Rosstoration or bubbafication,sure I hacked off the bayonet lug but it looks good

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Normally I don't alter or restore military weapons. I feel a bit of rust adds character but this poor girl was pretty far gone and because it had the original shaped tip I thought it deserved a second chance. Here is the before photo as she came to me

The bayonet lug was broken ,one handle scale was completely gone(and replaced with an ugly nonmatching one) and it only had 1 bolt. It was also the rustiest blade I had seen in a long time.

As much as I would have liked to their was no way to repair the bayonet lug or find the missing hardware for the spring latch so bringing it back to military spec was impossible. I decided to see if I could not make a nice sheath knife out of it.
This happened to a lot of bayonets after the war and very few were as suitable as the Ross bayonet.

It has a very rounded point like a period butcher knife and a very nice and sharp hollow ground single edge. Perfect for a useful camp knife but exactly the opposite of what you would expect in a bayonet.

As I ground off the rust it became clear that this was very good steel probably because it was a prewar 1909 model.

Now that I have made the new scales out of maple and cleaned all the rust off all I have left is to finish polishing the blade and attaching the handles.
I also rounded off the top guard where I cut off the broken bayonet ring.
The guard came out rather well.
Here she is ready for a final polish and then attaching the handles but with brass pins rather than bolts. The Ross on top is my Mark2 with the modified point.


I can already tell that with a bit more polishing and some more edge work she will make a great camp knife. The handle is very comfortable without the bolt from the bayonet latch as well. I will post the photos of when it is totally done with the handles stained and pinned and the blade sharpened and polished. It will be great to have this first world war vet get a new lease on life. I even have a guy to make me a nice leather sheath.

I probably should have waited until I was finished but I got the idea for the name of the thread and had to do it now.:D
 
When something is NOT repairable, I wouldn't call making something useful out of it a bubba job.
And it wouldn't be the first time someone did that to a bayonet.
 
If there was any way to bring it back to military spec i would have.
Unfortunatly the bayonet lug was completely ruined before I got it.
All I did was grind down what was left so it had no sharp edges. You can see what was left of the bayonet lug in the top right photo. If the lug had been intact I may have tried to find the missing scales and hardware although the missing spring latch parts would be very hard to find. Your only hope would be finding another Ross bayo with a bad blade but all the hardware. It is a moot point though because with that lug broken off their was no way it could be fixed.

It was like having a milsurp rifle that was a fantastic shooter and important historically but that had been so badly damaged their was no way to
bring it back to stock. Do you throw it away or scrap it for parts or simply make it a fun shooter?

I am sorry you don't like it NS. I guess I am a bit sentimental about knives and milsurp gear. This blade was to far gone with rust and damage to ever be in anyone's collection as a military bayonet. I thought it was much better as a beautiful useful knife than as a piece of metal scrap. Also I have always thought that the Ross bayonet would make a much better knife than it did a bayonet.

I wish I had a better "before "photo so I could show just how rough it was when I got it. I am really into knives and I can tell that for 1909 this was a fantastic steel and very well made blade. Heck it would be better made than most of the knives we have now ,with better steel, heat treat and excellent edge geometry.

Thanks John ,I would never have considered doing this to a knife that had any chance of being repaired. I see it as honouring the people who made it and used it. My other Ross bayo is also quite rough but I would never do anything like this to it. I see some rust and battle damage and the mod to the point as part of it's history but the 09 was so far gone it is almost a miracle that there was any knife left under all the rust. It is also amazing how good of a knife the thing is. I know knives like some people here know milsurps and this is a good quality knife whether by 1909 or 2008 standards.
 
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There comes a point when repairs just aren't going to work. I put this on par with all the Lee enfields that have been scoped and sporterised - it's regretable it happend, but may as well have fun with it now it is altered.

Looks nice too. Once it's done put up a bigger pic in this thread!
 
You could have welded a bit of steel onto the broken area, fixed it in the mill with a boring bar to re-cut the muzzle ring and then used some CRS stock, again in the mill, the make the button and... and... and...

OK, now I'm getting a bit ridiculous.
 
I was trying a bit of tongue in cheek torment....I guess the tongue was too far in cheek, with not enough smiley content.

