Friday, July 13, 2007

Boomsticks: Toadstickers.

So there's this guy who sets up at our local gun shows. He always has cool militaria. The good stuff is spread on the table: Long Garand bayonets, a Patton sword, US & German WWII flotsam and jetsam. That's not why I patronize his table, though. I'm there for the three 5-gallon buckets of old bayonets he keeps behind his table, all fairly reasonably priced. Every show, no matter how odd the gun I'd just acquired and needed a toadsticker for, he'd always come through for me:

"Got a reasonably priced WWI German Gewehr 98 bayonet?"

"Arisaka bayonet. WWII vintage. Got one?"

"Do you have a cheap Garand bayonet I can use to cover up the lug until I can afford a good one?"

"How're you fixed for Argentine Mauser bayonets?"

"Bayonet. Azerbaijani M1887 Mauser. How much?"


Okay, I just made that last one up. Still, he was batting 1.000 until this most recent show when I asked "Do you have any bayonets for a Brazilian 1908/34 Mauser?"

*Rummage* *Rummage* *Dig*

"Nope. Not here; I'll bring one next show."

I was floored. Anyhow, I did some digging around on the intarw3bz to get an idea of what I'd be looking at, price-wise. (Don't worry, I'm not going to cheat on him. He said he'd bring one; I'll buy it from him.) While surfing, I came to the site that is the point of this post. ("Point". Ha, ha. Get it? I kill me...)


"ebayonet". That is just too clever for words. Wish I'd thought of it...

11 comments:

Carteach said...

Pricey, but nice to find them all in one place.

Tracy said...

Ah, the '08/34. One of my favorite '98s. As common as the rifles were a few years ago, I would've thought bayonets for them would be equally common. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have one.

Tracy said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the /34 is the short rifle, in 7mm, produced by Brno, right? I used to have one; wish I still did. And the original '08 is the long rifle built by DWM, also in 7. I almost hate to admit this, but I have a Bubba'd one of those, with the barrel shortened to 24", that I have killed more deer with than any other rifle. A handloaded 154 grain Hornandy from that rifle drops 'em like somebody pulled the rug out from under them.

Tracy said...

Make that Hornady.

Anonymous said...

Sigh.

$550. for an original long M1 bayonet and scabbard.

I need one so badly for my April '43 Garand, yet I'm so cheap I won't spend the kind of money they bring. Lowest I've seen around here is 150 or so.
Short bayos on a Garand are just so wimpy.

Bastages.

Regards,
Rabbit.

Tam said...

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the /34 is the short rifle, in 7mm, produced by Brno, right?"

The 1908/34 is the one that looks like your generic 98k, but is Brazilian-made at Itajuba and chambered in .30-'06.

MMmmmmm... 98k Mauser in .30-'06. The best rifle chambered for the best cartridge. Could there be anything sweeter?

Anonymous said...

Ugh.

I have to pick up a bayo for a Martini, a Snider Enfield, a half dozen Lee Enfields, including a No1Mk1..

Why, oh why did you have to remind me?

Anonymous said...

Not sure about better, but just as good.

'98 mauser rechambered in .308 by Steyr. Cost $100 (admittedly that was 10 years ago).

Tracy said...

You're right, the grand '06 in a '98k is very nearly a perfect rifle; but I join the late Finn Aagard and W.D.M Bell in my admiration of the 7x57.

I guess it was the original 1908 Brazilian that was made by both Brno and DWM. They are both incredibly high-quality rifles.
Also, I have always read that 7x57 military Mausers require heavier bullets for best stabilization and hence accuracy; but then I read later that Brazil used 139 grain bullets in their military ammo, so that caveat probably doesn't apply to the '08.
I don't mean to hijack your thread, Tam; but it reminded me of one of my alltime favorite rifles.

Tam said...

Oh, I loves me some 7x57, I just loves it best served up in handy little engineer's carbines and the like. :)

Gewehr98 said...

Damnit. Another place to leak money towards.

Lessee. I need pigstickers for:

Model 1911 Schmidt-Rubin Infantry Rifle

Model 1896 Dutch Mannlicher Cavalry Carbine

NoIMkIII* Short Magazine Lee Enfield

No5Mk1 Lee-Enfield Jungle Carbine

I see he's got the NoIMkIII bayonets, and also one for my BM-59. Hopefully he's got the others.