Are bayonets supposed to be sharp?

[Pilsner]

Very interesting and valid info
I have an 1891 Argentine Mauser Bayonet/short sword - also unsharpened. I also have a 1796 Prussian Calvary saber ( the French protested it was too vicious a weapon for warfare lol). Reading a book on how to use a saber from an English master of the period - he says if someone knows how to use a bayonet it can beat the saber. I also have a boar spear which is very sharp. There is an art to spear fighting too. I am going to sharpen the bayonet to enable slashing and using the rifle as a spear - one lucky cut can save your life against a saber. As far as getting stuck- should have a backup for all main weapons - if using your foot does not free the blade from the ribs..... Not likely to be in this situation even when the apocalypse comes, but solingen knife steel is the best in the world and 2ft of it with a razor edge can save a lot of problems - start the arterial bleeding and deal with the next opponent while the first one is trying to stop the bleeding - then run them all through to make sure at the end. Individual choice I suppose. And yes. A quality edge is a labor of love and a lot of careful work

But to comment on your point, (pun intended), ‘the point always beats the edge’, was the adage of the British army in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. However, what enabled Wellington to beat the French was more to do with the rapidity with which the ‘thin red line’ could reload their muskets against French columns. That, and the fact that Napoleon dismissed the new-fangled rifled muskets as being too slow to load despite their greater range and accuracy. As an Englishman, I pity those French skirmishers, who were regularly destroyed by British riflemen.

And no, a bayonet needs to be pointy, not sharp. It is for stabbing and twisting.

 

[uxo2]

I had an M7 and M9.
Both were my personal blades.
Yes I kept then sharp..

The issue stuff never was because the armory said no.

 

[DeadboxHero]

Somebody gave me one to sharpen, It was like .070 behind the edge haha I said nah. Not worth Sharpening. It's designed to poke air holes in stuff not make sushi, besides, I doubt any of them are made out of some crazy steel or have a killer heat treatment to Even hold a killer edge. Just keep it pointy so it looks cool while it collects dust and get a knife that cuts stuff good.

 

[BlakeHirschmugl]

Yeah, they don’t need to be sharp. In fact, some Chinese made bayonets aren’t knife shaped. They’re like spikes.

 

[Lapedog]

Very interesting and valid info
I have an 1891 Argentine Mauser Bayonet/short sword - also unsharpened. I also have a 1796 Prussian Calvary saber ( the French protested it was too vicious a weapon for warfare lol). Reading a book on how to use a saber from an English master of the period - he says if someone knows how to use a bayonet it can beat the saber. I also have a boar spear which is very sharp. There is an art to spear fighting too. I am going to sharpen the bayonet to enable slashing and using the rifle as a spear - one lucky cut can save your life against a saber. As far as getting stuck- should have a backup for all main weapons - if using your foot does not free the blade from the ribs..... Not likely to be in this situation even when the apocalypse comes, but solingen knife steel is the best in the world and 2ft of it with a razor edge can save a lot of problems - start the arterial bleeding and deal with the next opponent while the first one is trying to stop the bleeding - then run them all through to make sure at the end. Individual choice I suppose. And yes. A quality edge is a labor of love and a lot of careful work

Solingen knife steel is the best in the world?

Care to elaborate?

 

[DeadboxHero]

Solingen knife steel is the best in the world?

Care to elaborate?

Bruh, after reading his post that's what got your attention?! Haha Jeebus. Careful what you ask for

 

[BladeScout]

Very interesting and valid info
I have an 1891 Argentine Mauser Bayonet/short sword - also unsharpened. I also have a 1796 Prussian Calvary saber ( the French protested it was too vicious a weapon for warfare lol). Reading a book on how to use a saber from an English master of the period - he says if someone knows how to use a bayonet it can beat the saber. I also have a boar spear which is very sharp. There is an art to spear fighting too. I am going to sharpen the bayonet to enable slashing and using the rifle as a spear - one lucky cut can save your life against a saber. As far as getting stuck- should have a backup for all main weapons - if using your foot does not free the blade from the ribs..... Not likely to be in this situation even when the apocalypse comes, but solingen knife steel is the best in the world and 2ft of it with a razor edge can save a lot of problems - start the arterial bleeding and deal with the next opponent while the first one is trying to stop the bleeding - then run them all through to make sure at the end. Individual choice I suppose. And yes. A quality edge is a labor of love and a lot of careful work

You are 'necro'ing' an old thread.

This in general is frowned upon.

But feel free to start a new thread on this interesting subject.

Lots of information and disinformation in this thread (i.e. 'bayonets are made to break,' - ), so could make for an interesting NEW thread on the subject.

 

[leghog]

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.

The change in philosophy is that many bayonets are now dual purpose. Bayonet and field knife.

 

[not2sharp]

It is nice to see this thread come back. There is one point which we failed to make earlier and that is that the bayonet was first and foremost a military accoutrement, they were an integral part of the uniform. So, unless the units were deployed in actual war, the brass would discourage the troops from doing anything to the bayonet that would take away from the uniformed dressed appearance of the formation - like sharpening them or using them as tools.

n2s

 

[Rhinoknives1]

There are MANY different Bayonets that have been designed & used over the last 400 or so years. The uses for them have varied as well. Field weapon to moving around prisoners, wire cutters. Some sharp and some not..some blade or sword shaped, some fulcrum!

 

[shinyedges]

What makes the green grass grow?

I went through the bayonet course in bct, I've since heard it's been discontinued shortly after I went through it.

 

[xusmico187]

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?

Lot of gomers say it is to cause "more blunt trauma." Call that hand... a sharp stab/slash will cause much more damage than any dull blade. they are dull because the same gomers wind up on light duty from sick bay after cutting theirself playing or on purpose to get out of work. When USA first issued a sharpe bayonet, some unit made it a chargeable offence to draw the blade except on order or emergency.

 

[numbersman]

When the British first started to use rifles, they had 17 inch bayonets. Form square, the front rank with their rifles grounded in the dirt and those 17 inch blades sticking up, and the horses wouldn't charge home.

 

[Thomas Linton]

The true "zero edge" bayonet:

"GOMERS"? Oh, you'll love it here, fierce one.

 

[DocJD]

The knife type bayo , with a handle and sharp edged wider blade is more versatile for use as a combat /utility knife .

IMO , sharp wide blades also can do much more damage than icepick/spike style .

And : Harder to block or grab to defend against .

 

[Zulus]

A friend gave me one and asked me to sharpen it.

By rule of war - bayonets can not be sharpened.
Soldiers are restricted, reprimended, jailed etc.
But during actual war many things happens - like in Las Vegas ...

Anyway steel is always too soft, blade must be heavily re-grinded,
not even worth starting any job ...

Of course many modern bayonets are made as a knife already.
Buy looks as you got "real" bayonet to be sharpened, so no !

 

[000Robert]

I just recently bought three military surplus M7 Grade 1 Bayonets. Two were made in 1987, and one in 1986. They all look the same and as you can see in the photos, they are sharpened. The packages were unopened until I opened them.

 

[Thomas Linton]

 

[John A. Larsen]

Zulu, What reference are you using to say "Rule of war-bayonets cannot be sharpened"? Urban legend, and not true. Look at the M9 and the USMC bayonet which come sharp, and do not for an instance think this was not vetted by the JAG (Judge Advocate General) the military lawyers. John

 

[Thomas Linton]

Myth, AKA "Everybody knows," has great power.