Finnish Bayonets and How to Identify Them
Posted: 07/06/17 (13:06pm)A while back I wrote a very brief blog about a Finnish M27 bayonet which then turned out to be an M28 bayonet. A helpful reader of that blog has since contacted me to give me more information on these and other early Finnish bayonets. I thought that instead of adding a few details to the already written blog, I would write a new one and include all the information that Kurt Hulse shared with me.
The Finnish M27 was made exclusively by Fiskars. The highest observed serial number for an original M27 is 33,628. The serial numbering started at 20,000 but just because a serial is between 20,000-33,628 it does not necessarily mean the bayonet is still in M27 configuration as soon after going into production the M27 was modified and re-designated as the M29. An original M27 is very rare.
The only way to tell if an M27 is still in its original configuration is either by x-ray or by removing the hilt scales. The M27 was modified by adding a steel plate to the inside of the hilt and you can see the welds of the plate on x-ray. The added plate and welding on the M29 can be seen on the photograph below.
Photograph courtesy of Kurt Hulse.
Both Fiskars and Hackman made the M29 bayonet. They are very similar to each other but the Hackman M29 has an additional internal weld near the pommel that Fiskars does not. The other difference is the Hackman blade at the cross guard is angular and wider whereas Fiskars is not as wide and curves slightly outwards at the cross guard. This can be seen in the photograph above.
The M28 was a Civil Guard Bayonet and is similar to the M29 but there are differences. The biggest is that the M28 was dipped in blueing from the pommel to the ricasso. As a result of this one can often see a brown stripe on the M28 blade. M28 bayonets also have a Civil Guard inspector mark on the cross guard.
All Finnish Sword or Austrian Style Bayonets blades are in the white except for the M35 Army bayonet made by both Fiskars and Hackman. The entire M35 bayonet was blued.
M27, M28, M29, and early M28-30 do not have oil holes.
Later M28-30, M28-30-35, and M35 have an oil hole.
The M28-30 was made by Hackman. M28-30-35 bayonets were made by Hackman and Fiskars. All M28-30 and M28-30-35 have "Sk.Y" marked on the ricasso designating them as Civil Guard bayonets. They are all hilted with beautiful burl wood grip scales. The difference between the M28-30 and M28-30-35 is in the refined spear point and more defined edge of the M28-30-35 blade.
So there you have it, a description of the difference between the similar in appearance early Finnish bayonets. I hope you find it interesting and helpful.
