So a friend asked me to look for a 16" Garand Bayonet for him...

[Griff Murphey]

A dealer had one at the Fort Worth show for $400. Ok but scabbard tip a bit bashed. I mentioned my one I bought at Deep River Armory in Houston for $12 in 1965, when I was in 10th grade; USN marked dated 1942 I think. "Oh," he says, "your bayonet is in the WRONG scabbard... THOSE scabbards were for plastic training bayonets!"

I don't care, as a Navy man who served Greenside my entire time I still think it is cool. He can keep his "correct" $400 one.

[Bayonet]

Indeed, the USN Mark 1 scabbard was intended for use with the Mark 1 training bayonets, but I am sure that some got out even during the War, but post war when the training bayonets were discarded it is almost certain that many of them went into the general use pile.

Many collectors want to have something just "as issued" and I have no problem with that as I tend that way myself. But as many of us also can live with a "arsenal rebuild" of our M1903 or M1 rifles and carbines, I can also live with something that is a legitimate possible combination. What I don't care for as much is a well used and worn bayonet or knife in a like new scabbard or sheath, or other way around. But that is just my personal opinion.

[dave]

I got one of those training bayo's along with the Paris-Dunn training rifle for Xmas in 1946. Soon broke the bayo, the rest disappeared when I went into service (1953) and my parents sold their house. Missing allot of other stuff too!

[John Sukey]

I did get a copy- from IMA

[John Sukey]

I got one of those training bayo's along with the Paris-Dunn training rifle for Xmas in 1946. Soon broke the bayo, the rest disappeared when I went into service (1953) and my parents sold their house. Missing allot of other stuff too!

Brought back a memory. When I joined the army, my parents gave some of my stuff to the kid across the street.
14 foot Nazi stadium banner
My entire patch collection (including WW1 patches)
500 lb practice bomb (empty)
My lionel train sets (sob)
Wish I had that stuff now

[Dick Hosmer]

I never have, and never will, understand the mindset of parents who give away or throw out their kids' treasures without their permission, and frequently so upon joining the service - yours is, unfortunately, NOT an isolated story at all.

[randy langford]

Brought back a memory. When I joined the army, my parents gave some of my stuff to the kid across the street.
14 foot Nazi stadium banner
My entire patch collection (including WW1 patches)
500 lb practice bomb (empty)
My lionel train sets (sob)
Wish I had that stuff now
I wish I had your stuff too !

[GoodOlDave]

I recall reading somewhere that the USN fiberglass scabbards for the 16" Garand bayonet were indeed originally used with plastic training bayonets, but being made out of plastic and being used in training the huge majority of training bayonets became broken. The fiberglass scabbard for the training bayonet on the other hand, were made of much higher quality and survived long after the training bayonets were used up. Since they already had large inventories of the scabbards (an in the hundreds of thousands) and were completely compatable with the 1905 pattern 16" bayonets the ordnance department merged the USN M1 scabbards into everybody else's supply chain along with the M3 scabbards. Don't know if the army got any but they almost certainly went to the Marines since they retained the 16 inch bayonet due to heavy use of long bayonets by the Japanese.

So you're both right. The the scabbard is correct for your 16" bayonet AND it was for plastic training bayonets.

[Johnny P]

Has anyone ever seen one of the MK I scabbards cut back to 10 inch? In all the years of collecting I have never seen one that had been modified like the M3 scabbards which were cut back to M7 length.

The MK I scabbards are normally found in excellent to like new condition.

Finally found this bit of information on the MK I scabbards and bayonets.

In WWII the U.S. Navy procured 300,000 USN Mk I training rifles from the Paris-Dunn Corp, 300,000 USN M I plastic bayonets from two suppliers on three contracts, and 300,000 USN Mk I scabbards from Beckwith / Victory Plastics Div. I have seen photos of seamen recruits with the dummy rifles, and talked to old timers who had them in training. I have never seen a photo of or met an individual who used / was issued a Mk I bayonet. The navy scrapped all 300,000 bayonets and scabbards in December 1945. Some Mk I scabbards may have made their way into supply as M3 scabbards, but the vast majority went into the surplus post-war market. The bayonet and scabbard set sold for about a dollar. The bayonets broke, ( I broke a number of them) the scabbards didn't. They have been mated up with 16" M1905 bayonets ever since by dealers.

[dave]

The scabbards for the trainers seem to be made the same as the ones for the real bayos, except markings. I cannot imagine the plastic trainers being used in bayo practice with another person, they were very sharp and would easily penetrate a person with a straight trust and break off I think.

[Johnny P]

I think that is what they found out, and discontinued practice with them.