A BUCKET of Old BAYONETS!

[Adam Helmer]

Our small town has 3 or 4 nice antique shops. One shop owner called me up yesterday and asked for my "Technical Services." It seems the shopkeeper came across a milk bucket full of old bayonets. He needed them identified so he could label the pedigree on the handtags. He also asked me to describe individual condition and price, per each.

I told him my appraisal fee and he concurred. Today, I saw the most rusted, neglected, sorry-looking bayonets I ever had the sad duty to observe. I would guess only the bayonets laying in "No Man's Land" of the Great War were more affected by the elements!

Apparently, some old farmer was a veteran and collected this bucket-full of bayonets and kept them in the barn or cow shed his entire life. He is dead and the bayonets are "beyond economic repair" per my examination. RUST was everywhere and the locking gizmos were "frozen" on the rear of the handguards of British, French and American WWI bayonets. When the old farmer changed oil in his tractors, he should have poured that old oil into the bucket of blades. He did not, and the blades look like an old hay rake or plow left outdoors in the elements. Proper care takes little time and makes a BIG difference.

Adam

[Gil Martin]

It is a shame to see decent military stuff suffer from neglect. I suspect the shop owner will still be able to sell the bayonets at inflated prices. Thanks for the story. All the best...
Gil

[Adam Helmer]

Gil,

You have a keen head for figuring! The Antique Shop owner BEGAN his pricing scenario at $50.00, per each bayonet, and went up from there!

He did not know what he had, never read a current issue of "Shotgun News" and priced the stuff by his greed libido, I suppose.

Adam

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Things are only worth what someone is willing to pay ...I watch that antique road show and have had a few items as shown on there...they say are worth..big bucks...but ever try to sell?.. now this I have found out..I tend to sell items too cheap and I think that raises an alarm figuring must be something wrong with it.(put high tag on junk items)..a swimming pool once in yard..gave away 'free'..not one bite for a few months....then put up add for same pool...$500 and was gone in a week..just never know what people want I guess...I have had a ton of civil war (original front page 1865 news papers etc), WWII items etc etc..for sale over the past few months and only bites I have had are the scammers that want to send ya big check and have you send the rest of the money for shipping to another addy..yea right...I could not even give away book after book of original WWII newspapers and books etc..wanted to donate....nope...had to rid of them ..original GI handbooks etc..not a bite and not a soul interested here..so off to dump they all went..(just not enough room to keep everything)
off track a tad but again...be surprised what people buy..junk, broken watches at yard sale..gone ..but the working ones..still have..

[Adam Helmer]

skeeter,

I have seen collections of bayonets that were very good to excellent condition and they did bring top dollar. Those mentioned in this post were rusty "boat anchors" at best. My point was that these could have been preserved with a minimum of care.

Adam

[skeeter@ccia.com]

OH I know what you were saying and getting at...like some guns that people just put away...and never clean..my cousin is like that...and I get a chance to pick up some cheap items that way...but I was amazed at the price you said he got for the rusty ones...I was just saying people seem to pay more for rusty things that don't work...than they do for workable items..well anyhow that is what I ran into when set up at flea mkts a time or two..they are still nice items to have around...even rusted.

[Jack]

I wonder. . . .
I bet if I walk into the antique shop in question in the near future, I'm gonna see a display of genuine, dug up from the Verdun battlefield bayonets. At a very high price.

[Adam Helmer]

Jack,

You make a fine point on those "Original Verdun Bayonets."

A few years ago I saw a yard sale 6.5mm Italian rifle with the forend cut down to what some called "sporterized" configuration. The bore was a little dark with strong rifling. The seller told me it was an "Alpina Stalking Rifle" highly regarded in Europe. I paid $15.00 for the gun and it shoots surprisingly well. It is now my official rainy day arm here in PA.

Adam

[Jack]

"Alpina Stalking Rifle"!
Gotta love the marketing!

[Adam Helmer]

Jack,

LOL! Ya gotta love Madison Avenue when it comes to advertising verbage. I NEVER forgot that "Alpina Stalking Rifle" BS until I was presented with an "Alpina Stalking 6.5mm Italian folding bayonet Carbine," which I bought for $8.00. It put ALL bullets KEYHOLED in a 25-yard pistol target at 25 yards. Well, at least the PARTS exceed my $8.00 investment in that "ALPINA" cult armament. I STILL had a convenient FOLDING bayonet, in case of need. LOL.

Adam

[GoodOlBoy]

A shame about the bayonets, a real shame.

I ran across a sporterized German Mauser a few years back at a shop. The shopkeeper claimed it had been stolen and sporterized by a German Officer who quit when the Nazi's took over and used the sporterized gun to feed his family in the congo. . . . . The stock was black synthetic. Didn't know you could get vintage synthetics like that, musta been a german secret invention he stole. It did have a nice set of leaf folding sights on it, but the sights weren't worth the $350 he was trying to sucker me out of. . . .

Some people

GoodOlBoy

[skeeter@ccia.com]

I STILL had a convenient FOLDING bayonet, in case of need. LOL


Adam, I actually could of used that bayonet this year when I got my very last deer a few days before end of Pa. deer season is Allegheny Co. (last week) I found one that was tucked up in some thick briers like a bunny and the only way out was right past me...low and behold, it decided to leave and I stuck the end of the barrel from the hip right in its side on the way past me...a bayonet would of worked also...I did feel bad though because of how scared it was. I am sure glad it was not in bear country..whew.