Bayonets of the Russian army. Russian needle square bayonet Rifle bayonet: history of development

RUSSIAN BAYONET

Bayonet fighting is one of the varieties of close combat, during which the bayonet is used as a piercing and cutting object, and the butt is used as a striking object. Bayonet fighting is based on the same principles as for fencing.

With full confidence, we can say that the idea of ​​​​creating a combined weapon appeared a very long time ago. But his most popular form eventually became the halberd.

combining such types of weapons as an ax, a spear and a hook. However the largest number development of combined weapons falls on the period of development of firearms.

It was the complexity and duration of reloading that required additional equipment. Many museums around the world have preserved a large number of such weapons are a sword pistol, an ax pistol, a shield pistol, a cane gun, a knife pistol, an ink pistol, an arquebus-halberd and many others. However, the bayonet itself appeared much later.

According to legend, the bayonet was invented in the 17th century in France, in the city of Bayon, hence the name bayonet. The first copies of it were pike tips with a shortened shaft, which was inserted into the muzzle for further combat. In order to introduce this weapon for the entire army, it was decided to demonstrate it to Louis XIV. However, the imperfect design led the king to order bayonets to be banned as impractical weapons.

Fortunately, the same demonstration was attended by a captain with a very famous surname d'Artagnan, who managed to convince Louis. So it appeared in service with the French army the new kind weapons. Then its use spread to other European states. In 1689, the bayonet appeared in service with the military in Austria.

Petrovsky charter

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter I made the practice of bayonet fighting a statutory law of the army. The brutal defeat near Narva served as the starting point for extensive training personnel army and navy hand-to-hand combat, the introduction of fencing in educational establishments. In 1700, with the direct participation of Peter, the first official document regulating the combat training of the Russian infantry "Short ordinary training" was developed. In it, special attention was paid to bayonet fighting using baguettes (a kind of bayonet). Moreover, if in the Western armies baguettes were used mainly as a defensive weapon, the idea of ​​​​an offensive use of a bayonet was developed in the “Brief Ordinary Training”.

Petrovsky grenadier

The preparation of soldiers for bayonet fighting occupied a significant place in the "Military Regulations" put into effect in 1716. Peter 1 demanded that the officers organize and train their subordinates in such a way that "the soldiers get used to it, as in the battle itself." Wherein great importance was given to individual training: "It is necessary for officers to notice every soldier with diligence, so that they can do it in the best possible way."

Soon, one small innovation was introduced - in addition to the cut-off peak, a tube was also attached to the barrel. And so a type of weapon appeared, which the Russians call a bayonet. For a very long period of time, these weapons were used as a means of protecting foot soldiers from cavalry.

The revolution in the use of the bayonet was made by A.V. Suvorov, who understood that only by seriously mastering the skills of a bayonet fight, Russian soldiers would be able to defeat the Turks in hand-to-hand combat.

It was A. Suvorov who made the bayonet a means of attack, emphasizing its clear advantages in close combat. This decision was caused by a number of objective reasons.

At a relatively low level military equipment, aimed fire from smoothbore weapons it was possible to lead no further than 80-100 steps. This distance was covered by running in 20-30 seconds. During such a period of time, the enemy, as a rule, managed to shoot only once. Therefore, a swift attack, turning into a swift bayonet strike, was Suvorov's main means of achieving victory in the battle. He said that "the enemy has the same hands, but they don't know the bayonet."

Soldiers were trained to act with bayonets both in the ranks and individually. Before the Italian campaign of 1799, Suvorov, knowing that the Austrians were weak fighters in a bayonet fight, wrote instructions specifically for their army. It gave such advice: "... and when the enemy approaches thirty steps, the standing army itself moves forward and meets the attacking army with bayonets. The bayonets are held flat, with the right hand, and stabbed with the help of the left. chest or head.

"... at a distance of a hundred steps to command: march-march! At this command, people grab their guns with their left hand and run at the enemy with bayonets shouting "Vivat"! The enemy must be stabbed right in the stomach, and if which is not pinned with a bayonet, then its butt."

