Practical Bayonets

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Eleven Mike

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Practical Bayonets

Lately, I've been wanting to get a bayonet, but I don't have a particular model in mind. I'm looking for something in the twenty-dollar range, with fifty as the upper limit. It would also help if it had some practical use as a knife and was of reasonable quality. I guess I want something like the picture below, perhaps on the shorter side.

sacenf1bpop.jpg


Edit: Let me be more specific about what I'm looking for. I want a bayonet more for aesthetic purposes than anything else. I'm not really concerned about mounting it on a rifle, and I'm not really looking for a general purpose knife. I have a number of knives that are more practical as actual carry or using knives.

I never wanted a bayonet until recently, but my love for milsurps and old knives has gone in this new direction, so I'm looking for a neat-looking old bayonet. I figured it would also be a plus if it had some practical value. I just thought I'd see if one kind of bayonet might have a little more quality or practicality to it.

Thanks.
 
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Awesome. However, I think these have been regulated out of existence. Also, it is quite useless for a concealed situation. Attatched to a good shotgun, I would love one.
 
Cybert, bayonets are perfectly legal. A little knowledge is a terrible thing.
 
Cybert,

Bayonetes are pefectly legal to own in the U.S. What country do you live in?
 
Well, I wasn't going to conceal it. :confused: By practical, I meant as a field knife or a potential weapon to keep handy in the home. Perhaps I'll mount it on a plaque in the home office.
 
I don't really know of any "practical" bayonets. The problem is, to be an effective bayonet, it must be mounted on a rifle that is suitable for bayonet fighting, and there aren't many of those in any army these days.

On the other hand, to be a bayonet at all, it has to have some compromises that make it less suitable as a general purpose knife.

If you're looking for a big, general purpose knife, good for everything from cutting brush to hacking open ammunition cases, the Randall Model 14 is what I have always carried in the field.
 
There seem to be a lot of Spanish bolo bayonets out there these days. From what I hear they make a good field knife as well as a bayo. Someone- I think it was AIM surplus- was offering 10 for $20 a couple months ago, but they seem to be gone now.
 
Well, it was one of the characteristics that made a gun illegal under the assault weapon ban. Tactically, I would like a bayonet that could be detached and used as a knife. That just gives you more options. I just haven't seen them on a modern shotgun or rifle. If someone has one that isn't some kludge job, I'd be very interested.
 
You need to pick the rifle or whatever first and then figure out what bayo you want. There's a lot of different mounting systems and they generally aren't interchangeable.

I happen to have one that fits my M1 carbine, but both the carbine and the bayo are WW2 vintage.
 
Let me be more specific about what I'm looking for. I want a bayonet more for aesthetic purposes than anything else. I'm not really concerned about mounting it on a rifle, and I'm not really looking for a general purpose knife. I have a number of knives that are more practical as actual carry or using knives.

I never wanted a bayonet until recently, but my love for milsurps and old knives has gone in this new direction, so I'm looking for a neat-looking old bayonet. I figured it would also be a plus if it had some practical value. I just thought I'd see if one kind of bayonet might have a little more quality or practicality to it.
 
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All your milsurps will have "proper" bayonets that you can find to go with them.

This is the US military current issue made by Camillus Cutlery
cam1a1_1.jpg


There's a whole field of collecting just centered on bayonets.
 
hso,
Whose military issues that bayonet? The US Army issues the M7 (similar but no serrations) and the M9. At least they did when I retired in Nov 03....

Jeff
 
I'm still trying to figure out how mount a bayonet on a crew served weapon:neener:

Ha HA!!!!

Only joking, but I am trying to figure out how to mount one on a shotgun.

IMHO, A shotgun with a bayonet has got to be on the verge of being the ultimate HD weapon.

Any ideas?

PS. to be UK legal it's got to have a barrel over 24" in length.
 
If the main motivator is cheap, I know smoky mountain knifeworks pretty regularly has boxes of all kinds -- mostly 50's era as I recall -- for pretty cheap.

If you don't mind paying more for a prettier display piece, the blade bayos from the US Civil War era are pretty wicked looking, especially if you're looking for short-sword length.

Another neat opetion, albeit less practical, would be a Brown Bess bayonet. Funky looking, and dripping with history.

Do you definately want original, or is reproduction okay?
 
Thanks for the replies. I was hoping someone might know if, say, the German bayonets had better steel, or the Italians had good heat-treating, or something of the sort.
 
Almost all bayonets have the steel and heat treat needed for a boyonet. Of course that may be different from what's needed for a good knife, but the only one I remember hearing anything bad about was the M9 "SF bayonet" that was originally made by Phrobis. I can't remember if the LanCay production run was the ones that broke, but I think that was the case. All of the bayonets of western countries will be of good quality.

The Camillus started shipping to the .mil early this year or in '05 later. I don't know if they're meeting their contract obligations right now or not.
 
I picked up two Ishapore bayonets last week. The shorter has a 12" blade, the longer, 17"! :)

I'm hoping the steel is decent. They're both in great shape, the shorter (1944) looks new with a few storage marks.

I'll post a picture later- gonna make yoga tonight.

J
 
My favorite is a 1917 Remington, that fits the M1917 rifle. Great sword bayonet that feels very good in the hand.

Boom-Stick:
IIRC, the only crew served weapon that used a bayonet was a WWII Japanese MG (Type 99?). Someone else around here probably knows more about it. My Ian Hogg book on 20th century military firearms is at home. I think we perhaps saw the combination in the film "The Great Raid."

Regards,
Dirty Bob
 
I do hope that's not your subtle way of saying this is what all Lee-Enfield bayonets look like:

The Pattern 1907 was manufactured in Britain, Australia, and India. As originally manufactured, the Pattern 1907 was a fairly close copy of the Japanese Type 30 bayonet, with a 17-inch blade and hooked quillion (lower crosspiece). The hooked quillion was eliminated by India in 1914. Britain and Australia followed suit in 1915. Nearly all of the existing Pattern 1907 bayonets had the hooked quillion removed. Today, a Pattern 1907 “hooker” is scarce and pricey. Reproductions have recently surfaced in quantity.

The smaller:

The No. I Mk. II and No. I Mk. II* were newly made bayonets with 12.2-inch unfullered blades. These retained the standard P1907 hilt and grips. The only difference between these two marks being that the former had no false-edge. No. 1 Mk. II bayonets were made at Rifle Factory Ishapore.

If you look carefully, you can see the RFI on both bayonets in the picture.

John
 
The old '91 Argie Mausers had some awesome sword bayonets that run for about a C note. They're like short swords.

Standard Mauser knife bayonets are cool, but not terribly practical as a knife. The steel is actually pretty soft and doesn't like to hold a razor's edge. If you think about it this makes perfect sense. The blade must be able to survive an enormous amount of thrust force and doesn't need to be overly sharp to work--but it must not shatter, either.

I like the old Russian "pig stickers". They're effective and won't get stuck.

Lots of folks collect bayonets, so you might consider starting a collection.
 
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