.

 

THANK. You should see the one I sold a couple years ago to Bayonetman. It also was a 1910 with a matching RIA 1910 lanyard loop scabbard. Darn scabbard was MINT still retaining that pale tan color and even had the original lanyard attached to the ring. Bolo wasn't mint but it sure was nice. I'm sure he still has it. I hated to part with it but I was thinning out my collection so that SA 1910 bolo and a PLUMB 1917 bolo in RIA 1917 scabbard went out the door. Sometimes I miss them. :)

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Does anybody know where to get a scabbard for these? I need one too.

 

I'll post my serial # and year when I get home. I also didn't pay a lot for mine.

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Here are my two, the first one is the one Greg mentioned that he was kind enough to sell me a couple of years ago. Hard to get a good photo of the blade because the polish is so good, and the sheath is about perfect. It is dated 1910, serial number 9917. The sheath is a Rock Island dated 1910 inspected by T.C.C.

 

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The second one is a Plumb, serial number 55766, which is shown in Cole Book 3 as having came from a case found in Atlanta in 1960. This was sold to me by the well known dealer of the 60s and 70s, Adrian Van Dyke. I later got the Ladew sheath dated 1917 for it from Huron Surplus in South Dakota.

 

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Walt175, I haven't seen a sheath on the loose for quite some time.

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Greg Robinson
Does anybody know where to get a scabbard for these? I need one too.

 

I'll post my serial # and year when I get home. I also didn't pay a lot for mine.

 

When I got my SA 1909 bolo over ten years ago it had an incorrect WW1 period scabbard. It took me years to find another and it was basically a case of being at the right place at the right time. I wound up with that RIA 1909 as shown in my pics. I've not seen another one on the loose since then

 

Greg

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