How do Bayonnetes work?

BBq_Woa!

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 95.3%
61   3   0
I'm very sorry for this ferociously stupid question.

I'm extremely mechanically inclined, I self teach every aspect of every thing I encounter,

this being said, I don't own bayonnetes for any of my guns, nor have I ever used one,
If I were to, after about 3 seconds, I'd know how they work.

But, being that I've never used one or read up on them, I just don't get it..

Do they have some sort of springed clasp inside the handle of the bayonnete? do you rotate them around the barrel, then pull foreward to release?

how do they "snap" on, and then not come off if they are stuck in something and the rifle is pulled away?

thanks very much..
Oh, if you can link me to a diagram I'd appreciate it..
oh, and if various bayonnetes use different mounting systems, i'll find that very interesting (and can you tell me about a few)


-Derek
 
phatns2pid said:
As far as I'm aware, they are basically attached in "dangerous" mode. No switchblade-like effects.

um...what?

i know the blades don't retract into their handles..
my question was how to they mount into bayonnete mounts on rifles.

what mechanism holds them in place on the gun..
 
On enfields there are two lugs that stick out the sides of the barrel. The bayonet twists onto those lugs and locks in place with a spring loaded lock!

Hope this makes sense!
 
ColdOne said:
On enfields there are two lugs that stick out the sides of the barrel. The bayonet twists onto those lugs and locks in place with a spring loaded lock!

Hope this makes sense!


it does. i expected something like that...

It take it then that it is the case that different rifles use different devices?
 
Some guns work on resistence. They have slight indentations on the rails that the bayonets slide onto. You have to force the bayonet past this, and it is then "locked in". Only with significant force in the other direction does the bayonet come off. Only actual mechanism I am aware of.
 
On the M4,M5,M6,M7 bayonets, you have a little 'button' just behind the handguard that you depress. This levers two little lugs into the bayonet handle. You slip the bayonet over the flashhider and back as far as it will go. You release the button and the lugs slide up and latch onto the bayonet lug. This will not come off and you can stick pigs to your hearts content.

Very simple design, basically pivots inside the handle.
 
Please google the word "bayonet", and the "Wikipedia Encylopedia" and others, will give you the history of the bayonet, originating from the fighting peasants of Bayonne, France, who after running out of ammo, rammed their hunting knife's and the end of their musket !
 
"...what mechanism holds them in place on the gun..." Depends on the rifle, but most 20th Century types have a spring loaded mechanical latch. No significant force is required to put it on or remove it.
19th Century and earlier firearms have a lug on the barrel and a tube on the bayonet that goes over the muzzle and is twisted to lock it on. No springs or mechanical latches involved.
The earliest type was just a knife with a handle designed to jam into the muzzle of a musket. Naturally, this precluded firing.
Bayonets were invented in response to the PBI needing a weapon after firing the one shot, at very close range, in battle. They were a throw back to the days of pikemen. Now they're primarily used because they look good on parade.
 
snowhunter said:
Please google the word "bayonet", and the "Wikipedia Encylopedia" and others, will give you the history of the bayonet, originating from the fighting peasants of Bayonne, France, who after running out of ammo, rammed their hunting knife's and the end of their musket !

That's not where it started...
The bayonet came before the Musket, in the form of the Pike.
Pike combat, strategy, and tactics dominated European military arsenals for hundreds if not a thousand years, and rightly so, as they work really well against cavalry, and sword.

And if anyone says they don't work in our modern day then consider asking the few survivors in the Iraq Army who felt the sting of a full out British Bayonet Charge...or the Argentine Army, who where in the Falklands.

Very few people have ever been killed with the bayonet or saber, but the fear of having their guts explored with cold steel in the hands of battle-maddened men has won many a fight. -General George Patton
 
Nine said:

The only time I used a bayonet I wished I had your setup, Nine.

Back in the day... forst day out in the army.. with all the gear...
<<Ok guys, get used to all that has been issued to you>>
We proceeded throwing tha blade at everything that wasn't a rock..... 3 hourr later, breakfast came.... bread (uncut) and pate - in unopened cans... without anything to use but the bayonnets.

Ehhhhh, good memories.....
 
BayonetLatch.jpg


The one on the right is a Swiss M1957 Bayonet for the Stgw.57. And no that Bayont frog is a Stg.90 Bayonet Frog, thats how I bought it so I don't know why its miss-matched. This one works by sliding the catch away from the bayonet lug to let it go (forward and down). :)

The other one is a M1924/49 Short Bayonet issued with the FN SAFN M1949. Yes that is a P37 type webfrog. A Belguim issued bayonet on a Austrialian Issued Frog. :dancingbanana: Belguim did issue P37 webbing post war but I don't know if they used a P37 frog with the bayonets. Fits nicely together though, alittle tight with the loop to hold the handle but its easy to remove and put it back on its not too tight and it does fit. This one works by pushing the button in and it pushs the little catch away from the slot letting it slide in and out. :)

Dimitri
 
BBq_Woa! said:
it does. i expected something like that...

It take it then that it is the case that different rifles use different devices?

I've got a bunch of bayonets, no two are the same. Every country and designer had their own ideas and ingenuity...the most frightening bayonet I've seen is the SMLE sword bayonet...what a deadly looking item...:D

They all lock on solidly as befits a milspec part...made for heavy use.

Go to a gun show and look at a few of them, it's interesting.
 
Back
Top Bottom