Rifle Bayonets Sharpen or not? The deep question of the day!

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Rule3

Rule3

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Guess this could be an "accessory" but it came with the rifle. No real big deal but do you sharpen the bayonets that come with some surplus rifles like an AK or a VZ?

Just got a VZ and the bayonet is as sharp as a 2x4. It has no edge at all. The back of the blade is almost the same as the edge.

Not that I will probably ever have the blade mounted on the rifle it just bugs me it is not sharp. All my knives are sharp:)

So should a put an edge on it? Probably end of cutting myself.:uhoh:
 
As xpat said, if you want it sharp make it sharp. I collect WWII and earlier bayonets and the untouched edges are what collectors look for. If the bayonet in question is not rare or particularly collectible then put a nice edge on it. I have a couple west German bayonets that honed up to a fine edge and can be useful for camping or hunting. Many times you can get a fine surplus post 1960's bayonet a lot cheaper than you can get an equivalent knife.
 
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The United States did not sharpen bayonets or issue sharpening stones. Captain Lewis Millet had his company (Echo Company) of the 27th Infantry use stones issued to the cooks for use in sharpening butcher knives. Millet led Echo Company in a bayonet charge up Hill 180 near Soam-Ni, Korea on February 7th, 1951.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor.
 
Some of the sks's had a spike which was to open a punchier wound that wouldn't close. If you don't have a sheath and you're leaving on rifle, take care not to slice your fingers.
 
The spike is the oldest form of socket bayonet. The Russians have always used it (although now they also have a knife bayonet.)

In the Katyn Forest Massacre, the Russians executed about 22,000 Polish Prisoners of War. They tried to make it look like the Nazis had done it, but they bayoneted the Polish prisoners after they were shot, and the distinctive wounds produced by their spike bayonets gave the game away.
 
Hullraiser said:
Some of the sks's had a spike which was to open a punchier wound that wouldn't close. If you don't have a sheath and you're leaving on rifle, take care not to slice your fingers.
Click to expand...

I have one of those. It scares the hell out of me. I took it off. I think I 'd rather be shot than stabbed with that thing!:eek:
 
Unless you want to actually use it as a knife, don't sharpen it. (Bayonets generally don't make very good utility knives.) Most bayonets weren't sharpened in service, and they shouldn't be now if you want to maintain their collector value. BTW, the same goes for swords.
 
Were any older, like WWI era bayonets, made with an edge from the factory? This thread got me wondering because I have a bayonet and sheath for my #1 Mk III Lee-Enfield that I picked up back around 1992-93. It's about 16" long with correct markings, is dated 1907 and made by "WILKINSON" ( Of Wilkinson Sword fame) . This thing is edged so nicely that it had to be done at the factory or by some machine somewhere. It wasn't done by someone with a sharpening stone. It's not razor sharp but it certainly is sharp. I'm not that familiar with bayonets stamped 1907 but I know that most all of the bayonets I've seen don't really classify as edged. Perhaps a lot of WWI era bayonets were made that way?
 
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The bayonets I have purchased with my Swiss K31 came with a nice edge. I don't know how many actual combat bayonets were sharpened as most of my relatives that were in the military were either in the Navy, Army Air Force, or the Special Forces.
 
No this blade is a cheapo off a VZ 2008 (VZ58) It's not worth anything in my opinion. Think they are $25 if purchased separate.
 
The only bayonets I ever saw that came sharpened were some Yugo bayonets made for their Mauser.
 
As issued for use as stabbing weapons bayonets were not sharpened on the edges.

In the field, they were often the GIs only utility knife (unless he wanted to acquire and carry a Kabar or a trench knife in addition to a bayonet), so I suspect bayonets got sharpened in the field.

A M3 trench knife in an M8 sheath was originally issued with the M1 carbine until they added a bayonet lug and issued a modified version of the knife as the M4 bayonet. (The blade of the Kabar is better suited for general utility use in the field, the M3 and M4 blade is optimised for stabbing and I am told was great for opening canned rations.) The M4 bayonet I acquired for my M1 carbine had dull edge, and since I saw the carbine as both a collectible and as a field utility rifle, I debated sharpening the bayonet. But I have more convenient utlity knives to use when I visit the mountain.
 
Split the difference if you want. Sharpen a little around the point for stabbing then sharpen another bit near the hilt to useful for cutting string, etc if the bayonet is ever close to hand for a small task.

You can try having it sharp in the most useful spots and hopefully not slash your trousers if the bayonet stays on the rifle at low ready.:D
 
This thread got me to looking closely at my 6 Pattern 1907 blades. 3/ea are configured for SMLE and M1917.

All 6 are sharpened ... but one may hold a clue for this style, at least.

It is a beautifully blued 10/17/1913 Remington-marked blade that was originally accepted by the Brits (broadarrow crown stamped ... marked thru with diagonal strikes) and later used by the US (stamped "US" but no bomb) for the M1917.

This blade appears to have come from the MFR with an almost edge along the forward half of the blade ... "almost" meaning that the edge is properly beveled and ready, with very little effort, to take a sharp edge.
 
The US Army "Combatives" manuals from the 1960's and early 1970's have sections on using the bayonet mounted on a rifle or in the hand. Slashing is covered. Can't slash with a dull bayonet.

We have done this 47 jillion times. Most bayonets never got sharpened because most bayonets were issued to non combat arms folks and even among combat arms units commanders worry about troopers getting cut with sharpened bayonets so some never get sharpened.

When I was in an Infantry company in the early to mid 1970's we sharpened and maintained sharpened bayonets. Some members of my company where under arms 24/7 however and even sharpened bayonets seem less deadly and accident prone than loaded M-16 A1 rifles to some commanders........

-kBob
 
The "slash" with the bayonet in that era (up until the M16 became standard) was a continuing motion, following a smash, which in turn followed a buttstroke.

A buttstroke, either vertical or horizontal, ends with the rifle held butt forward, muzzle to the rear, parallel to the ground.

If your opponent jumped back or was still standing after your attempt at a buttstroke, you thrust the butt of the rifle into his face. If he was still standing after that, you brought the now-reversed rifle down in a diagonal arc, aiming at the junction of neck and shoulder. The bayonet didn't have to be very sharp for that to be lethal.
 
Most bayonets are made of inferior metal compared to quality knives. They weren't meant as a cutting tool, but primarily as a jabbing and thrusting weapon. Turns an unloaded gun from just being a long stick into it at least being a pointy stick.
 
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