68 - Three bayonets: Switzerland M1918 Elsener Schwyz, France Gras M1874 from Steyr 1879, Japan Type 30

Three bayonets: Switzerland M1918 Elsener Schwyz, France Gras M1874 from Steyr 1879, Japan Type 30 Steel, wood and leather, three bayonets with scabbards. 1) Swiss dagger bayonet model 1918: fullered blade, at the ricasso “ELSENER SCHWYZ”, crossguard with muzzle ring and number “979328”, wooden grip scales with two rivets, pommel with press button, black scabbard with brown leather frog, embossed “E. FELDER SATTLEREI WILLISAU” and “64”, L. 45 cm, blade length 30 cm. 2) French épée bayonet model 1874 Gras: T-back blade, blade spine engraved “Usine de Steyr 1879”, crossguard with forward-curved hook and number “RT 31334”, wooden grip with two rivets, brass-coloured grip piece with pommel and press button, steel scabbard with number “37615” on the throat, L. 66 cm, blade length 52 cm. 3) Japanese bayonet Type 30: fullered blade, at the ricasso the mark of three overlapping circles with a small stamp below, crossguard with hook and muzzle ring, black-finished grip with rivet, steel scabbard, L. 52.5 cm, blade length 39.5 cm. Different states of preservation. Please inspect. The Swiss dagger bayonet model 1918 with 30 cm blade belongs to the Karabiner 31; the number on the crossguard was struck by the arsenal according to the rifle number. The maker Elsener in Schwyz is the cutlery workshop founded by Karl Elsener in 1884, which has been called Victorinox since 1921 and still supplies the bayonets of the Swiss Army today. The French épée bayonet model 1874 belongs to the Gras rifle, the metallic cartridge version of the Chassepot introduced in 1874; the spine inscription “Usine de Steyr” with year identifies the pieces made in Steyr, whose numbers are struck on crossguard and scabbard. The Japanese bayonet Type 30 was made in the arsenals of Kokura, Tokyo and Nagoya as well as by contract firms; the cannonball mark stands for the Tokyo arsenal before 1936 and for Kokura thereafter, and the hooked crossguard characterises production before 1942.