PAL Bayonet querey?

[georgerkahn]

I have had this PAL bayonet, assuming it was/is for an M1 Garand. However, I tried it on mine for the first time one day last week, to learn it does not fit! Looking at my other bayonet -- an AFH -- I noticed this one has its quillion curved.

I spent way toooo many hours searching what firearm this bayonet is for with zero success, and am turning to the knowledgeable sages on this site?

If you have any clues/ideas/knowledge for what it was designed to fit, I'll be most appreciative to hear! Other than the curved quillion, it is identical to most M1 bayonets. The impressions on the ricasso clearly indicate (to me) that this bayonet, made by PAL Tool in Plattsburgh, New York, was for a U S A firearm...

Any info surely will be appreciated....THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

geo

[Dan Cash]

PAL, surely top tier knives. Could your bayonet be for a Krag?

[elk hunter]

It is a Garand bayonet. The muzzle ring is bent probably by someone using it as a throwing knife.

[TNsailorman]

I agree, someone by accident or on purpose bent that bayonet. It would not be too hard to straighten it out if you are so inclined. james

[725]

It's bent. Lord knows how, but that is the reason it doesn't fit.

[georgerkahn]

Thanks all! Indeed I had the thought perhaps it was bent. However, if this was in fact done, whomever did it did more than a stellar job! There are ZERO marks if it was bent, say, in a vice; no staining from if it was heated; and, under a 50X magnifier there appears to be zero change(s) in grain structure. Further -- one of the main reasons I used the magnifier -- I could not see any tell-tale residue/marks from anything from a Dremel-mounted felt to a gross wire brush.
Hmmmm.... maybe I can put it on a popular auction site as a "very rare one of a kind special..."?
Seriously -- any ideas, if so, what I might do to straighten it?
geo

[samari46]

Maybe stick the bent part in a machinist's vice with smooth jaws such as a vise for a milling machine. Looks like someone was using it as a throwing knife and bent it that way. Do not use a regular vice with the teeth on the jaws. Will chew it up quick. And take the scales or grips off first. Shame as these bayonets used to be cheap, not any longer. Frank

[georgerkahn]

Thank you, samari46 -- I was thinking similarly re the vice use. Bion, Harbor Freight had their drill press vices on sale a couple of years back (@$15.95 ea) so I bought two -- one for my reloading den, the other for garage shop. My thoughts would be to sandwich the quillion between the two, with a piece of leather on all jaw surfaces to prevent marring. If the steel is soft enough... it might just work? An added challenge for me is the screw holding grips -- despite many, many repeated applications of Kroil -- appears to be frozen in. The driver slot was already boogered by a previous owner adding to this challenge.
Perhaps my best bet may be to just make a wall-hanger from it?
Thanks!
geo

[samari46]

Last time I looked the local gun shows had Garand bayonets for around $100 and this was before the current crazyness. So definitely worth saving. As long as your vice does not have the teeth like a bench vise does you should be ok. The cross guard is normally held in place with two long pins. Might be safer to drive out the pins since as you state you cannot get the screw loose that holds the scales or grips on the handle. I have a United Fork and Hoe dated 1942. Goes with my 1943 Garand. Wish you well with the cross guard. Frank

[georgerkahn]

Thank you, again, samari46! This quillion appears to have but one pin which was definitely press-pushed in. Removing the quilion to straighten it was my first thought, but it also appears the pin is seated -- e.g., does not go all the way through it making it irremovable vis my skills. In the "no harm no foul" vein, I do plan on using the two vices in tandem with the bayo sandwiched between. Jaws are in fact smooth and I'll line them with thin leather pieces to be safe. *IF* it works, cool. I have no idea re the steel hardening of quillions, reckoning the steel has to be hard enough to prevent accidental wear bending while still being malleable enough to prevent its cracking/breaking. It might straighten -- at least close enough to enable mounting on a M1 Garand...
Should I have no success -- then "plan b" is to simply hang it on wall as a decoration... In my quest to learn what it was for I checked several on-line auction sites to discover the modal price for (un-rusted, genuine U.S. WWII) 10" M1 bayonets appears to be in the ~$200 range, with some going as high (those made by Wilde Tool) as $900.00! Yes -- prices have gone up on these!
Thanks again to you -- as well as others -- who posted comments; I have been pleasantly surprised (sort of ) to learn that it is in fact a design for the Garand.
geo

[samari46]

That's odd. I have two M1 Garand bayonets that the South Koreans cut down and both have two pins. And dug out my AF&H bayonet and it has two pins as well. Maybe it was reworked and the quillon was polished making the second pin less visible. In my case they appear to be like tapered pins. One large and small end.
Frank

[jimb16]

Wilde Tool only made bayonets in small quantity and only in 42 and 43. They are the scarcest of the Garand bayonets followed by Onieda Limited. If you think the cut-downs are high try finding a full 16 inch in either of those. I had a 42 Wilde Tool 16 inch and sold it years ago for $800. I still have an OL 16 inch and it ain't goin' nowhere!

[slim1836]

Wilde Tool only made bayonets in small quantity and only in 42 and 43. They are the scarcest of the Garand bayonets followed by Onieda Limited. If you think the cut-downs are high try finding a full 16 inch in either of those. I had a 42 Wilde Tool 16 inch and sold it years ago for $800. I still have an OL 16 inch and it ain't goin' nowhere!

Thanks, that's good to know. Were they made (or ordered) from any specific company(s) you may know of?

Slim

[jimb16]

I believe the "second model M1905" made just before and into WWII was made by 6 different companies. That is the 16 inch model. Most were cut down to 10 inches during the war. They were AFH,O.L., PAL, WT, UFH and U.C. The later model M1 was a short 10 inch version with a short fuller. It was made by the same companies except for Wilde Drop Forge and Tool, who dropped out of production. They were all general issue and not made for any particular manufacturer of rifles.