The recommendation to strike in the stomach is due to the fact that the soldiers of the regular army (in this case, the French) had thick leather straps on their chests that crossed each other (one for a half-saber, the other for a cartridge bag).

French infantry

Breaking through such protection is quite difficult for an experienced fighter. A blow to the face was also associated with the risk of a miss, since the opponent could turn his head away. The stomach was open and recoil, being in the ranks, the soldier could not. Suvorov taught to hit the enemy with the first blow, so that the fighter then had time to fend off the attack directed at him. The actions had to be clear and coordinated, according to the principle of "prick - protection" and again "prick - protection". At the same time, as can be seen from the above tips, the butt could be widely used. The tactics used against the Turks, the Russians successfully tried on the French.

Borodino - a great battle.

And in the future, special attention was traditionally paid to bayonet fighting in the Russian army.

“If, for example, you are feigning, then feigning mentally, because fencing in battle is the first thing, and, most importantly, remember that you need to stab the enemy at a full lunge, in the chest, with a short blow, and shortly back out of his chest, tear out the bayonet ...

Remember: from the chest shortly back, so that he does not grab it with his hand ... That's it! R-time - a full lunge and r-time - shortly back. Then r-one-two! R-one-two! stomp your foot briefly, intimidate him, the enemy r-one-d-two! It was in 1871, Gilyarovsky then served in the army as a volunteer.

The instructor Ermilov, like Suvorov, also loved figurative and intelligible expressions:

“And whoever has the wrong fighting stance, Yermilov loses his temper:

What got you hooked? Stomach, whether that hurts, gray-footed! You freely hold on, like a general fell apart in a carriage, and you, like a woman over a pail ... A goose on a wire!

The method of hitting “on a full lunge, in the chest, with a short blow” at that time was a relative novelty in the Russian army, because back in the years of the Crimean War (1853-1856), Russian soldiers hit with a bayonet in a different way. The writer-historian Sergeev-Tsensky described this technique as follows:

“Russian soldiers were taught to hit with a bayonet only in the stomach and from top to bottom, and, after hitting, lower the butt, so that the bayonet went up, twisting the inside: it was useless to even take such wounded to the hospital.”

Indeed, what could be the use of the hospital after that ...

Refuse so effective way bayonet fighting had to be under international pressure.

The fact is that in 1864 the first Geneva Convention was signed, which dealt exclusively with the issues of rendering assistance to wounded soldiers. The initiator of the convention was the Swiss public figure Henri Dunant. In 1859, he organized care for the wounded at the Battle of Solferino during the Austro-Italian-French War, which resulted in 40,000 dead and wounded. He was also the initiator of the creation of the organization, which later became known as the Red Cross (Red Crescent) Society. The Red Cross was chosen as the identification badge of doctors working on the battlefield.

In Russia, the Red Cross Society was established in May 1867 under the name "Society for the Care of the Wounded and Sick Soldiers." This is where I had to face the requests of the international community (mainly in the person of England and France, who had the saddest memories of Russian bayonet attacks during the Crimean War) to abandon the terrible blow to the stomach. As an alternative, the blow to the chest described above was chosen.

Bayonet fighting is a kind of fencing, in the technique of which a lot is borrowed from the technique of fighting with long-pole weapons. The assertion that the Russian bayonet battle was the best in Europe, although it set everyone on edge, is nevertheless true, and this was recognized in any army until the Second World War.

The main recommendations for bayonet fighting at the beginning of the last century were set out in Alexander Lugarr's book "A Guide to Fencing with Bayonets", published in 1905 after the end of the Russo-Japanese War.

Here are a few of the methods outlined there:

“The soldier strikes with his gun at or slightly above his head.

The butt of the weapon is turned up. The bayonet is aimed at the head, neck or chest; a little above. A parade against such a blow is made, holding a gun

butt up, leading the enemy's bayonet to the left with the central part of the box.

(It is possible to repulse such a blow with your own bayonet or with the upper part of the gun, holding the weapon with the bayonet up and taking it away with a directed blow to the right or left,

while slightly bending the body).

