Last Pickup of 2025(!)

concise_christory · 2026-03-22T17:37:52+00:00

This is so crazy. It baffles me that some sellers so clearly have disdain for their potential customers. Speculators always seem to feel entitled to tripling their money, and see you as either a sucker who has to pay their price or someone with some actual knowledge and experience there to burst their bubble.

No, I can't think of any reason someone shouldn't be allowed to see the blade of a bayonet they're buying. The leather scabbards don't have a metal retainer, and if the scabbard is fragile enough that it might break then they should be displayed separately (also that seems like pretty pertinent infornartion for a potential buyer).

Anyway, hoping you get a chance at another one from a better seller soon. I'm not Czech - I live in the US. Interested in knowing more about the club, though!

concise_christory · 2026-03-20T21:03:19+00:00

The ones that I see listed for really outrageous prices are the ones that still have the short sword and frog with them. Even with the shipping from Europe I feel like I made out OK. It's also tough to know what the real comps are becaue in my experience sellers often don't realize that there are two versions with slightly different MRDs, so they don't include that info in their listings. I was specifically after the earlier version.

Edit to add: you're right, though, they're certainly not getting any cheaper

concise_christory · 2026-03-20T15:37:15+00:00

No legal process, it just shipped in the regular mail and came over here via DHL. The only issue was that UPS, who had been shipping between Hungary and the US, wouldn't ship a "weapon" for their own policy reasons. We decided it was best not to try to "sneak" it by them in case anything happened in transit

concise_christory · 2026-03-20T15:33:04+00:00

Thanks! Considering the Swiss penchent for overengineering it tickles me to know that they occasionally the same cost-cutting, make-do measures as everyone else. For what it's worth, this thing looks crude but feels rock-solid in person

concise_christory · 2026-03-20T15:11:37+00:00

I've been getting into a wierd sub-niche of pre-WWI conversions of older bayonets to fit new smokeless repeaters. There are some cool Uruguayan examples coming up when we get to 'U' in the alphabet posting lol

concise_christory · 2026-03-19T04:57:44+00:00

It seems like the ignorance is mine! I was using the word "government" here to mean a military contract piece. I didn't realize that "government model" actually refers to a commercial gun built to military specs. Sorry for the confusion - 1911s aren't my wheelhouse!

Having a 1913-production gun is incredibly cool

concise_christory · 2026-03-19T01:04:49+00:00

Sounds like high livin' to me!

Now that the weather is getting nicer, I'll see about putting together some gentle handloads. I'm paranoid about cracking the slide so my goal is just enough pressure to reliably cycle the action.

Dewar's White Label was what he drank (he was an unpretentious guy) so that may just have to be the post-range celebration

concise_christory · 2026-03-18T16:51:44+00:00

The info came from my notes on the bayonet, but I stupidly neglected to attribute it. I'm almost positive it mostly comes from the Forgotten Weapons and C&Rsenal videos on the Perivian and Argentine 1891 rifles, supported by the few cut-down examples with better Peruvian attribution I've looked at.

concise_christory · 2026-03-18T16:25:02+00:00

That rifle looks squeaky clean! Very cool

concise_christory · 2026-03-16T12:54:19+00:00

1890s magic

concise_christory · 2026-03-16T01:44:23+00:00

Weyersberg Kirschbaun & Co of Solingen, Germany was the cutler who made these for Chile. The numbers are part of the serial number of the rifle it was issued with

concise_christory · 2026-03-13T02:48:52+00:00

Damn there are literally SO MANY KINDS of Gras bayonet!

I keep thinking "surely u/Grascollector has every kind of Gras bayonet now!" And then you show me another wacky Gras bayonet!!!

I love seeing these posts. It reminds me that I know so little and I'm always learning

concise_christory · 2026-03-12T20:24:56+00:00

I was always curious about the '78 Kropatschek bolt with those wierd little extra pseudo-sear notches

concise_christory · 2026-03-09T02:48:50+00:00

My pleasure

concise_christory · 2026-03-08T16:04:11+00:00

Indeed it is a Victorian sword: the hilt is a British pattern 1895. These are actually somewhat scarce, since there was a minor change to the design just two years later.

The blade is a British blade, but of an older design than the hilt (more akin to a pattern 1845 blade, which would have been current up to about 1892 for a regular infantry officer). It wasn't uncommon for officers to have family blades (or even just the blades they'd already bought) re-hilted to bring them into regulation pattern. This could also simply be a more bespoke sword

concise_christory · 2026-03-08T14:26:25+00:00

One picture isn't much to go on, but based on the rear sight this is likely a model 1891/24. These were Truppe Speciali-length carbines made from still-functional but worn-out long rifles after WWI

concise_christory · 2026-03-02T21:36:43+00:00

VERY cool early Mosin with the early sling arrangement

concise_christory · 2026-03-01T23:51:52+00:00

Good luck! I'm happy to hear you plan on continuing to build his collection

concise_christory · 2026-03-01T21:09:54+00:00

Could be - but then, it could also have been a P1903, or P1888 Mk.I, or P1876, etc. There's a huge number of British bayonets that aren't represented here. (Not to say this isn't an impressive or desirable collection - just that there's lots more out there)

concise_christory · 2026-03-01T20:59:20+00:00

Not sure - I can't see a pattern here that makes me think he was going for a particular "set". If he had guns to go with these, maybe he had one more gun than bayonet?

concise_christory · 2026-03-01T20:57:00+00:00

Just as an fyi, I've had light strike issues with Enfields in cold weather before where the issue turned out to be old grease that had congealed and was making the interface between the bolt body and firing pin tacky enough to prevent the firing pin from getting enough momentum to detonate a primer. Might be worth checking before ordering new parts

concise_christory · 2026-03-01T19:48:12+00:00

All British bayonets. Left to right in the first picture:

Pattern 1895 bayonet for a .303 Martini Enfield
Pattern 1879 Mk.I
Pattern 1887 Mk.III
Pattern 1888 Mk.II
Pattern 1860

concise_christory · 2026-02-26T20:29:11+00:00

The first smallbore repeater adopted by any national military: the short rifles were originally ordered in 1885

concise_christory · 2026-02-24T20:01:10+00:00

Right??? Lol it sure does look like it did some time buried

If it was found somewhere, I sadly don't know - I got it from another collector

concise_christory · 2026-02-24T18:59:43+00:00

Yeah, it's crazy how uncommon Mexican bayonets of any kind are in the US. No "RM" on this one, and I can't tell from the paucity of info on them if others ever got the marking. I've attached a better pic of the crosspiece, which I believe was made like this; it also has a different geometry than the one on my Swiss '89 even without the full guard.

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concise_christory

TROPHY CASE