Are bayonets supposed to be sharp?

Colog

Colog

Joined
Dec 2, 2005
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I don't have a lot of experience with bayonets. A friend gave me one and asked me to sharpen it. Upon inspection, it obviously never had an edge on it. Plus, the scabbard itself would dull the blade if it was used. So what do you guys say?
 
No. Their designed purpose is for stabbing wounds. They can be sharpened and used like a knife but you will most probably have to do some SERIOUS reprofiling before you get a usable edge. I tried it years ago and decided they're not worth the trouble involved with making a knife out of one.
 
Most are quite dull, some will take a decent edge, but usually aren't designed to be very precise cutting tools. Edge holding tends to be unimpressive since they are (rather reasonably) heat treated to relatively low Rockwell hardnesses.

I learnt sharpening on FAL bayonets, they were issued dull, and after a bit of practice I could get them shaving sharp with a considerable amount of elbow grease.
 
No, they are NOT supposed to be sharpened. I had about 5 taken away from me in the service. No one would tell me why. Then i bumped into a real life story as to why. (SP5-US ARMY) He said that he also sharpened his, bad idea, when he used it, it actually cut into the ribs of the man he used it on & he could not get it out & he himself almost got killed because of it. He left his rifle & went for his .45 & barely was able to save himself. Lesson learned: ribs flex, sharp blades cut into bone, sharp bayonets are bad, .45's are good & the Grace of God is AWESOME !!! His words, not mine.

In retrospect, they are designed wrong. Ribs of humans run horizontal. Modern bayonets should also have blades horizontal to the gun, not vertical as they all are. That way, when used, much less chance of a sharp edge cutting into bone & getting stuck. JMHO. YMMV.
 
Thanks guys. Pretty much what I thought. I'm not going to sharpen it.
 
TwinStick said:
No, they are NOT supposed to be sharpened. I had about 5 taken away from me in the service. No one would tell me why. Then i bumped into a real life story as to why. (SP5-US ARMY) He said that he also sharpened his, bad idea, when he used it, it actually cut into the ribs of the man he used it on & he could not get it out & he himself almost got killed because of it. He left his rifle & went for his .45 & barely was able to save himself. Lesson learned: ribs flex, sharp blades cut into bone, sharp bayonets are bad, .45's are good & the Grace of God is AWESOME !!! His words, not mine.

In retrospect, they are designed wrong. Ribs of humans run horizontal. Modern bayonets should also have blades horizontal to the gun, not vertical as they all are. That way, when used, much less chance of a sharp edge cutting into bone & getting stuck. JMHO. YMMV.
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Good point about the bayonet orientation vis-a-vis rib orientation.
 
Twinsticks,
Your post makes perfect sense. As a proveyor and collector I have had a few hundred different bayonents go through my hands and most were not sharpened, USA WWI & WWII, I did see some of the short 7" Garand bayos sharpened but i think someone in the after market sharpened them.. There were a few that were sharpen like Soviet bloc Ak Bayos that had a chisel grind area in the back of the blade that were sharp. But not in the front. So the soldier could use these to cut rope or a few other tasks. some of the SKS folding bayo's were aluminum, no edge there.
 
TwinStick said:
...
In retrospect, they are designed wrong. Ribs of humans run horizontal. Modern bayonets should also have blades horizontal to the gun, not vertical as they all are. That way, when used, much less chance of a sharp edge cutting into bone & getting stuck. JMHO. YMMV.
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Bayonets were originally design to stop horse mounted cavalry charges and horse ribs are vertical rather than horizontal.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
Bayonets were originally design to stop horse mounted cavalry charges and horse ribs are vertical rather than horizontal.

n2s
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Very interesting ! I did not know this. That is a cool bit of info/trivia right there ! Thanks for that. :thumbup: You highly edumicated ;) people always know all the cool stuff !!! LOL :D

I guess when the re-design for people took place, that little tid-bit of info must have slipped through the ribs ? Ba-da-boom. LOL :D
 
Hi John,

Have been reading your articles for years, great work! From your experience, do you think the military philosophy has changed on sharpening bayonets?
Perhaps a sharp blade could get stuck in bone but it would seem that a sharp bayonet would be more deadly than a dull one. The Romans conqured the world with the first 3 inches or a sharpened gladius.
 
I know glock makes a bayonet and from what I hear those can barely cut peanut butter before reprofiling. I believe it depends on the company, zt makes a bayonet that is made to be shaving sharp, made from s30v steel
 
The M1873 Trowel Bayonet
333.full.jpg

http://www.nps.gov/spar/historyculture/production-trapdoors.htm
is an excellent example of sharp military minds...
 
So even those stainless steel reproduction bayonets would be a good deal since they're not intended to be used as knives?
 
DRE, Thanks for the kind words. When researching the article on the new USMC bayonet I talked to a Marine Captain (former paratrooper in the 82nd Abn Div) and they did a lot of research back to at least WWII what men wanted in a bayonet. First was it could be used as a knife (maybe 75%), then as a combat knife and lastly as a bayonet. If a soldier of marine is carrying a bayonet he/she wants to be able to use it for other things, then just as a weapon on the end of their rifle. Makes sense to me. John
 
not2sharp said:
Bayonets were originally design to stop horse mounted cavalry charges and horse ribs are vertical rather than horizontal.

n2s
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Now that would be intense. Wonder if those big brass clankers got in the way........

Moose
 
not2sharp said:
tumblr_mmwy96u3yQ1rcoy9ro1_1280.jpg


pd716873.jpg


n2s
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Got back even further, before guns, you'll see the same formations with spears and long poles. And then you had to stab'em to deff after the collision.......

Whew, big'uns.......

Moose
 
It tends to boil down to what bayonet and what army? American weapons have been combination field knives and bayonets since WW-II. All of the US combatives manuals state this. The modern M-9 and the Ontario USMC were especially designed to serve as field knives first, bayonets second. But if you are talking about some over weight clunker like the German 98 bayonet from WW-II, that is an entirely different story.
 
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