2. The blow is applied from the bottom up, with bent knees, and directed to the abdomen. They beat him off by turning the gun with a bayonet to the ground, taking the enemy’s weapon to the left or right.

3. It is carried out according to the same principle as impact No. 2, but the knees are not so strongly bent. The bayonet is directed from the bottom up to the head or neck. The parade is in progress with a simple movement guns to the side. The attacker's bayonet is taken to the center of the box; body moves to the left. (With the upper grip of the gun with the right hand, the same thing is done, but in the opposite direction. This position is also convenient because it allows the defender to immediately go on the attack himself).

As we can see, Lugarr does not offer to refuse a bayonet in the stomach. True, he does not recommend raising the bayonet in the stomach, “turning inside out”. The times are not the same, the humane twentieth century is in the yard ...

The first Russian rifle, which was originally designed as a breech-loading rifle, was a 4.2-line rifle mod. 1868 of the Gorlov-Gunius system (“Berdan system No. 1”).

This rifle was designed by our officers in the USA and fired without a bayonet. Gorlov, at his own discretion, chose a three-sided bayonet for the rifle, which was installed under the barrel.

After firing with a bayonet, it turned out that the bullet was moving away from the aiming point. After that, a new, more durable four-sided bayonet was designed (remember that three sides were needed exclusively for muzzle-loading systems). This bayonet, as on previous rifles, was placed to the right of the barrel to compensate for derivation.

Such a bayonet was also adopted for the 4.2-line infantry rifle mod. 1870

("Berdan system No. 2") and, slightly modified, to the dragoon version of this rifle. And then very interesting attempts began to replace the needle bayonet with a cleaver bayonet. It was only through the efforts of the best Russian Minister of War in the entire history of our state, Dmitry Alekseevich Milyutin, that the excellent Russian bayonet was defended. Here is an excerpt from the diary of D.A. Milyutin on March 14, 1874: “... the question of replacing bayonets with cleavers has been raised again ... following the example of the Prussians. Three times this question has already been discussed by competent persons: everyone unanimously gave preference to our bayonets and refuted the sovereign’s assumptions that bayonets adjoined the guns only at the time when the need to use edged weapons presented itself. And despite all the previous reports in this sense, the issue is raised again for the fourth time. With a high probability, here we can assume the insistence of the Duke Georg of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who cannot allow us to have anything better than in the Prussian army.

It's time to remember one more thing. interesting feature Russian bayonet, its sharpening. Very often it is called a screwdriver. And even very serious authors write about the dual purpose of the bayonet, they say, they can stab the enemy and unscrew the screw. This, of course, is nonsense.

For the first time, the sharpening of the bayonet blade not on the tip, but on a plane similar to the sting of a screwdriver, appeared on newly manufactured bayonets for the Russian rapid-fire 6-line rifle mod. 1869 (“Krnka system”) and four-sided bayonets for an infantry 4.2-linear rifle mod. 1870 ("Berdan system No. 2"). Why was she needed? Clearly do not unscrew the screws. The fact is that the bayonet must not only be “sticked” into the enemy, but also quickly removed from him. If a bayonet sharpened on a point stuck into a bone, then it was difficult to remove it, and a bayonet sharpened to a plane, as it were, bypassed the bone without getting stuck in it.

By the way, another curious story is connected with the position of the bayonet relative to the barrel. After the Berlin Congress of 1878, when withdrawing his army from the Balkans Russian empire gave the young Bulgarian army over 280 thousand 6-line rapid-fire rifles mod. 1869 "Krnka systems" mainly with bayonets arr. 1856. But a lot of bayonets for rifled guns mod. 1854 and to earlier smoothbore. These bayonets normally adjoined the Krnks, but the blade of the bayonet was not located to the right, as it should be, but to the left of the barrel. It was possible to use such a rifle, but it was impossible to shoot accurately from it without reshooting. And besides, this position of the bayonet did not reduce the derivation. The reasons for this incorrect placement were different slots on the tubes, which determine the method of attaching the bayonet: arr. 1856 was fixed at the front sight, and bayonets to the systems of 1854 and earlier were fixed on the under-barrel "bayonet rear sight"

