Sorry if this has been addressed somewhere else or if this is the wrong place for my question.
I inherited an Eddystone model 1917 and decided to to add a Nobuckle sling and M1917 bayonet as a tribute to gradad but am now wondering...
Should the bayonet be sharp to be historically correct or just pointy? It has a bit of in edge but is dull on parts of where one would sharpen it. If it matters, it is a Remington and the scabbard is stamped 1943.
Thanks in advance.
Posted: 8/22/2017 11:08:04 PM EDT
[#1]
Quoted: Sorry if this has been addressed somewhere else or if this is the wrong place for my question.
I inherited an Eddystone model 1917 and decided to to add a Nobuckle sling and M1917 bayonet as a tribute to gradad but am now wondering...
Should the bayonet be sharp to be historically correct or just pointy? It has a bit of in edge but is dull on parts of where one would sharpen it. If it matters, it is a Remington and the scabbard is stamped 1943.
Thanks in advance.
View Quote
Are you preserving it, or going to "work" with it?
I do not expect to work with it. It will sit in the safe and be taken out to show family and friends.
Posted: 8/23/2017 8:00:40 AM EDT
[#3]
it should not be sharp. Just the tip.
Posted: 8/23/2017 8:04:35 AM EDT
[#4]
Do not sharpen it.
Posted: 9/5/2017 11:25:59 PM EDT
[#5]
Bayonets were designed for puncturing, not cutting. As such, they were not sharpened. Sharpening is supposed to make them stick in bones and allow the user to be bayoneted by one of the bayonetees friends.
Posted: 9/6/2017 1:26:14 PM EDT
[#6]
Agreed no sharpening. Sharpened bayonets were the work of soldiers in the field trying to add utility to that long heavy hunk of metal they carried. Originally designed not to be sharp. As time went on bayonets became shorter and sharper and looked upon as a more multipurpose tool as opposed to simply a pig sticker. The most recent bayonets the last version of the sheath for the m7 had a built in sharpener as does the current issue m9 type bayonets ( the Marines have a slightly different version)
I will say after one mission with that bayonet dangling off my gear in Iraq catching on stuff I buried it in my duffle. I figured a bunch of guys with guns including belt Feds plus my pistol with five magazines I could not envision a scenario I would be down to bayonets. As luck would have it even with multiple missions was never in a position to fire a single shot. Close a few times but as my primary job was not door kicking I am happy to say neither the guns nor bayonet were ever required
Posted: 9/7/2017 9:37:07 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote History
Quoted:
But then again, I also have more modern (and sharp) bayonets to fit my more modern rifles