Original un-modified WW1 German S98/05 "Butcher's Blade" bayonet.
The S98/05 bayonet was typical of German bayonets of the period in that it only had a vestigial muzzle ring, often referred to as "high ears". The bayonet relied on the length of its hilt mounting to fix the blade to its rifle. At the beginning of WWI, it was found that the S98/05 had a problem when used with the Karabiner 98 rifle. The shorter barrel on this rifle caused burning and damage to the grips because the barrel finished before the vestigial muzzle ring. In 1915, it was decided to fit a steel flash guard to the back of the hilt to protect the grips.
The bayonet was further modified by grinding off most of the vestigial muzzle ring (high ears) and reducing the back of the tang.
To distinguish between newly made bayonets with the flash guard and almost no muzzle ring (short ears), newly produced S98/05 were designated S98/05nA (for neuer Art - new type) while the addition of the letters "aA" (alter Art- old type) designated an original bayonet that had been modified.
The changeover between the aA and the nA patterns led to bayonets that were neither one version nor the other, these are known as transitional pattern bayonets. This means that you can find high eared aA bayonets with flash guards, and short eared nA without. The length of the ears on the vestigial muzzle ring, along with the date stamp on the spine are used to identify the base model. Transitional S98/05 bayonets are rare.
Rarer still are un-altered first pattern S98/05 bayonets like this one. This original S98/05 was made in 1915 by Alex Coppel, Solingen. The bayonet has high ears and no flash guard.
The 36.5 cm single edged blade has a wide, single fuller, which meets the flat spine. The blade which is 26mm wide at the ricasso flares to a width of 32mm before tapering to a point earning it its nickname the "Butcher's Blade" because of its similarity to such knives.
The blade is marked on the ricasso with the maker's name "Alex Coppel, Solingen." The spine carries the Royal Cypher of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Prussia above the date stamp for 1915 and a crowned acceptance stamp. The blade has mild age related tarnish and minor pitting.
The steel of the hilt bears several waffenampt, the screws that hold the wooden scales in place are stamped and the pommel bears two inspection/acceptance stamps. The wooden scales are in excellent condition.
The steel scabbard is of the Ersatz type and is in fine condition with much of its original feld grau paint. It is likely that the scabbard is original to the bayonet despite being of the Ersatz variety as both are of the same production period. These early Ersatz scabbards were actually more expensive to produce than the later, plain steel scabbard as they were tooled to resemble the leather scabbards that had just been phased out.
This is a very nice example of a rare and collectable S98/05 bayonet
