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Posted: 5/18/2005 12:37:39 AM EDT
| How often in real combat is a bayonet utilized? It seems to be one of those things we still have available that no one every really uses in reality. How far off am I on this? Just trying to get a feel for if a bayo lug is an absolute neccasary or just a token item. |
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How often do you need an extra roll of toilet paper? Most of the time it just sits there, but when you need it, not much else will work. Most bayonets will see work as field knives, but it doesn't change what their purpose actually is. Yes, they've been used recently. |
The way I see it, if I were told to move in on an unknown position where it's likely to encounter badguys I'd rather have it on than not. If it's hot and heavy in your new location it's quicker to poke than reload. It also makes grabbing the muzzle much less desireable. 
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| 99.5% of the time, a bayonet is used as a GP field knife, hence the redesign of the standard bayonet. Mounting it has basically become more a way of broadcasting to the enemy that you are ready to play rough, than anything else. It's that other .5% of the time, when it's nice to have it on your weapon. |
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I think the Highland unit referred to was the Argyle and Southerlands, a unit that has served with many distinctions through many wars. The Highlanders have a reputation much like the Gurkhas. One of the battlefield reports that repeated itself often on the Somme in 1916 was officers' complaints that men refused to close with the enemy with bayonets, despite the extensive training at the time. Closing with an enemy with your pig-sticker seems only a good idea until you remember that he has a pig-sticker as well. I think the bayonet is even less relevant now, especially since rifles have gotten shorter and so have the blades - they don't look much like pikes anymore, and bullpup rifles make them look a bit silly. For riot control I think the message they send would be difficult to misunderstand but in these days of political correctness I doubt we'll see that either. On a single-shot rifle there is little other option for close-combat, the quickly-reloadable Lee-Enfield and Mauser 98 rifles eliminated much of the need I think. |
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