Privates of the 13th Belozersky Infantry Regiment in combat uniform with full field equipment and a Berdan No. 2 rifle with an attached bayonet. 1882

Private of the Sofia Infantry Regiment with a muzzle-loading rifle mod. 1856 with an attached trihedral bayonet and clerk of the Divisional Headquarters (in full dress). 1862

And so the years passed, and the era of magazine weapons began. The Russian 3-line rifle already had a shorter bayonet. The overall length of the rifle and bayonet was shorter than previous systems. The reason for this was the changed requirements for the overall length of the weapon, now the overall length of the rifle with the bayonet had to be higher than the eyes of a soldier of average height.

The bayonet still remained attached to the rifle, it was believed that the soldier should shoot accurately, and when the bayonet was attached to the rifle, shot without it, the aiming point changed. That at very close distances it doesn’t matter, but at distances of about 400 steps it was already impossible to hit the target.

The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) showed new tactics battle, and it was noted with surprise that by the time of the hand-to-hand fight, the Japanese soldiers still had time to fasten bladed bayonets to their Arisaks.

Soviet bayonets at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Top down:

bayonet for 3-line rifle arr. 1891, bayonet for 3-line rifle mod. 1891/30, bayonet for ABC-36, bayonet for SVT-38, bayonets for CBT-40 of two types

Bayonets in scabbards. From top to bottom: bayonet to CBT-40, bayonet to SVT-38, bayonet to ABC-36

The history of the Russian bayonet is overgrown with a mass of legends, sometimes completely untrue. Many of them have long been accepted as true.

The Russian bayonet is traditionally needle-shaped with a three or four-sided blade, a neck and a tube with a slot for putting on the barrel. Now it is customary to criticize military officials who kept our soldiers with a needle bayonet for so long, when the “cleaver bayonet”, a bayonet with a knife-shaped blade and a handle, was already introduced in many armies of the world. No matter what explanations they come up with. Perhaps the most absurd thing is that military officials believed that “bayonet-knives” are of great economic value for a soldier, and they will carry them home from service. And no one needs a needle bayonet. Such nonsense can be cultivated only by people who are far from military history, who have absolutely no idea of ​​the rules for handling state property. It is strange that the presence of full-time cleavers and other edged soldier's weapons is not commented on by the authors of this "wild explanation".

Were there bayonets-cleavers in the Russian army? Of course they were. Back in the 18th century for Jaeger fittings such bayonets were adopted, in those days they were called daggers. The bayonet-cleaver, for example, was at the famous Russian Littikh fitting arr. 1843. Again a strange picture is drawn, why Russian huntsmen and skirmishers did not cut their hands when loading a fitting with a hewn blade. The answer to it is simple, the huntsmen and skirmishers decided with their rifled weapons specific tasks, modern language they were snipers. An example is the episode connected with the defense of Smolensk in 1812. Against the actions of only one huntsman on the right bank of the Dnieper, the French were forced to concentrate rifle fire and use artillery piece, only by night the fire of the huntsman subsided. In the morning next day at that place, a non-commissioned officer of the Jaeger regiment, killed by a core, was found. What need does a sniper have in a bayonet? Only in extreme cases does he attach the bayonet to his fitting.

A very important issue was the length of the bayonet, it was determined not just like that, but based on the most important requirement. The total length of the gun with the bayonet must be such that the infantryman can repel the saber blow of the cavalryman at a safe distance. Accordingly, the length of the bayonet was determined in this way. The rifled fittings were shorter than infantry rifles and the bayonet-cleaver for them was correspondingly longer. When fired, he caused inconvenience, outweighed the muzzle of the barrel down, deflected the direction of the bullet.

A gun with a needle bayonet in the hands of a skilled soldier worked wonders. As an example, we can recall the feat of Corporal Leonty Korennoy, in 1813, in the battle of Leipzig in the village of Gossu, his unit was squeezed by superior enemy forces. Having evacuated the wounded, Korennoy with a small number of comrades entered into a bayonet battle with the French, soon he was left alone, parrying bayonet blows, he inflicted them himself, after the bayonet broke, he fought back with a butt. When Root, wounded by French bayonets, fell, there were many French bodies around him. The hero received 18 bayonet wounds, but survived, in recognition of his highest military prowess, on the personal order of Napoleon, he was released from captivity.

