Swiss Bayonet opinion needed

S

SirJames

Joined
May 17, 2002
Messages
448
Hello all,

Has anyone here have experience with the Swiss bayonet? I thought the 9" dagger blade would make a good fighting knife. Is the steel any good? What would you compare it to? Is the grip easy to remove?
 
James: I think I have the bayonet you are talking about...the one made by Wenger. I would suggest that you look elsewhere for a fighthing knife. The bayonet comes with an increadibly thick, dull edge; making it completely useless for cutting. The blade is made of mystery steel, and I know better than to try and sharpen it. It would probably work ok for what it was intended, stabbing, but that is about it. I would save my money for a real fighting knife. I wish that I had never bought mine. You wouldn't want a blade that long for a fighting knife anyway.
 
Thanks EZ, your reply tells me a lot. Besides my using knives and a few that are just sitting around, I've stocked up on Moras and Opinels because 1. I have experience with them, and 2, they are cheap enough to stock extras. There doesn't seem to be a cheap fighting knife to stock so I thought about the Swiss bayonet ($13 US at Cheaper Than Dirt) because they looked like they had nice blades (I generaly dislike bayonets).

Still, I'd like to see one for myself. Interested in trading yours for say a Canadian Military BDU shirt?
 
I have one of the Swiss bayonets, bought with the same intention as yourself - turning it into a fighting knife.

I took the knife to a professional sharpener, to be sharpened as well as the edge being brought further back. It couldn't be done. The sharpener guy said the knife had such a high amount of chromium that it was just too hard to sharpen even with the best tools in a commercial sharpening shop.

However, the Swiss bayonet would make a dandy tent peg.

If you do want to turn a bayonet into a fighter, try one of the Swedish bayonets. I've read somewhere that they are made from good carbon steel.
 
I have had the exact opposite result with my Swiss bayonet. If you are talking about the old ones from the Mauser rifles, the ones I have seen have some pretty good carbon steel. I have been able to put a good edge on them, but the metal sheath always dulls the edge quickly anyway.
 
I saw some of these Swiss bayonets a few years ago being sold at U.S. Cavalry store when I was at Fort Benning, GA. I don't think you could ever put a decent edge on those things. If I'm not mistaken, both Wenger and Victorinox made them for the Swiss army.
 
Hello Danbo,

I think the Swiss bayonets currently on the market are stainless ones from Swiss assault rifles. Maybe the older bolt action Swiss rifles had carbon steel bayonets.

By the way, if my memory is correct the Swiss never used Mauser rifles. In the early 20th Century they had rifles of their own design with a straight pull bolt action, rather than the more common turn bolt action.
 
It's a beautifully made spike:p:D, but if someone can dig it up, Tactical Knives ran an article on a maker making handsome conversions out of them:).

Hi Danbo,

I think you are thinking about the older model's (I don't remember the Pattern number) with the hollow handle. By all account's I've read those are good knives.
 
Are we talking about this one?

attachment.php


Swiss model 1896 bayonet.


n2s
 
I got no experience in the Swiss bayonet but well of the Swedish. I bought one in a army surplus store and it was in perfect condition.

It's extremely sharp, not so thick but surprisingly sturdy and strong. The Swedish bayonet also has a hollow handle and a "rifle mount" (?) so you can place it on any Colt (M16s etc.), Heckler & Koch (G3 series) and so forth. The blade is, if I remember correctly, 20½ centimeters long (ca 8,2 inches). The handle looks really bad, at least it doesn't appeal to me, because of the "rifle mount" on the upper side, however there is a solution to that as well.

My father, an experienced warrior from the "good ol' days" (1970-1990) and an active partisipant of many wars, bought a Swedish bayonet and got the handle (everything but the blade) removed and and switched to a wooden one, the same shape as on the Ka-Bar knives (roundened), and after some treatment, it's extremely sharp. Sharpest knife I ever seen. And he used it during several wars, he used it actively I might add, and it doesn't even show. The blade is still in as-new condition, but the handle had to be, hm, polished a couple years back. This knife/bayonet is EXCELLENT for a fighting knife - for the serious person who isn't looking for something fancy, but dead-on effective.
 
....Or, are we talking about this one?

This is the Swiss model 1957 export bayonet.
 
Hi N2S,

I believe the original discussion was about the 1957 Swiss Model, and branched out into the others.

:D:).
 
Hello Not2Sharp,

I purchased a bayonet like the first one in your picture, labeled "Swiss model 1896 bayonet", about a year or so ago. I can't recall what company I ordered it from. However, it was described in their advertisement as a Swedish bayonet - not Swiss. Wherever it comes from, it ought to make a much better fighting knife than the 1957 Swiss bayonet.

I think it is Eight Dollar Mountain Foundry that is making a fighting knife from the (Swiss 1896 or Swedish) bayonet. They are replacing the original handles with one of their aluminum handles.
 
Sir James,

Maybe that 1957 Swiss bayonet could be used for a spear head, since it useless as a knife.
 
I haven't tried to do anything with the 1957 bayonet, but, the 1896 version is an excellent bayonet and knife made from the best materials. The blade can be sharpened to cut like a razor, and the hollow handle is solidly attacked. Many people have converted these into hollow handled survival knives by cutting off the rear latching mechanism and the muzzle ring and taping the bottom of the handle for a metal pipe fitting and "O" ring.

n2s
 
Not2sharp, that is the one I was talking about. Those suckers take a great edge. But every time I would get the thing sharp, the metal sheath would dull it. They do have some very good, Swedish steel for the blades though.
 
Whoops, That is the Swedish (Not Swiss) model of 1896 for the 6.5mm Swedish Mauser model 1896. :footinmou

n2s
 
W.T. Beck wrote:
By the way, if my memory is correct the Swiss never used Mauser rifles. In the early 20th Century they had rifles of their own design with a straight pull bolt action, rather than the more common turn bolt action.
Click to expand...

That is correct.

The Swiss adopted the Schmidt-Rubin straight-pull rifle in 1889. Enhanced, improved, and shortened Schmidt-Rubins (i.e. Schmidt-Rubin K31) were used until the adoption of the semi-auto SIG StG-57 in 1955.

The Swedes on the other hand, were quick to jump on the Mauser bandwagon at the turn of the century. The Swedish Mausers have since become famous for the quality of the steel and workmanship. The Swedish Mausers come in the 1894, 1896, 1896/38, and 1938 models.

Any/all of the rifles above are excellent quality, riflemen's rifles, from countries that take great pride in the marksmanship of their relatively small armies.

It should be noted that the Swedes were light-years ahead of the world when they adopted the flat-shooting, near-ballistic-coefficient-perfect 6.5x55mm Swedish (.264-caliber) cartridge at the turn of the last century.
 
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