Antique French steel

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  • Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    You have to appreciate craftsmanship from the days of old.

    Picked this up for $85 in Gettysburg this Saturday,

    Was marked as a Chassepot Bayonet but a member here identified it as a Gras Bayonet

    Mfg May 1879 at St. Etienne in France

    I just love the engraving here
    23df42b955a9ecdbc103f4fc3b4c35e8.jpg


    5e3cb075876936c12d68d60ce8d65488.jpg



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    Trigger Time

    Amazed
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 23, 2013
    1,231
    Nice!! Makes me wonder, how did they do the engraving on hard steel? Is that some kind of acid etch or actually carved into the steel?
     

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,338
    Catonsville
    Those are pretty, aren't they? Gotta say it's so much easier to find Chassepot and Gras bayonets vs the rifles and carbines. If you're looking for a Gras PM me, I believe I have a nice example in the armory that I'd be willing to let go of for a friend (this one even came with a bayonet, sadly not matching the rifle).
     

    Czechnologist

    Concerned Citizen
    Mar 9, 2016
    6,522
    Did you ever translate the inscriptions?

    [Insert joke about 'never been used and only dropped once']
     

    PGTMG

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 13, 2010
    1,025
    French Arsenals do have the coolest markings in my opinion. Hope you enjoy it and you got it for a great deal.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    I like to take the chance to learn a little bit of history behind the items I collect and thus gain more of my understanding of history. For many Americans, the period of decades before and after the American Civil war is a bit of a blank. Many Americans (present company excluded) understand that after the Civil war was the westward expansion. Well it actually was going on before and after the Civil war. But in Europe, the end of the Franco-Prussian war turned into a depression for western Europe that spread to the US as well. 1879 when these Bayonets were manufactured was during the first coming out of that depression in For the French third Republic. Looking at resources it appears France's main conflict that would involved this type of hardware were mostly overseas in southeast Asia and Africa. Germany also started to meddle overseas and wanting a piece of the pie, this eventually turned into "The Great War" in the early 1900s
     

    Allium

    Senior Keyboard Operator
    Feb 10, 2007
    2,704
    Chassepot is basically a sword. and a couple inches longer. A wave to the blade. Its cool looking at the evolution of teh blades in size. Chass to the gras to lebel. etc
     

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