Better to use 0000 steel wool and oil or a light touch with a fine, brass, wire wheel in a bench grinder(not a cloth wheel) than any chemical rust remover.
Electrolysis can produce nice gases like Chlorine and Hydrogen. The former is fatal if you survive the burning of the latter.
"...sometimes bayonets got wet when in service..." Yep, but the troopie didn't pay a big pile of money to replace it.