M9 bayonet LanCay 1994 (app. 1000 units)

[Mister Moon]

... There is of it some weeks, a salesman on ebay allowed us to see an important quantity of M9. This big collection having for origin Mr Homer M. BRETT in here is an interesting example:





http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2544/rarelancay635dollarspar.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/rarelancay635dollarspar.jpg/)


http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2544/rarelancay635dollarspar.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/rarelancay635dollarspar.jpg/)


http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/2544/rarelancay635dollarspar.jpg (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/rarelancay635dollarspar.jpg/)

[Mister Moon]

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7804/rarelancay635004.jpg (http://img25.imageshack.us/i/rarelancay635004.jpg/)http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/rarelancay635004.jpg/1/w1282.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img25/rarelancay635004.jpg/1/)

[Carlo]

Very nice!
Fabrizio, while your pictures are really beautiful, they are also too big.
Can you try to resize them a little?
I found that a resolution of 640*480 or 800*600 is fine and not too heavy to load.
Here is a small "guide" I did for Lee, some time back
http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2005

[Mister Moon]

TY Carlo .... It's true ! i see all big ! as for the US country :grin:


VIVE les U.S.A !

[rexmeyer]

I have one of those too. If I was ever able to use a digital camera I would put mine here.. Carlo were you able to get one of the black blade first contract blades yet?

[Carlo]

Hi Rex!
No, I don't have the model shown by Fabrizio (grey blade-last shipment of the first contract) nor the bayonet you are referring to (first contract blade with black finish-approx. 200 made during the 2nd contract).
Just note that there are already pictures of your LanCays here
http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1537

[rexmeyer]

Thanks Carlo I forgot about those pictures I took...I got both of those for under 150.00 each at the time..

[Carlo]

...I got both of those for under 150.00 each at the time..
I suspected this!
I can't believe how many rare pieces you found for an incredible low price ..... :eek:

[Carlo]

Hi!
I think I was lucky. I spotted an auction few weeks ago from Howard (numberonegi) with a buy it now price of $145.
Got the bayonet today.
It is, in my opinion, one of the 1000 or so (1.090) M9s used for the very last part of the first contract.
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8730/86047920.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/217/86047920.jpg/)

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6628/31478173.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/31478173.jpg/)

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/1431/53044076.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/543/53044076.jpg/)

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5140/62769143.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/3/62769143.jpg/)

All the examples I saw before had a 94 scabbard with stone (like the one from Mister Moon).
Fred (pwcosol) confirmed me he has examples with a 95 scabbard.
Does anybody know when did exactly LanCay remove the stone from the scabbard?
According to this website these bayonets were shipped on 4/21/95, so a 95 marked Fastex IS possible, in my opinion.

[pwcosol]

Somewhere I read the number of this variant produced to fulfill the quota was 1060. I have two examples, and both came from Howard as well. One has the "embellished" USMC scabbard like Carlo posted. Regarding LanCay, last I heard their material was sold off, and the industrial tooling remains to be liquidated. One wonders what will become of the LanCay factory bayonet collection. Perhaps it will be retained & ultimately auctioned off by the heirs (if it hasn't been sold already)...

[Carlo]

Fred,
I looked around on my pc as I remember I had something written from Brett.
Found this letter:
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/707/lm9f.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/lm9f.jpg/)

He said 1.075 bayonet made, of wich 1.064 delivered, so it is probably what you were referring to.
Me and Fred were discussing about the opportunity to tell Howard to not have all his M9s "custom marked".
While I can tell you that the USMC engraving is really well done, it should not be used on scarce variants.

[pwcosol]

Carlo:
Thanks for posting the Brett letter. If this variant is anything like the others, such as the GenCut blades, shallow fullers, etc. then I bet there were more than 1075 made. Although 1064 went to the Army, some small number of overruns, or possible rejects, may have been assembled and sold on the commercial market. But, I do not think the number would have been large enough to diminish the scarcity of this pattern.

[ColinG]

Sir,

I believe the letter does not quite explain the numbers. I have a Brett letter I received with my last of the first contract delivery 1994 LanCay bayonet that is 3 pages long in which he somewhat summarizes the history of the LanCay bayonet up to shipment of the last of the first contact. I believe that he is saying that exactly 1074 bayonets were sent as the last shipment of the first contact and out of those 1074, exactly 1064 were of the kind that Carlo purchased. The other 10 apparently being of the traditional first contract variation.
CG

[Carlo]

A word of caution about a bright LanCay blade (no scabbard or grip) which is on sale on ebay at the moment.
It is NOT one the blades discussed on this topic, but rather a standard first contract blade with the "step" before the saw teeth removed.
Just remember to look at the "space" between the crossguard and the saw: in the product improved blades is much longer than in the standard first contract model.