M1905 bayonet

The Model of 1905 bayonet was made for the U.S. M1903 Springfield rifle.^[1] This designation was changed to Model 1905 in 1917, and then to M1905 in 1925, when the Army adopted the M designation nomenclature. The M1905 bayonet has 16 inch (40.6 cm) blade, and a 4 inch (10.1 cm) handle. The bayonet also fits the U.S. M1 Garand rifle. In 1943, a shorter 10 inch (25.4 cm) bladed version was produced with a black molded plastic handle, and designated the M1 bayonet.

M1942

The M1942 is the collector designation for the M1905 Bayonet with a black molded plastic handle. It was manufactured in sufficient numbers to keep up with wartime production of M1 Garand rifles. The M1942's blade is also 16 inches long with a 4 inch long handle. The M1905 and M1942 bayonets are interchangeable and can be used on both the M1903 Springfield and M1 Garand rifles. The designation M1942 was never officially adopted by the Army; all sixteen inch blade bayonets were referred to as M1905, regardless of the construction of their grips.

M1 bayonet with black molded plastic handle

U.S Marine sheaths an M-1 bayonet

The M1905E1 and M1 bayonet

In 1943, the U.S. Army decided to shorten the M1905 bayonet's blade to 10 inches (25.4 cm) and as many of the M1905 and M1942 bayonets as possible were recalled, their blades were cut down to size, and were reissued. These shortened M1905 bayonets were re-designated as M1905E1.

The U.S. Army also introduced the new M1 Bayonet which was designed to be used with the M1 Garand rifle. The M1 bayonet's blade is 10 inches (25.4 cm) long and the handle is 4 inches (10.1 cm) long.

These shortened bayonets functioned well in the European theater, where in the rare bayonet-actions of the time they were matched up against the 9 ³⁄₄ inch long blade of the German S84/98 III bayonet fitted on the Karabiner 98k rifle. However, in the Pacific theater, the Japanese used the much longer 15.75 inches (25.4 cm) bladed Type 30 sword bayonet on the already very long Arisaka rifle, which caused many American troops to retain the longer, unmodified M1905 bayonet.

Scabbards

The original M1905 scabbard had a wooden body with a rawhide cover and employed a wire belt-hanger which went over and around the supporting belt. The M1910 scabbard was covered in canvas with a leather tip. Wire cartridge-belt hooks replaced the belt-hanger. The M1910 scabbard was the primary scabbard used during the First World War. Earlier M1905 scabbards were modified by replacing the belt-hanger with a belt hook. A green-leather bodied M1917 scabbard (designed for the M1917 bayonet) was approved as a substitute for the M1905 bayonet scabbard.

A new scabbard, the M3, was developed early in the Second World War to replace these earlier scabbards. The M3 scabbard had a fiberglass body, with a metal throat, and was equipped with hooks which fixed to the cartridge-belt.^[3]

See also

U.S. military bayonets of the Great War (World War I). Shown is the U.S. Bayonet M1905 affixed to the 1903 Springfield Rifle and the U.S. Bayonet M1917 affixed to (Trench-broom) Winchester Model 12 pump-action shotgun.

• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
• M1917 bayonet
• M3 fighting knife
• M4 bayonet
• M5 bayonet
• M6 bayonet
• M7 bayonet

Notes

External links

• Olive Drab