M948 Bayonet Alert!
I am a bayonet freak.
Perhaps even a bayonet superfreak with probably 150-200 in my collection dating back to the 1700s and often opining on them.
So, when I saw that Centerfire Systems has Portuguese FBP m/948 bayonets on sale in three grades from $39 to $59, I was all in. I mean, who has too many Portuguese bayonets on hand?
My “good condition” FBP m/968 bayonet. At some 11.75 inches long overall, it has a dagger-style point and double edged 7-inch blade with a steel scabbard. It is probably the most “fighting knife” oriented bayonet I have ever encountered.
Note the lack of a muzzle ring and a very Mauser-style (though it will not fit a Mauser) locking mechanism on the rear. I also love the fact that it has wood grip panels rather than plastic, a rarity in a Cold War-era bayonet.
Notice the similarities between the m/948 bayonet and the German-made Portuguese Mauser M937A Rifle bayonet
These were all made between 1948 and 1988, with the bulk in the 1960s. As such, they popped up in several African hot spots in any number of hands and are still sometimes encountered on the continent.
What was the m/948?
Portugal, which suffered over 30,000 casualties serving with its British allies in the Great War, rearmed in the 1930s with what eventually turned into 150,000 German-made (and Swazi-marked) Mauser-Werke AG Oberndorf 98K bolt-action rifles (adopted as the Espingarda Mod.937). These were augmented by Steyr MP-34 sub guns dubbed the Pistola Metralhadora (machine pistol) m/938 (in 7.65 mm) and m/942 (in 9 mm).
While they largely sat out WWII but aligned with London and Washington (keeping Franco’s Spain neutral in the process), the Cold War soon came around, and Portugal was one of the original 12 NATO alliance members in 1949. This meant the country needed to modernize its forces should it be forced to fight the Soviets.
This need was kicked into overdrive when all of Portugal’s overseas territories slowly slid into revolt– with a little help from Moscow. What followed was the 13-year (February 1961 to April 1974) Guerra do Ultramar (The Overseas War), spent fighting Communist-backed insurgent guerrillas in the country’s African colonies of Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau, as well as in East Timor and Goa in the Indian Ocean.
In other words, the Portuguese needed new guns. Lots of them.
Some 800,000 Portuguese military and colonial paramilitary members fought in the Guerra do Ultramar during the Cold War, with an average of 100,000 deployed overseas at any given time. To arm these troops, Lisbon’s Fábrica Militar de Braço de Prata (FBP) factory began licensed production of HK G3 (Espingarda Automática m/961) rifles and HK21 (m/968) machine guns in 7.62 NATO, as well as a locally designed m/968 60mm patrol mortar, and the m/948 sub-machine gun.
The Portuguese also purchased small numbers of Belgian-made FN FALs (13,470, designated the m/962) and Dutch-made AR-10s (about 4,500, designated m/961) to help fill their needs until the home-built HKs came online. As you can see, all was well within the NATO extended family.
Designed in the late 1940s by Portuguese artillery Major Gonçalves Cardoso, the FBP m/948 was a simple blow-back action 9mm open bolt SMG that borrowed elements from the German MP40 (bolt and recoil assembly, barrel and nut design), British STEN (mags, mag release, ejector), and the American M3 Grease Gun (stock, sights, grip, etc). The imitation is so complete that m/948 bolts can apparently be used in MP40s as a drop-in replacement, and the gun readily accepts STEN mags.
The FBP m/948 was a simple spot-welded “tube gun” made from inexpensive stampings that borrowed from the MP40, STEN, and M3. This intact model in the IWM collection, IWM (FIR 10392)
Production was only about 20-30,000 guns, mostly in the 1960s, and they were issued primarily to NCOs, commandos, and guards– which meant they were also often captured and used against Portuguese units as well.
These production numbers from FBP are available:
“In 1963, 11,867 G-3s and 5,572 FBP submachine guns were manufactured; in 1964, there were 23,724 and 6,561; in 1969, the numbers were 45,660 and 694. In total, until 1988, the factory produced 442,197 G3 and 19,113 FBP submachine guns.” (Pinto, Renato. Portugal and Weapons – A History of Small Arms and Military Industries. Colibri, 2024.)
Guerrillas of the PAIGC on Como Island with a motley accumulation of weapons, including PPsh, PPS, and FBP SMGs. The PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) was a communist organization formed in 1956 and openly backed by the Soviets.
A Portuguese air force T-6 Texan, and a Dornier Do 27, atCazombo field, Angola, guarded by a sentinel with an FBP. The Portuguese used an amazing 250 T-6s and 150 Do-27s in the African Bush Wars, being an ideal combo for COIN and transport/liaison work from small fields.
Note the distinctive bayonet lug on the m/948 and its STEN mag.
The gun was made in a semi-auto variant (m/963) as well as one with a cooling sleeve around the barrel (m/976).
The FBP factory later became part of the unified national defense industries system (INDEP) and closed its doors in the early 1990s, with its last product being the even simpler blowback action Lusa submachine gun, which, designed to replace the m/948, was never put into production; its technical data package was sold to U.S. investors and faded into history.
It seems Portugal has been finally disposing of the last m/948s on hand over the past 10-12 years, and, while I’ve seen the bayonets pop up as components of torched parts kits, seeing them by themselves in good condition for under $100 was a no-brainer.
I’d recommend grabbing one while you can.
