Black Austrailian issue Buck M9 Bayonet?

[Quarterbore]

I see this on auction:

Buck Military M9 Bayonet Knife Australian British Issue

This is a scarce Buck M-9 Bayonet knife that was made for either the British or Australian Army. The blued steel blade is marked "Buck 188 USA" and has the "broad arrow" mark. The blade shows some in-and-out of the scabbard wear but otherwise looks unused. The scabbard is complete with the sharpening stone and looks brand new. A great example of this scarce bayonet/fighting knife. Check my other auctions for more vintage knives. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this auction.

This is the first Black Austrailian M9 I have seen... I also notice that the sheath is missing the Austrailian markings...

Anybody have an oppinion if this knife is refinished or what the story may be?

[porterkids]

I bought mine many years ago at a show in Pikesville, MD. It was in a white Buck commercial M9 box and in a standard Buck commercial scabbard. Joe Houser at Buck Knives told me that they had some contract over run blades that they sold as commercial bayonets. A few years after that I was able to pair it up with a brand new Australian marked scabbard that a former Buck employee had and was willing to sell.

The bayonet pictured looks right to me. Too bad someone had to try out the wire cutter.
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A95

[Carlo]

Originally Posted by porterkids

I bought mine many years ago at a show in Pikesville, MD. It was in a white Buck commercial M9 box and in a standard Buck commercial scabbard. Joe Houser at Buck Knives told me that they had some contract over run blades that they sold as commercial bayonets. A few years after that I was able to pair it up with a brand new Australian marked scabbard that a former Buck employee had and was willing to sell.

The bayonet pictured looks right to me. Too bad someone had to try out the wire cutter.

after some digging around, I found this old topic here in the www.bladeforums.com website

"05-29-2000, 02:50 AM
porterkids
Registered User Join Date: .........
Posts: ...........

Australian M9 Bayonet

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Several years ago I purchased a Buck M9 bayonet with the blade marked BUCK / 188 / USA along with a "broad arrow" mark alongside the 188. There was no date code on the blade, which has a black oxide finish. When I purchased this bayonet it was in a white commercial box. I assumed it was an overrun blade that ended up being sold on the commercial market.

I have been in contact with a collector in Australia who informs me that he has Buck M9 bayonets that came from a military source there. He claims that they have a bright blade and this is how all of the Australian bayonets are.

How were the Australian bayonets finished? If they were bright, what is the dark bladed, broad arrow marked piece that I have?


porterkids
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#2 05-30-2000, 11:46 PM
Joe Houser
Moderator Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: El Cajon, Ca. U.S.A.
Posts: 1,641

Hello,
I did some digging around and thought i had the answer. It looks as though we actually had some 900 overruns on the australian bayonet and they ended up as civilian models. I could not tell for sure, after reading the AUS. contract, what the blade finish was. I know that there are some black oxided versions out there but i do not know if they were the overruns. I have seen some with a bead blast finish as well.
I need to do some more digging.



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Joe Houser
Director of Quality, Buck Knives Inc.
Buck Collectors club Administrator"

I have to admit that it is still not clear to me if the black oxide version was ever ufficialy adopted by the Australian Army

[porterkids]

In Homer Brett's Military Knives and Bayonets he shows both the bright and black oxide bayonets and indicates that they were both used by the Australian Army.
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K1200S

[Quarterbore]

With your help... why don't we make a Aussy M9 Bayonet page for M9Bayonet.com?

I will start it with what I have or know...

I have sent an E-mail to the seller of the knife above asking if I can use their images on the website.

[1feral1]

Greetings from yet another hot humid day here in the Brisbane area of Queensland, Australia.

After serving almost 11 yrs in the Australian Army, the only M9 Bucks I have seen are the standard stainless types so marked like in the picture, but NOT black/phosphated etc.

I have seen hundreds upon hundreds, and yet again, upon hundreds of them, as I was involved in an M9 bayonet rebuild programme in 1995.

However as I have said in a past post, late pattern LAN-CAY black blades do exist on LAN CAY bayonets and scabbards which have since been purchased to increase numbers of the M9 in service.

With these black ADF Buck marked blades, I tend to believe they are some after market over runs for the civvy market, or some kind of prototypes, but I doubt this (no scabbard with the broad arrow? - thats why I would go for the contract over run theory), as I, nor anyone else I have spoke to ever seen a Buck black blade in service period!

About bead blasted Aussie blades in service. This was part of the rebuild process, and on many I did personally. It got rid of any knicks and blemishes from their service life, and it gave them a new look without damaging anything.

Cold beers,

Wes (AKA 1feral1)

EDIT: I can contribute to the Aussie M9 page (if this is made up) with what I have, including different web retaining straps on rebuilds (locally made at a Defence rebuild facility) on the Buck model (I have a few pics), plus some LAN-CAY pics too.