LANCAY M9 question

[holmes]

just looking at various other pics on here i was wondering why the blade on my M9 is straight behind the serated edge on the back of the blade but all others are tapered,is mine a cheap knock off or something?

[porterkids]

Your Lan-Cay M9 may seem cheap but it's not a knock off. Only the first contract bayonets manufactured by LanCay had the notch in the back edge of the blade in front of the muzzle ring. The last 1000 or so first contract blades went out with the revised blade, and all second contract and later blades were made without he notched back edge.
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[Quarterbore]

It is interesting that they engraved the blade wrong however... Nice knife and Bill is the expert...

[holmes]

thanks for the info,as a side note i never noticed the engraving being off till mentioned

[Carlo]

Bill,
could I assume that this LanCay I have (see the attached image) is from the last part of the FIRST contract?

[porterkids]

No, that is an early second contract bayonet. All first contract bayonets had a bright (vs. black oxide) finish. LanCay changed their name to Lan-Cay right around the time they received the second M9 contract. They started the second contract run with the die they had and then switched over to the hyphenated marking when the new die was made.
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[Quarterbore]

Correct me if I am wrong but another hint to your LanCay being second contract is the lack of the step behind the saw teeth. I understand that this makes your M9 one of the "Product Improved" type... right Bill?

Here is a picture of my 1st Contract:


http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=31

[porterkids]

Yes and no. All second contract (and later) blades lack the notch, but all blades lacking the notch are not necessarily second contract blades. The PI bayonets were being introduced right at the transition between the first and second contract. LanCay didn't have enough blades with the notch to finish the first contract run, and they were allowed to use the blades without the notch to finish out the contract. If my memory serves me correctly, there were 1060 or 1090 of the second contract style blades used to finish out the first contract. These can be recognized by the LanCay marking on the blade and the bight finish. All Lan-Cay military contract bayonets from the second contract on have black oxide blades. The key word here is military contract. Lan-Cay did/does make PI and later variation bayonets with bright blades but they are not military contract pieces.
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[Carlo]

thanks for the kind answers :)