Strange Turkish knife.-HELP!
 

Hello all!

I just bought this off Ebay. I personally like it. It is identified as a ground down M.35 Turkish mauser bayonet. While I agree with the ground down bayonet, I think it might be the WWI model for he says it has a "prayer" on on it, whitch the M.35 does not but the WWI model does. The blade seems ground into a shabriya perhaps by a arab in Palestine or Jordan. I do think the sheath is a more recent and European.

Mark...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Hello?

Sorry Aurangzeb
This is something I know little about? I am sure there is a military collectors book out there that would be of some help.

Lew

It looks like a hacked up Turkish model 1890. The original bayonet would have been very impressive with a 463mm blade. I am not sure what you mean by a "prayer", but these were marked on the right side tang by a ruler's cypher.

n2s

Mark,
Turkish bayonets are such a complicated issue that I suggest contacting an expert on them, such as Dennis Ottobre, a.k.a. Otto, whose contact information you can find here:
http://www.ebayonet.com/
I believe he has issued a whole cd dedicated to the matter, so if there is anyone who can help you identify the pattern on this shortened bayonet, it is him. If there is indeed a tughra marking on the bayonet (I assume this is what the seller referred to by "a prayer"), a better picture of it can help the identification effort considerably.
Regards,
Teodor

Hello All!

I am 99% positive that the Cyper is the "prayer". Thank you TVV & n2s for the help, once I get it I will have better pics.

Hi Aurangzeb
I have a Turkish WW1 mauser bayonet which has the royal tugrah of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (on the hilt) and also a personal inscription reading something of the order of "to my loving son Halil" on the blade just before the fuller starts, so it would appear that personal inscriptions did appear on WW1 bayonets as well as royal seal. It would be interesting to see if it had a hooked quillion ground off as well. Will be fascinating to see the next round of photos.