Norwegian WW2 M1894 Krag Jorgensen Bayonet, by Kongsberg, Made Under Occupation with Waffenamt Stamp
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, 101,750 made between 1912 and 1926.
A new production run of the M1894s was ordered from Kongsberg during WW2 while Norway was under German occupation, these new bayonets bearing distinctive German Waffenamt stamps. This example is from this production run: its hilt is stamped on one side with a Waffenamt eagle inspection stamp with the code ‘WaA84’.
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. This example remains in its original configuration to fit the Krag Jorgensen rifle.
The blade and hilt have a bright finish. The blade is sharp with visible sharpening marks. The wood grips are free of dents. The scabbard body is roughly finished with grinding marks, perhaps suggesting wartime economies in production.
