Rarity of 10" uncut Onieda 1943 garand

[bandofM1]

I have heard less than 500 were made in 10" before they dropped production to cut down 16" for the government contract to 10" modified bayonets. These cut downs were all brands ,but marked O.L. for work mods.

[Jakeroub]

That is interesting. Do you have one?

[Tom in N.J.]

Oneida Ltd. M1 bayonets are of the lowest production numbers of any maker. Those dated 1943 are extremly scarce as they stopped dating them soon after production stared. Contract S-5725B of June 1943 called for 15,000. It was terminated in Sept '43. OL M1 bayonets account for only 0.68%of M1 production. See Bayonet Points #24... http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/bayo_points_24.htm

[Det. Jason 714]

Are there any OL M1 bayonets from 1942?

[Mark1]

Yes OL had 1942 dates bayonets

[T38Carbine]

Originally Posted by Det. Jason 714

Are there any OL M1 bayonets from 1942?

Originally Posted by Mark1

Yes OL had 1942 dates bayonets

Sure wish Gary Cunningham was still around!!

IIRC OL was making the 1905 16” bayonets in 1942. M1 production started in 1943, the anomaly came from OL as for a short time they continued dating the new models.

[Tom in N.J.]

Here is a photo of my OL bayonet selection. Top, scrap forging for M1905 blade. Next, OL 1942 dated M1905 (16") bayonet. Next, cut off tip from 16" blade and cut down (M1E1) 10" OL 1942 dated M1 bayonet. Next scrap 'in-process" 10" bayonet blade. Next OL M1 bayonet dated 1943.


https://imgur.com/5jK69RI

[Det. Jason 714]

Thanks for the info, reason I ask was during the great bayonet rush (charge) at CMP when we crashed the estore, I was able to score a OL M1 bayonet, but for the life of me cannot recall if it has a 1943 on it. I'll check tonight at home, $65 with scabbard if I recall correctly.

[TexasDan]

I had picked up an OL 10" M1 with "1943" a few years ago (for $80!). Gary Cunningham had guessed maybe 500 (less than a day's production) were released. As mentioned earlier, OL then went on to make ~15k more 10" M1's without the date for the next few months ... and these are relatively scarce.

Reference this post a few months back:
http://forums.thecmp.org/showthread.php?t=223145

Dan

[TexasDan]

bandofM1,
to be clearerer ... do you have an OL 1943 with original 10" blade, or OL 1943 16" blade cut down to 10" blade?

Dan