Original Item: Only One Available. At the start of WWI the British adopted the P-1914 Enfield rifle, which was made in the United States in .303 caliber, together with its sword bayonet designated by the British as the P-1913. Once the Americans joined the war in 1917 it was found that there was a great shortage of bayonets for their .30-06 Enfield rifle, known as the M1917. The rifle was identical to the P1914, except chambered for the U.S. .30-06 cartridge.

This resulted in the War Department in Washington helping themselves to British marked P-13 bayonets awaiting shipment to Europe. These seized bayonets were then "sanitized", had the British marking X-ed out and U.S. marking super imposed in their place.

Here is such an example, made by REMINGTON ARMS CO, still showing P-1913 and the manufacture date of 7 17 with the British acceptance marked crossed out and then surcharged U.S.. This rare bayonet comes in its Original steel mounted green leather M1917 scabbard, complete with hooks to attach to the U.S. Army waist belt.

The bayonet overall has a nice worn finish, but no signs of post arsenal sharpening, and still has the original blued ricasso. The pommel is nice, with nice bluing and grip scales showing light wear. The scabbard is also in very good shape, though most of the OD green paint on the body has worn off. Typically these would get repainted OD green over the entire scabbard at arsenal, but this scabbard excaped that treatment.

A great example of a U.S. WWI Bayonet, "acquired" from the British. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 17"
Blade Style: Single Edge with Fuller
Overall length: 21 3/4"
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 18"

The M1917 bayonet was used first during World War I by American soldiers on the Western Front. A sword bayonet design, the M1917 bayonet design was based on the British P1907 bayonet, which incorporated a long 17-inch blade. While designed primarily for the M1917 rifle the bayonet was fitted for use on all the "trench" shotguns at the time.

The M1917 was used frequently during the several different Banana Wars.

The U.S. continued to use the Word War I-made M1917 bayonets during World War II because of the large stockpiles left over. The new Trench Guns being procured and issued were still designed to use the old M1917 bayonet.

The bayonet was again called on during the Korean War for issue with the various Trench guns still in service.