SMGO-0241 NSKK Dagger by J.P. Sauer

An interesting study in NSKK daggers here. The dagger is an early version with nickel fittings with the exception of the top guard. The top guard seems to a replacement late style zinc fitting. When or why it was replaced is hard to say. The fitment of this top guard is pretty good, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a period replacement. The lower guard and grip is a perfect match and is 100% the original parts. They both look great by the way! The blade has evidence of moisture damage in the typical spot where the runners touch the blade. This is from condensation in a storage location that was not climate controlled. Pretty typical unfortunately. The blade is actually not bad other than that. Typical runner marks and  such. The scabbard is hand painted which was typical of these NSKK daggers. As SA men were transferred to the SA, rather than buy a new dagger, a quick paint job did the job. Remember, most of these guys were not well off financially. In order to do the paint job, the fittings were removed and damaged in the process. Again, not having the factory tools to do such a job often lead to this happening. The lower fitting has the screws holes filled in with brass and the upper fittings are split near the screw holes.  And so, as far as early SA/NSKK daggers go, this one is priced low to suit its condition.