What happened to the wood?

[IditarodJoe]

I recently received a cut down, pre-WW1 RIA bayonet from the CMP and it got me to wondering . . .

It's my understanding that all of the SA and RIA 16" bayonets were originally produced with wooden grip panels. When these bayonets were being cut down during WW2, was it standard practice among all of the contractors to automatically replace the wood with plastic?

If so, it makes one wonder - what ever happened to all of those nice wooden grip panels . . . ??? :icon_scratch:

[Art]

Firewood???

[IditarodJoe]

Firewood???

Oh my! At today's prices, can you imagine the cost per pound of that kindling? :eek:

It strikes me as odd, with all of the labor and materials shortages and the urgency of war, that they would go to the trouble and expense of replacing hundreds of thousands of perfectly serviceable wooden grip panels. I should think this might be documented somewhere, but I haven't seen anything . . . yet.

[Dan Shapiro]

As Art said, probably firewood. I recall reading that right after the war, one worker was taking home handguards with his supervisor's blessing. They were stacked up like cord wood - and that's what the guy was using them for at home.