The basics of the bayonet attack of a Russian soldier were taught back in the time of Alexander Suvorov. Even today, his phrase, which has become a proverb, is well known to many: “a bullet is a fool, a bayonet is a good fellow.” This phrase was first published in the manual for combat training of troops, prepared by the famous Russian commander and published under the title "The Science of Victory" in 1806. For many years to come, the bayonet attack became a formidable weapon of the Russian soldier, with which there were not so many who wanted to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

In his work "The Science of Victory", Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov called on soldiers and officers to effectively use the available ammunition. Not surprising, given that it took a long time to reload muzzle-loading weapons, which in itself was a problem. That is why the illustrious commander urged the infantrymen to shoot accurately, and at the time of the attack, use the bayonet as efficiently as possible. The smooth-bore guns of that time were never a priori considered rapid-fire, so the bayonet attack in battle was given great importance - the Russian grenadier during the bayonet charge could kill up to four opponents, while hundreds of bullets fired by ordinary infantrymen flew "into milk". The bullets and guns themselves were not as effective as modern small arms, and their effective range was severely limited.

long time Russian gunsmiths simply did not create mass small arms without the possibility of using a bayonet with it. The bayonet was trusty weapon infantryman in many wars, the Napoleonic wars were no exception. In battles with the French troops, the bayonet more than once helped the Russian soldiers to prevail on the battlefield. The pre-revolutionary historian A. I. Koblenz-Kruz described the story of the grenadier Leonty Root, who in 1813, in the battle of Leipzig (Battle of the Nations), joined the battle with the French as part of a small unit. When his comrades died in battle, Leonty continued to fight alone. In battle, he broke his bayonet, but continued to fight off the enemy with his butt. As a result, he received 18 wounds and fell among the French he killed. Despite his wounds, Root survived and was taken prisoner. Struck by the courage of the warrior, Napoleon later ordered the release of the brave grenadier from captivity.

Russian four-sided needle bayonet for the Mosin rifle

Remembering their European campaigns, Wehrmacht soldiers, in conversations with each other or in letters sent to Germany, voiced the idea that those who did not fight the Russians in hand-to-hand combat did not see a real war. Artillery shelling, bombing, skirmishes, tank attacks, marches through impassable mud, cold and hunger could not be compared with furious and short hand-to-hand fights, in which it was extremely difficult to survive. They especially remembered the fierce hand-to-hand fights and close combat in the ruins of Stalingrad, where the struggle was literally for individual houses and floors in these houses, and the path traveled in a day could be measured not only by meters, but also by the corpses of dead soldiers.

During the Great Patriotic War, soldiers and officers of the Red Army were deservedly known as a formidable force in hand-to-hand matches. But the experience of the war itself showed a significant reduction in the role of the bayonet during hand-to-hand combat. Practice has shown that Soviet soldiers used knives and sapper shovels more efficiently and successfully. An important role was played by the increasing distribution of automatic weapons in the infantry. For example, submachine guns, which were massively used by Soviet soldiers during the war years, never received bayonets (although they were supposed to), practice showed that short bursts at close range were much more effective.

Today, the bayonet attached to the barrel of the rifle still plays a role. We often forget how powerful he is. Its gleaming blade is the most fearsome weapon in hand-to-hand combat. But why is the triangular bayonet so good, and why has it become so important in hand-to-hand combat?

In fact, a dagger in the form of a trihedral prism appeared in antiquity. However, its potential was truly revealed by the Russian army. During the First and Second World Wars, a triangular bayonet mounted under the barrel of a long Mosin rifle became calling card Russian soldier. The Russians loved this weapon for its incredible penetrating power. In winter, soldiers wore uniforms made of dense materials, so a bayonet with low penetrating power was not suitable. The triangular bayonet did not have such a problem.