Bah.

Thou art banished to the hunting camp to seek pennance in a bottle of rye, and when thou has completed thine pennance, thou shalt then rejoin the ranks of the 'worthy', go in peace my son, go in peace.

NS

(Is that one tongue in cheek enuf?)
 
No worries NS ,I was a bit sarcastic myself with the title.

Claven ,I actually considered doing all that but since it is a first model Ross bayonet the bayonet lugs are slightly offset. I would have to have found a intact one ,taken the measurements ,had a new lug milled from a piece of steel and then welded it to the bayonet.

I can certainly understand why people are so in love with these rifles. This knife is so much better made than it has any possible need to be in a military bayonet. I have been reading the Ross threads for a while and now I am really starting to want one.
 
It all boils down to what you consider your time is worth....my Rossbayo junquebox ('junk' is under $10- 'junque' is over..) has many otherwise decent MkI's and II's that the blades were ground down to ice-picks- the crossguards were either just brazed or pinned and brazed depending on date, and can be undone and switched. Scales can be switched over, buttons usually interchange easily, but why bother: the supply is drying up fast, but junkers are nearly always available on FleaBay.....BTW- I see that FleaBay has a pilot program in place in Australia requiring ALL payments to go through (FRAUD ALERT)!
 
I guess you're surprised that your provocative title posted in the Milsurp Forum trolled a few in? You now have a "Camp Knife" you like, made up from a junk Ross bayonet - you did a good job on repairing and modifying it, but it really would have been better to have posted in the Knife Forum, where it might be more appreciated.
 
Claven2 said:
You could have welded a bit of steel onto the broken area, fixed it in the mill with a boring bar to re-cut the muzzle ring and then used some CRS stock, again in the mill, the make the button and... and... and...

OK, now I'm getting a bit ridiculous.
Click to expand...

+1, try it it could work nicely.
 
Anything is repairable given enough time, tools and materials. I just passed on a Ross bayo with ground down and buggered blade, the handle, scales and crossguard were still original. Oh well, moot point. All that you can do is the best you can with what you have. If I can't do a decent job with something, I leave it well alone or maybe pass it along to somebody who can do something with it. ;)

Form follows function, you have made a decent camp knife out of it. Fine polish that hollow ground blade, it'll be a razor! It is sure to get remarks and questions from hunters generations from now.

Good job!
 
I considered putting it on the knife section but most people there are not very familiar with bayonets and certainly don't appreciate the Ross like the guys here.

If anyone has a extra handle scale ,one of the bolts for the attachment ,the spring latch hardware and the mark 1 bayonet lug(preferably cut as close to the handle as possible) I will take a shot at restoring her back to milspec.
I may keep my eye out for a mark1 with all the handle pieces I need and a butchered blade.

Nothing I have done would make it any harder to restore than it was when I got it. I probably would have had to cut off the broken ring to weld on a new one anyhow.

I think what I will do is keep going with the camp knife project but refrain from doing anything that would make it harder to bring it back to mil spec.
I had considered chopping off the bottom guard and maybe even bluing it although even if I had not considered going back to milspec I like that it is still quite recognizable as a Ross.

I had always thought the Ross bayonet would make a great camp knife and this summer I will even post a review of how she works out.

I would be willing to bet at least a couple of these bayonets ended up being used as camp knives even after the general issue of the SMLE.
 
It's too bad...at the gun show the other day I handled a Ross bayonet that had been shortened, shortened scabbard, the blade had rust from hell...the guy only wanted like $20 for it but I had no interest whatsoever in owning it...it could have provided the parts to rebuild one good bayo with yours.
 
Just restored a P07 bayonet given to me.
no scales (grips)
No latch
Brown all over (RUST)
No scabbard
Found scabbard, grips and screws from IMA
someone else took pity on me and sent me a spare catch
Sand blast cabinet and buffing wheel for the rest, and a bit of cold blue.
 
That's an interesting point style on the Ross bayonet, I thought they were always like the one above it but you're telling me that was a later modification. I don't know for sure but I heard the bayonets for the M62's that the Finns made were more like a lapp knife sort of similar in shape to the Ross bayonet, and they didn't have much in the way of a crossguard.
 
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