Five variations of the Gen 4 Pat Pending M9

[Misfit-45]

Hi Folks,
This is my first post on this forum. Just need to see if anyone is watching.
There are five variations of the Gen 4 Phrobis M9 bayonet that I have identified. If anyone is interested, I'll give pictures and descriptions. Thanks
Marv

[porterkids]

Hi Marv,

I've seen you on other forums, welcome to Quarterbore, THE place for M9 collectors. Of course people are watching and we'd love to see what you have. SignalSoldier, another member of this forum and a prolific M9 seller, has also identified several variations. Have you seen his classifications?

[SignalSoldier]

The Phrobis variations are most obvious in Gen 4's. Most variations are font alignment; however, someone along the line mistakingly used Zero and Alpha letter O in the spelling of Phrobis on the ricasso. The zero is flat sided. The O is round. Interesting oversight.

Marv is a real detail kind of guy...a skill that a good collector must have in his arsenal of professional tools.

Semper Fi,
SignalSoldier

[Carlo]

So Marv,

[Misfit-45]

It's great to be here folks.
Maybe most of you already know of the M9 Pat Pending variations. The book American Gladius started the Gen 1-4 idea, but when the author discovered another font variation in the Pat Pending (gen 4) M9, he called it gen 5. That was not a good idea since the previous generations were in chronological order. The Pat Pending, gen 4 variations have not been categorized as to which variation came first. Who would know at this point in time which should be gen 5,6,7,8 etc.? We as collectors needed a method for identifying the differences.
The method (as far as I know, sorry if I'm wrong) comes from NumberOneGi, Howard. It involves the alignment of the letters in PHROBIS, and the letters in USA, (or in one case U in USA lines up with the T in PAT.) The second identifying feature is the type font of the "O" in "PHROBIS. There is a "flat-sided O", and an "OVAL O". The third identifying feature is whether the USA is a wide font or narrow font.

So, here it goes.

This is the U/T variation where the U and T line up and it has a flat side O and wide USA. The notation is, U/T, flat side O, wide USA



The second variation is a I/A, Oval O, Narrow font USA



The third variation is B/S, oval O with wide USA. With this variation, it looks like the U and T are also lined up. Unlike the UT variation above, this variation has the B and S lined up. I suppose you could call it U/T,B/S, oval O, with wide USA.



The fourth variation is the B/S, oval O, Narrow font USA



The fifth variation is B/S, flat side O, wide font USA



The method is not perfect, but it's effective.

Hope that helps in identifying the Gen 4 M9s. Note, I have not found a U/T with an Oval O.

Marv

[porterkids]

Thanks for the photos Marv. For the record, American Gladius didn't start or develop anything. The author of that book took most of his information from this website and whatever else he could gleen from the Internet. The book lacks important information and photos even though the author was offered assistance. Other things are flat out incorrect. What could have been a great book turned out, in my opinion, to be a major disappointment. Unless you collect P38 can openers.