Australian L1A2 Bayonet and scabbard

Description

The L1A2 Bayonet was adopted in 1957 and went into production at the Lithgow
small arms factory in 1958. It was used to equip the Australian Army’s L1A1 SLR. This
rifle was the standard Australian Assault Rifle between 1959 and 1991. It features
a 7 3/4″ single-edged parkerized blade with clipped Bowie-style tip and single rounded
fuller. All-metal gray parkerized hilt and crossguard with muzzle ring. The typical scabbard
was parkerized but this example is painted black and has the correct brass throat (paint
chipped and a couple very shallow dents). These are usually completely unmarked, but
this example is stamped “S44″ on the pommel. This is perhaps a unit marking, as some
used by Australian special forces are known to have been unit marked. Overall length 11
5/8″, not including scabbard. Blade near mint, hilt showing minor handling wear.