M1 Carbine Bayonet Marked US M4 TMN Comes With Scabbard Marked USM8A1

Blade Length: approx. 6 1/2 " 

Blade width: approximately 3/4 of an inch at widest spot.

Overall Knife Length: Approximately 11 1/2 "

Scabbard has a little rust on the rivets (please look at photos).

"The first contract was to the Turner Manufacturing Company of Statesville, North Carolina for 298,691 bayonets in 1954. They are marked U.S. M4 / TMN on the blade side of the lower guard. These have the post-1951 wider guard. The Department of Defense Acceptance Stamp (commonly called the DAS) is found on the handle side of the guard. This mark, for those not familiar with it, is a very stylized eagle with spread wings, and three stars over its head, all enclosed in a box. This was apparently first used in the mid-1950s and replaced the Ordnance Shell and Flame mark as a sign of US military acceptance and ownership. The mark continued to be used into the mid to late 1960s. Several characteristics of the US military M4 are seen here. They include the two long slots in the tang (presumably to reduce weight), the bar bent through a hole in the tang to hold the guard against the blade, and the nearly 90 degree angle where the grinding of the true edge ends (called the backcut). However, some of the non-military "surplus" bayonets will have some or all of these characteristics, so these are not absolute identifiers.

The grips are checkered black molded plastic. In the case of the Turner production, the grips are unmarked inside other than one or two digit numbers, which are apparently mold numbers. The pommel is secured by a sunburst peen, and the latch retaining pins are solid and peened in place. There are no markings, although a "dimple" is found in the lower quadrant, (possibly the result of a hardness test?).

On most of the Turner production, all of the metal is Parkerized with a medium dark gray fairly smooth finish. Some, for reasons not understood at this time, were left "bright". These are not highly polished, but were not Parkerized. The specimen in my collection appears to have been coated with a clear material such as a varnish to retard corrosion."

This description gives more detailed characteristics of this bayonet. Please look carefully at the pictures for a better idea of condition. There is a small chunk missing on the bottom of one of the grips (please see photos). 

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