M1 Bayonet

Was the M1 Bayonet originally sharpened? I have an original finish AFH M1 that has grind marks perpendicular to the blade in much the same fashion the M3 and M4 was sharpened, but the blade actually isn't very sharp. Was this to actually sharpen the blade, clean up the edge, or done after it left the military? Appears to have been done with a single pass on each side. Edge is very uniform, but I got a little closer with the right side shot.

Left side.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../2ur47px-1.jpg

Right side.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../10qhpc0-1.jpg

I'm pretty certain this is just the factory edge. They were pretty dull even when new. They could be sharpened( by the armourers) on a jig to avoid removing too much from one place and maintaining blade shape and uniformity. I've had several that had very little edge at all.

U. S. bayonets were require to pass a "string" cutting requirement (IIRC in was adopted in 1908-1910). That is why there is a slight "edge" on the blade. Most were "rough" and not sharp; you usually needed to "saw" thru the string as all that was required was to get throught the string. I do not recall if there was a time or stroke limit. I do not know if the requirement is still current but I do believe it was still current due to the "edge" on current military issue bayonets & knives. I hope this helps.

l2a3

There was a standard edge that was supposed to be adhered to by the M1 makers. The Military did not want the bayonets to be too sharp nor too dull. They even supplied sample blades with this standard edge to each maker. But I would imagine in their rush to get bayonets produced during the War there was a lot of variance in the bayonet edges.

Bayonets are not suppose to be cutting sharp as they were not designed for cutting. The purpose was to stab. The point has to be sharp.not the edge. Besides a dull blade hurts worse than a sharp one. You have the trama of being scewered and ripped with a rough edge blade.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TDH

a dull blade hurts worse than a sharp one

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Sheep dip!

You know this personally? I found that a sharp blade hurts just fine thanks...

Moved to edged weapons forum for greater exposure.

Bob

For what it's worth:
In the 1960's Marine Corps. Anyone caught with a sharpened bayonet during a personnel or equipment inspection was in a world of trouble, Blades were to be kept in the "issued" condition which was really dull

I was told that a sharp bayonet was much more likely to get caught in the rib cage or other bone and be difficult to remove, as noted previously, it was designed to puncture not slice.

Those are the typical stories that circulate in the recruit barraks and are held dear after in the troops hearts.

From Gary Cunningham's bayonet forum on the M1 Bayonet.

The bayonet was lighter and made the rifle quicker and more responsive in combat.
The bayonet was more useful in areas where space might be limited such as trenches and house to house fighting.
The bayonet was more useful as a weapon off the rifle in hand to hand combat.
The bayonet could serve as a general-purpose knife.
The savings in steel would amount to nearly 25% over that of the M1905.
It was noted that many of the European nations had adopted a shorter bayonet than what they had used in the 1st World War.

As a general-purpose knife it would have had to have some type of edge. I think it was also mentioned as above, they tried to strike a balance with getting an edge, just not too sharp.

Thanks for all the replies.

I have quite a number of bayonets in my collection. From various countries. None of them are that sharp. I purchased a new Ontario M7 bayonet, this is about the sharpest I have.Similar situation with my Eickhorn G3 bayonets. Which have a similar blade.

I suppose the modern soldier has to carry both his bayonet and a sharp knife!

Or he can sharpen his bayonet. I had to chuckle from a memory of a night long ago. There were half a dozen of us sleeping in a large tent during a training exercise and this new guy that was just with having left active duty for the reserves was sharing the tent. Most of us are trying to sleep and we hear this very distinctive sound of a wetstone on a blade and here's this guy no one knows sitting there sharpening his bayonet. Crusty old Warrant officer gave him hell, asked him if he was going to kill us in our sleep. It was his personal bayonet as we weren't issued them for this exercise. It did kind of freak me out at the time.

Yes, we had a few of those too...

try thr new OL3C marine knife, it is plenty sharp right out of the box, the M9 runs it 2nd but needs work to get the smae. Many modern "Commercial" bayonets liek the Stryder and Extrema Ratio are sharp as supplied and come with a hone to keep them that way. Goes to the change in perception as to the use of a Bayonet. These also dont tend to go to the basic troops but ones more likely to not cut themsleves by accident.

The M7 blades (C7 rifle) we issued the recruits were dull from use and sharpening was forbidden. The new blades were sharp and the idea was the troops no longer needed to carry a knife second to the bayonet. The new bayonet by Eikhorn is a beauty and sharp as issued. Like Carl says, it comes with sharpening device built in.

I discovered Eickhorn bayonets by mistake, fortunately. They make some nice stuff. i now have three bayonets and a trench knife. Please see http://www.eickhorn-solingen.de they even sell razors.

Once again the supreme toy makers. I know some young fellows would just wet themselves for the tanto point bayonet...