LE No.5 Bayonet value?
- Thread starter nelly
- Start date
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
Prices have sure gone up. I paid no more than $40each for both of mine.
I'm younger than John and even I can remember them for $5 - $10 at the most, but that was in Canada. SMLE bayonets were $2.50 and spikes for the Number 4 ran 2 for a buck, cheaper if you bought a whole bunch of them (they made really good tent-pegs).
P-'14 and M-1917 bayonets always seem to have been scarce here and the Austro-Hungarian bayonet for the M.05 Mannlicher straight-pull was absolutely unobtainable (apart from wartime bring-backs) until Trade-Ex brought some in. $20 for one of the nicest pieces of steel you'll ever run across.
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P-'14 and M-1917 bayonets always seem to have been scarce here and the Austro-Hungarian bayonet for the M.05 Mannlicher straight-pull was absolutely unobtainable (apart from wartime bring-backs) until Trade-Ex brought some in. $20 for one of the nicest pieces of steel you'll ever run across.
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Back in 1965, I bought 30 spike bayonets for $3. No scabbards or frogs. It was at a local auction. I bought them to use for hold down pegs on the canvas tarp that covered the hay stack. They were perfect for the job. They already had an eye for the rope and they could easily be hammered into frozen ground at an angle and were easily pulled out. In 1967, SMLE bayos in 95% condition would go on sale at the 3Vets store, Harkley and Haywood and Lever Arms at 3/$5 add 25 cents each for the leather frogs. They had bins full of them. They bought them by weight. Allan Lever figured they cost him 10 cents each.
#5, #7 and #9 bayos were always more scarce. They commanded a higher price. The few #9s that surfaced back then would stay in the bins for years. No one wanted them, other than a few collectors. The #9 bayos couldn't be easily turned into a hunting knife. One thing though the #5/7/9 bayos never had any scabbards. Most had been reused by the military for the FN bayonets.
#5, #7 and #9 bayos were always more scarce. They commanded a higher price. The few #9s that surfaced back then would stay in the bins for years. No one wanted them, other than a few collectors. The #9 bayos couldn't be easily turned into a hunting knife. One thing though the #5/7/9 bayos never had any scabbards. Most had been reused by the military for the FN bayonets.
Johnn Peterson
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Chemainus B.C.
If I remember correctly, I paid $150.oo for mine.
