Norwegian M1894 Krag Jorgensen Bayonet by Kongsberg, Matching Numbers
Unfullered spear-pointed blade, wood slab grips secured by a single screw, steel one-piece hilt, backstrap and pommel with integral sprung locking mechanism in the hilt, that both locks the bayonet to its scabbard and locks it onto a rifle. Steel scabbard with projecting hook on the throat piece to engage with the locking mechanism. Blade 8¼ inches in length, the bayonet 13 inches overall.
The blade is stamped at the ricasso with a crowned ‘K’, the maker’s mark of the Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (Kongsberg Weapons Factory) in Norway. Most M1894 bayonets were produced there, their production totalling 101,750 between 1912 and 1926.
A new production run was ordered from Kongsberg during WW2 while Norway was under German occupation, but these have a different maker’s mark and distinctive Waffenamt stamps. A depot fire in 1941 destroyed 4,693 M1894 and M1916 bayonets, and 31,000 M1894s were converted to fit the M1 Carbine in 1956-57.
The hilt is stamped with the serial number ‘42847’. This number is also stamped on the throat piece of the scabbard, indicating an original pair. The body of the scabbard is also stamped with ‘847’ – this may have been matching too and the initial digits were omitted or have been lost. The ricasso on the edge side is stamped with a crown mark.
The blade and hilt have a bright finish. The blade is sharp with visible sharpening marks – some tiny nicks to the edge, which have been mostly sharpened out. The wood grips have a few small dents and chips. A few small, very shallow dents to the scabbard body, which has some small areas of black paint remaining.
