British Pattern 1903 markings

[RCS]

I picked up this Pattern 1903 some years ago but could never identify the T.H. and number stamp.

Someone once told me it could be a capture Turk stamp ?

Any help would be appreciated43465434664346743468

[dave]

Mine is marked KPT over 95, blade dated 3 04. Could they be unit marks? The 95 on mine is not X'ed over.

Have you ever seen a scabbard for one of these?

[RCS]

scabbard is very difficult to find for the Pattern 1903

sometimes guys would cut -down the early tear drop P07 scabbard for the P1903 bayonet

[dave]

By the way, I do not think markings are Turk. It would have been 'captured' in WW1, correct? I believe Turks still used Arabic number until the mid 1920's,and am not sure they have ever adopted western letters. Some research is in order here!
My example does not have a serial number, as yours does.

[free1954]

there are a lot of collectors on the great war forum who know about those markings. http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/?forumId=151

[JB White]

Could be Tower Hamlets (London). Reserve units attached to the Royal Engineers.

[RCS]

Thanks JB White

[JB White]

You're welcome. Nothing looks 'Turked' about it to me. I did take a look for Dave's KPT marking but came up empty on the early tries. I think I have more unit marking references elsewhere so I'll take a look at those.

In addition to modified 1907 scabbards, are you aware the 1903 will drop into a Pattern '88 scabbard? The '03 scabbards w/integral frog are not only scarce but can be worth XX times the cost of the bayonet! :)
There are alternatives though if just seeking a covered blade. If you are familiar with dissecting an '07, then you'll have to allow a bit of extra length to the leather to compensate for the larger '03 blade as it will "bottom out" sooner in the thinner/narrow leather towards the chape. That in addition to filing away the throat to accommodate the heavier ricasso/choil.

There is the $15 cheap route by buying one of the IMA-USA repro's and filing that open. Odds are you'll need to force it into that though as they are thin and kind of chintzy to begin with. Those aren't even real leather.

If you're into leather working, Carter's lists the dimensions of the India Pattern 1903 scabbard. You'll still need the metal bits though just to make one look as though it has a replacement tip.

If you can cannibalize the metal from somewhere, the M1917 scabbard has a leather body large enough to handle the '03 blade. I once used a NOS, unpainted M1917 body to replace a rotted and deteriorated Patt '88 scabbard body. Took some cutting and new laces (staples) but it did the trick as a replacement. I do not know if those are still available.

[terrylee]

A Pat.1903 with scabbard

43816

[Sunray]

"...Turks still used Arabic number until the mid 1920's..." The change was announced in 1928. Wasn't Arabic either. The Turks are not Arabs. Get you into a huge fight if you said that in Istanbul. snicker.
Kind of suspect the dot between the T and H is important.

[p246]

A Pat.1903 with scabbard

43816

That’s a nice hard to find set, thanks for sharing