Rare LanCay ?

[Mister Moon]

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[Mister Moon]

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[Mister Moon]

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[SignalSoldier]

Hello CG,
There were only twelve 2003 M9's found in inventory when the search was done for me. I have all twelve.

All 12 are shallow fuller, dated 2003 and have smooth surface where "saw teeth" would normally be.

The deep fuller M9 recently on Ebay was outside my humble network. I do not know where it came from. I am not familiar with the seller handle.


Respectfully,
SignalSoldier

[pwcosol]

From my understanding, throughout LanCay's production history, small numbers of bayonets (or rather unassembled blades) were stored/misplaced/rediscovered in their facility. Most of these likely failed to meet Milspec for one reason or another. Over time, with the Army allowing simplifications in the design and accepting some minor deviations in specs, a small quantity of these blades were assembled into bayonets for the military. Most of the remaining blades were then utilized for commercial production subsequent to LanCay's first public offering of the M9, in the form of the "M9 Utility".

As interest in the M9 grew in the civilian market, and government contracts neared completion, LanCay began to offer bayonets in different finishes, color schemes, and commemorative markings. Some individuals or companies were able to contract for limited runs of bayonets; often utilizing some of the left-over blades. Others acquired components and assembled parts bayonets, which were often sold over the internet. The bottom line is it is possible to find a civilian LanCay bayonet in almost any configuration. As collectors, this offers a myriad of variants to consider. Read the thread on this Forum about the USMC M9-FT. It is a perfect example of what is mentioned here. BTW, some small numbers of "Historical Reproduction" M9-FTs also have blades without sawteeth...

[Carlo]

Hi!
You probably already noticed an interesting auction (quite related to this discussion)
http://cgi.ebay.com/US-MILITARY-M-9-...item588d15e7c8.
I think this one is really interesting: first style blade with fuller, black finish, Lan-Cay marking.
As a side note: about the 200 of the first style blades that in 1995 were "placed aside in the factory as the blade tips were a fraction of an inch thinner then the specification called for" and ended with a first contract blade with black finish.
As far as I know these rare blades are all marked LanCay.
I have only seen pictures of these M9s without the blood groove.
Do examples with the fuller actually exist?

[Mister Moon]

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[pwcosol]

Well, after mulling it over, I ended up placing a successful bid on this bayonet, and hope to have it shortly. I am not sure just what it is. I made an inquiry to the seller as to where he had acquired this bayonet. His response was: "Item comes directly from a striker brigade member after deployment from Iraq. Alaska has a very large military presence , with several bases stationed throughout the state". What intrigues me is the provenance provided by the seller in having obtained it from a U.S Army soldier whom recently returned from Iraq with the bayonet. Now, that does not provide proof the soldier was issued the bayonet from military stores. However, in all likelihood he would have been issued a M9 so why buy his own (and what a odd one to get as well)? I will post some detailed pics after I receive the piece...

[Carlo]

Originally Posted by pwcosol

Well, after mulling it over, I ended up placing a successful bid on this bayonet, and hope to have it shortly. I am not sure just what it is. A very well known bayonet collector has assured me it definitely is not an example of the off mil-spec 200 early first contract LanCay M9s which were later given a waiver from the Army and included in the second contract. On the other hand, I made an inquiry to the seller as to where he had acquired this bayonet. His response was it was: "Item comes directly from a striker brigade member after deployment from Iraq. Alaska has a very large military presence , with several bases stationed throughout the state". Since the Army issues the M9, seems unlikely the serviceman privately purchased this bayonet from a commercial source...

Hello!
Could you post pictures of your bayonet once you'll receive it?
I would suggest to disassemble the bayonet and look if the small portion of the blade covered by the guard/handle was parkerized as well (I probably think so, but there could be a very small chance of the blade being originally bright and later parkerized, like some Phrobis blades we saw on ebay some time ago).
Back to the "off mil-spec 200 early first contract LanCay M9s", were you able to understand if the blade was supposed to have a fuller?
The only examples I saw (with the correct LanCay marking, without the "-") are all missing the fuller.

[Carlo]

Originally Posted by pwcosol

Carlo, the "off-spec" 200 bayonets which were included as part of the second contract have wide fullers, step in the blade spine, are concave ground, marked "LanCay", and were black oxide finished. Scabbards would be the P.I. pattern with stone. They were initially rejected because the blade length was slightly out of tolerance. I thought perhaps some of those blades might have been rejected early on, prior to the markings being applied and edge being ground.

Hi Fred, thanks for your answer!
Looking forward to see the pictures of your purchase.
Back to the off-spec topic, take a look at these topics:
The first one (quite old) is from forum user Rexmeyer (look for the pictures on the post #4)
http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1537
The second one is from Mister Moon (just follow the first link in the first topic, the bayonet to look for is on the right on the 4th and 5th pictures)
http://www.quarterbore.net/forums/sh...7708#post27708
As you can see, in all the pictures the "off-spec" LanCay (with correct marking, first style blade, black finish) does not have the fuller.
So came my question.