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Permalink Reply by Alan on June 25, 2015 at 13:09

Tobias, I just read your review, from 2013, on the Ontario M3 knife, all I can seem to find comes with a leather sheath. I would like to find one like you show in your post, both the hard sheath and knife looks very well made, any ideas? thanks, Alan.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on June 25, 2015 at 14:42

You will need to buy the M8 or M8A1 Scabbard separately from the knife. Boker makes an M3 with an M8 scabbard but both are from China. The M8A1 scabbard was in continuous use and remained unchanged from WWII all the way up until recent years. The M7 bayonet used with the M16 rifle was issued with an M8A1 scabbard. The one in the photo is from my M16 bayonet.

The blade on M3 Trench Knife, and the M4 through M7 Bayonest all share the same blade. As such they M8A1 scabbard has seen continuous use since WWII. The first M8 scabbards made lacked the belt hook found at the top of the scabbard. When the belt hook was added the overall length of the webbing increased by about 3/4 of an inch. This was done to ensure the belt loop remained wide enough so that a web belt could still be slid through it, essentially giving the soldier two carry options. Original M8 scabbards were made by Beckwith Manufacturing (B. M. Co.) and are hard to come by and often faked. The M8A1 scabbards were in use in all theaters by July 1944.

The M8 scabbards were issued in July 1943 along side the M6 scabbards which were being phased out almost as soon as they went into production. The M6 scabbard were prone to falling apart especially in the Pacific theater due to humidity and heat. The hard shell plastic and heavy webbing of the M8 fared much better. The fatal flaw of the M8 was it inability to me hooked to a cartridge belt so that was remedied and the rest is history.

M3 Trench knife above and M7 bayonet below. Notice that both have the same blade.

Permalink Reply by Alan on June 25, 2015 at 15:18

Thanks much for all the information. May I ask , did you do anything special to your leather handle? Looks very good, I have to get one of these, Thanks again.

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on June 25, 2015 at 15:38

Hi Alan, Yes I did do something to the handle as well as the leather sheath that came with the M3. I polished both with Kiwi Cordovan Shoe polish.This darkened the leather just a little bit but nothing dramatically. After all it was just polish and dye. After that it has been a regular treatment of mink oil to keep them from drying out. I've heard of people taking fine tip black markers and coloring in the grooves of the handle but I've opted not to do this. I did however take a steel wool pad to the blade to give it a little sheen and highlight the edges and stamp. So the knife is anything but mint but quite frankly it looks better now than when it was mint!

Also anyone who knows anything about M3s knows that Ontario did not make an M3 during WWII.

Permalink Reply by Alan on June 25, 2015 at 15:42

Well, it sure looks good,,,good job by you..I have a navy MK2 that a M3 would look good with,, I cant afford an original M3 so I think the Ontario one will do me...

Permalink Reply by Sue OldsWidow on June 29, 2015 at 11:18

Dad's Bayonet

Permalink Reply by Tobias Gibson on June 29, 2015 at 11:39

That would appear to be a bayonet for an M-1 Rifle. It appears to have a 10 inch blade, which would means its nomenclatures is actually Bayonet M1. The early plastic handle bayonet with a 16 inch blade was the Bayonet, M1942. The wood handled 16 inch blades were Bayonet, M1905. The wood handles ones that had their blades shortened to 10 inches were known as Bayonet, M1905E1.

The 10 inch bayonet proved more useful in the European Theater however, many soldiers and marines in the Pacific theater hung on to their longer 16 inch bayonets because of the long sword bayonets used by the Japanese (Type 30).

That's an excellent example, Sue. Thanks for sharing.

Permalink Reply by Alan on June 30, 2015 at 15:00

Well, I am excited, I have ordered an Ontario M3, ya-hoo. I forgot, THANKS to all that have served.

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on July 1, 2015 at 17:20

Alan,

Hey now that is exiting! Be sure to let the folks in the Ontario group know your waiting on it and what you think of it when you get it! The group is hosted by Ontario reps!

Ontario Knife Company

alan pitcher said:

Well, I am excited, I have ordered an Ontario M3, ya-hoo. I forgot, THANKS to all that have served.

Permalink Reply by Alan on July 2, 2015 at 8:27

Jan Carter said:

Alan,

Hey now that is exiting! Be sure to let the folks in the Ontario group know your waiting on it and what you think of it when you get it! The group is hosted by Ontario reps!

Ontario Knife Company

alan pitcher said:

Well, I am excited, I have ordered an Ontario M3, ya-hoo. I forgot, THANKS to all that have served.

will do Jan..