Stabby!
It goes on the gun to the far right in this picture:
Stabby *AND* Shooty!
I think it's interesting how the bayonets get smaller as the rifles get more advanced. The largest bayonets are on the front-stuffers; then the bolties; then the semi-automatics. The M7 for the M16 makes a passable steak knife; one can only assume that whatever the next battle rifle is that's issued to the troops will have a bottle opener on the end and maybe a screwdriver...
Just look at those bayonets, though - now THAT is a knife!
That is all.
15 comments:
Jay,
I picked up Lyudmila last night . . . her stabby is almost as long as her barrel !!!!
- Brad
Get me a pic for Friday!
Maybe for the following Friday. Lyudmila is still rather greasy from all the cosmoline. Here's a thought . . . . we can take a pic on Sunday !!!
Word Verify . . . PINSTIC, as in getting tagged with Lyudmila's stabby would be one hell of a pin stick !!!!
- Brad
Well, in the space of a 100 years, the U.S. has gone from 16" Bayonets to the current issue 6.75". Many good reasons for it, but I still think that when the Ammo Fairy doesn't give you an Airdrop....remind me to tell you this weekend how my MP Buddy used Bayonets in Iraq a few years ago. Hint: they weren't opening Crates.
FYI from left to right they are:
Martini-Henry date stamped 1877
M1884 Trapdoor
M96 Swedish Mauser dated 1911
Spanish Mauser
SMLE No.1 Mk.III
SMLE No.4 Mk.II
'03 Springfield
M1917
Springfield M1A
The short sword at top is an Ames artillery sword dated 1862. It was made in Mass.
The Trapdoor has a spike bayonet that slides into fore stock. One can understand why Teddy Roosevelt objected to such a design on the '03. I didn't even bother to extend it in the presence of all the other blades. Too embarrassing.
Not all weapons are mine.
When I first attached the bayonet to my Mosin 91/30 I realized that the rifle was designed with very close contact against the enemy in mind.
tw: diess, as in, anyone stabbed by the Mosin bayonet diessssss.
One reason for the shortening of the bayonet is the demise of cavalry on horses. The overall length of the gun/bayonet combination needed to have enough reach to get the rider.
Then the rifles started getting shorter, ala SMLE.
Then how much the longer blades weighed began to matter more and more...
As Les indicated, it's been evolutionary.
Stretch, FYI: There's no such thing as a SMLE #4.
It's Rifle Number 4 Mark 2.
The other Enfield there would either be a SMLE Mark III _OR_ Rifle Number 1 Mark 3. Depending on what year it was.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that the Trapdoor Springfield with the built in round rod bayonet is the Model 1888.
I thought it was interesting that the 10" M1 bayonet was a stabbing tool only; the edges were not sharpened (as issued).
Les,
The current standard bayonets for grunts have blades that are 7" (M9, for most, adopted in 1984 by the Army) and 8" (OKC3 - adopted 2003, exclusive to the Marines). Both are basically Bowie-style field knives that happen to clip on the end of an M16.
I happen to think the OKC3 is better -- heavier, longer, thicker, tougher blade without the weakening aspect of the wire cutter feature on the M9, a short section of serrations for rope cutting down by the choil, an oval (rather than round) handle, and a good balance for a bayonet being used as a wood- or commie- chopper. See https://pubs.ala.usmc.mil/pubs/50005576000.pdf, if you have a CAC card.
The OKC3 is such a fine knife for the price (tthe contract requires the manufacturer to sell it on the open market at a reasonable price, so when PFC Snuffy loses his, or breaks it doing something stupid, he can replace it with a REAL one instead of getting some cheap Chinese crap copy), I'd buy it for a bush knife, even if I never intended to own something that could mount an M16 bayonet.
The M4 (M1 carbine bayonet), (1953 adopted M1 Garand bayonet), M6 (M14 bayonet), and M7 (early M16 bayonet) are all basically just WWII M3 fighting knives with bayonet mounting hardware.
Oh, and I LOVE teh lawyered-up warning at the top of teh first page of the USMC manual for teh OKC3.
"WARNING
THE BLADE OF THE BAYONET IS EXTREMELY SHARP, IMPROPER USE COULD
RESULT IN DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY"
McThad: British weapon nomenclature is as confusing as cricket.
Took me lots of research to figure out my Enfield revolver was a No.2 Mk I*. Very handy when trying to introduce shooting to newbies. "How'd you like to shoot Capt. Jack Harkness' gun?" OK, his is a MkI-no-star but the women love the idea of shooting "such a cool gun."
Will have to dbl. check on Trapdoor. Has interesting markings on stock that lead me to believe it was used in Cuba by New York volunteers during the Spanish-American War.
Hey! This discussion is one of the reasons we LOVE collecting firearms.
Note to self: find sharppointy like on that SMLE (5th from left) for my Ishapore 2A.
Stretch:
Check out this site for more info on your trapdoor - http://www.trapdoorcollector.com/
1884's and 1888's were issued during the spanish american war so maybe you have something really special there.
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