Bulgarian Combat knife

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SchwarzStock
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:20 am

Bulgarian Combat knife

Post by SchwarzStock »

I was able to pick this up through a friend in Bulgaria recently. I was surprised when he told me he had never heard of them before since he did serve in the Bulgarian military and he is a quite well known bladesmith and forges very nice blades.

There are two versions of these knives, the first is the M53 made from old K98 bayonets and are almost 100% chrome plated. These are often called "High School knives". This is incorrect, they were used by cadets at the Military universities.

The second version, the M54, is the actual service knife but were withdrawn from service some years back.
M54 b.jpg
M54 b.jpg (814.14 KiB) Viewed 2622 times
M54 a.jpg
M54 a.jpg (836.06 KiB) Viewed 2622 times
Last edited by SchwarzStock on Wed Nov 02, 2022 7:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
gravknife
Posts: 1500
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:34 pm

Re: Bulgarian Combat knife

Post by gravknife »

SchwarzStock

I really like these knives and have seen a few over the years on German and French ebay, never really knowing more than that they were Bulgarian knives,so thanks for the info you shared.

Also this is the first time I have seen a sheath with one,I had perceived they would be steel like a mauser type bayonet sheath ...great interesting knife .

Thanks for sharing.

Ian
SchwarzStock
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2022 11:20 am

Re: Bulgarian Combat knife

Post by SchwarzStock »

That is another big difference between the M53 and M54. The M53 being chromed for parade use has a chromed, steel sheath.
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