Original German WWII Heer Army 98k Rifle Short Dress Bayonet with Leather Frog – Excellent Condition Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The K-98 dress bayonet was a dress version of the combat style, and was worn by enlisted and NCO personnel for dress and parade occasions. The bayonets were finished with a high-quality nickel plating, with black checkered bakelite grip plates and black painted scabbard. The choice of blade length was left to the purchaser, being nickel-plated short or long version. There was usually a red or green colored felt insert in the rifle slot and the bayonet was suspended from a black or brown leather frog. Some had a functional bayonet latch, while it was ornamental on some.

This Heer (Army) example is in exceptional excellent condition, and is close to “mint”. It has has a nice alloy hilt, with almost all of the Nickel Plating intact and bright. There is a bit of plating loss on the quillon tip, but otherwise there are no major issues. The mortise button and blade release are fully functional. The grip plates are the black checkered type, and both are in mint condition. They are retained by nickel-plated steel rivets which have dressed heads on the obverse.

The blade is a fine nickel-plated example, and is in excellent condition, and still has the original leather blade buffer/washer. The blade is straight, with no wear except for running wear on the nickel plating. There is a tiny bit of plating degradation on the ricasso, but nothing major. The blade is not marked, which is not unusual for a dress bayonet, which did not have to be up to the same strength standards as an issue bayonet.

The scabbard is straight throughout and still has over 80% of the original black paint. Most of the wear is on the back, from rubbing on the uniform. There is finish crazing on areas of the scabbard, typical for enamel paint of this age. The area under the frog is very nice, though the back side has lost some finish from rubbing on the frog.

The frog itself is black patent leather, though over the decades the finish has cracked, with a bit of flaking. However it still is quite shiny and attractive, and the leather is still soft.

An excellent example of a German 98k Heer dress bayonet, ready to display!