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m1917 bayonet


scooter
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post-698-1174619871.jpg

 

Can anyone tell me the signifigance of the white band that has been painted on the grips of this m1917 bayonet? possibly unit markings? it is also painted on the tang above and below as well.

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I would think to distingish from a P14 bayonet. Didn't the rifles have stripes on them to determine the were .303/p14 or .3006/p17.

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Wow sorry about the size on that one! well at least its pretty detailed

:-) Scott

 

We cropped and reduced it: went from being a 250KB file to about 32KB. A lot of folks still have their computer monitors set for 800 pixels width so they would have been able to see perhaps 25% of the image on their screen at any one time.

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I would think to distingish from a P14 bayonet. Didn't the rifles have stripes on them to determine the were .303/p14 or .3006/p17.

 

I have read reports saying the distinguishing band(s) on the rifles were red and white or just red.

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So am I to understand that these markings do indicate the rifle/caliber of the weapon to be used on? Maybe its just me but I wasnt sure if ther was some absolution about the previous posts. w00t.gifw00t.gif Scott

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I would think to distingish from a P14 bayonet. Didn't the rifles have stripes on them to determine the were .303/p14 or .3006/p17.

 

Wouldn't the bayonets be interchangeable on both rifles and who would be using both rifles at once so they would require marking?

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I have never seen this particular marking on a bayonet before, but if I had to guess, it MAY have been used to differentiate the P13 bayonet from the P07. The stripes on the rifles were indeed used to show the caliber - the P14 was in .303 and the Model 1917 in .30-06. However the P13 and Model 1917 bayonets were interchangeable so the marking was not necessary.

 

The P07 and P13 bayonets were basically identical except for the height of the barrel ring above the back of the bayonet. The grooves in the grip of the P13 were meant to provide a method of telling them apart both visually and tactility. I suppose it is possible that some unit decided the paint was also helpful in identification although it was not really necessary. Also I don't imagine there were too many cases where SMLE and Pattern 1914 rifles were issued in the same unit.

 

So I really don't know why this one was painted. It is apparently not common, so it may have been done is some individual unit for reasons of their own.

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Home guard units were issued P14s M1917s and No1MK111s, and generally had a red band around the stock of the M1917s to denote 30.06. They generally tried to seperate the weopons as much as possible, to keep 1 company with one weopon, but this couldn't always be acheived and the use of BARs M1917a1s and Thompsons alongside Lewis guns, vickers,Brens and stens made it even worse. But never heard of white bands around Byonet grips though :blink:

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Gentlemen, Thanks for all of the responses, I guess it may remain a mystery. The paint is very old, and yellowing from age therefore it may be period. perhaps it was a mark to make it easier to find in the dark? :blink: Any way thanks to all once more!! Oh by the way there are two grooves the area between the grooves is what has been painted.. Scott

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