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Netherlands KCB-70 M1 Bayonet
Guns International #: 101178241 Seller's Inventory #:
Category: Bayonets - Edged Weapons Post 1900
Seller's Information
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Seller: ppeeks
Member Since: 9/19/17
Last Name: Schechter
State: Texas
Country: United States
Seller: Private Seller
Return Policy: 3 day inspection and return policy on used guns.
Payment Types Accepted: USPS Money Order only
Description:
Own a piece of bayonet history -- the Netherlands "Knife-Cutter-Bayonet of 1970." This is identified as the German Stoner Export Bayonet KCB-70M1 in Janzen (pp. 108-109), and is shown in Evans at p. 173. Made in Germany, exported to The Netherlands.
This is the real deal, with provenance. I bought this bayonet in 1975 at a knife shop INSIDE the Geneva Switzerland airport before a flight to New York. The store manager told me that an American soldier who had been stationed at the US Embassy had sold it for some pocket cash before returning to the U.S. I have no idea whether that story is true or not, but have never had any reason to doubt the store manager. At that time, no one thought anything of me putting it in my backpack and getting on the plane. Times have changed.
Most people who think they have a KCB-70 M1 do not; instead, they have any of the much more common later variants. Only about 3600 M1's were made in 1970 and 1971. The shiny black plastic used for the grip and scabbard was too brittle, and many of the bayonets soon suffered cracks of one part or the other, or both. (A tougher matte black plastic was used on later variants, which proved more durable.) Finding a completely intact example of the M1 version today is rare; finding one in essentially new condition, with its original leather lanyard, is extremely rare.
The KCB-70 M1 was designed specifically for use with the 5.56mm NATO caliber Stoner 63A weapons system, which was being considered for adoption by the Dutch Armed Forces at the time. (It does also fit, however, on the U.S. M16 rifle.) Because the KCB–70 M1 was designed specifically for use with the Stoner 63A rifle, it featured a hollow in the grip to store the Stoner's sight adjustment tool.
Several hundred Stoner 63A rifles were modified, and about 3600 KCB-70 M1 bayonets were produced, by the Netherlands firm Nederlandsche Wapen-en Munitiefabriek De Kruithoorn N.V. (NWM). NWM contracted with Carl Eickhorn Waffenfabrik AG of Germany to design a bayonet for the Stoner 63A that incorporated the advanced features found on the Russian AKM Type II bayonet. Accordingly, the left ricasso marking includes the commercial trademarks of both firms: the NWM oval logo and the Carl Eickhorn squirrel. Ultimately, the Dutch Armed Forces did not adopt the Stoner 63A rifle, and no other export customers were secured by NWM/Eickhorn; the program was cancelled in 1971.
Unlike the rifle for which it was designed, the KCB–70 M1 bayonet was a highly successful multi-purpose modular design tool, and it spawned the KCB-77 and a long line of successive KCB bayonets, adapted and produced for many different assault rifles, and marketed by Eickhorn and its successors for more than 30 years.
Payment is by USPS Money Order or PayPal only. The cost of shipping is included in the price.
Thanks for looking.
SOLD