On the other hand, the Russian army, being poorly equipped, emphasized hand-to-hand combat. During the First and Second World Wars, the picture was as follows: Russian soldiers, breathing heavily, hobbled across a snow-covered field, dressed in padded jackets and with “three-rulers” in their hands. At a signal, the troops rushed to the enemy positions with a shout of “Hurrah”, crushing everything in their path ...

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However, the power of the trihedral bayonet is expressed not only in its penetrating ability. Due to the special design, the wounds inflicted on the enemy were deep and did not heal well; it was worth inflicting one blow, and the enemy was not only out of order, he was incurable. The special shape made it possible to quickly pull out the bayonet and again rush into battle. On the other hand, such bayonets were easy to produce, which fully corresponded to the tasks of full-scale military operations.

In the early 50s, China bought a large batch of Mosin rifles of the 1944 model from the USSR, which were copied and became type 53 rifles - the first unified weapon of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA). Triangular Soviet-made bayonets were widely used in the preparation of the army. At that time, due to the lack of heavy weapons, the PLA still prioritized light infantry, which, of course, favored such a powerful weapon as a triangular bayonet, especially in close combat. The bayonet was standard equipment on the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, as well as on the Type 56 submachine gun subsequently developed. For a long time, the bayonet was a testament to the prowess and power of the PLA, as well as a symbol of fighting spirit.

The trihedral bayonet was in service with the PLA for 40 years and was removed in the late 80s. Why? In fact, this was the inevitable result of military technological progress - as military equipment was modernized and the interaction of troops was strengthened, the PLA ceased to rely on light infantry.

In modern warfare, a special role is assigned to firepower, and the likelihood of hand-to-hand combat between soldiers is becoming less and less. Despite the enormous power of the trihedral bayonet, especially in terms of stabbing, it is the simplest weapon in terms of characteristics. In other words, the era of the bayonet has already passed. New bayonet knives require not only penetrating power, but also versatility. In modern warfare, they are more like "tools of labor."

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian tsarist army demonstrated the power of the bayonet to the whole world. Currently, this melee weapon is still in service with the Russian army, but these are completely different models designed to perform more versatile tasks.

General information about bayonets

A bayonet from a rifle is a melee weapon, the main task of which is to defeat the enemy with a powerful piercing blow in hand-to-hand combat. The weapon is attached to the muzzle of a rifle, shotgun, carbine or machine gun. Depending on the type, all bayonets can be divided into the following groups:

• Faceted or needle bayonets. Unlike blade models, these weapons were small in size and easily hit the enemy's bodies. While bayonet attacks played a huge role on the battlefield, this bayonet was out of competition, but with the advent of machine guns, it lost its position;
• Blade bayonets. A typical example of such a weapon would be a bayonet-knife from a Kalashnikov assault rifle. He allowed not only to chop, but also to prick. In addition, with the help of a bayonet-knife, you can perform a lot of different chores.

All weapons of this type are divided into categories depending on the method of attachment:

• To the tip of the forearm and to the stock ring at the same time;
• To the trunk;
• Be removable or non-removable;
• Folding.

At present, folding bayonets are considered the most advanced modification, but they should soon completely disappear.

Rifle bayonet: development history

The bayonet weapon is a direct descendant of the fighting pikes, which in turn are the latest evolution of the spear. Before the advent of the first firearms, edged weapons were the main weapons of the infantry. When whole detachments appeared, armed with muskets, edged weapons gradually began to lose their positions. But since the musket needed a long reload, detachments of pikemen were given to help the musketeers. The life of a soldier with a pike was short, since he could only fight in close combat, so these units gradually disappeared.

Since after the shot the shooter turned out to be practically unarmed, he needed a specific weapon that would not interfere with owning a firearm at the same time. This is how the first samples of baguettes appeared - long blades that were inserted directly into the barrel of a musket. This weapon interfered with reloading, but in the conditions of a fleeting fight, it coped well with its duties.

In 1699, the first bayonets appeared, which did not interfere with the reloading process at all. Soon, this weapon almost completely replaced the pikes from the battlefield.

The first bayonets were faceted and had a tubular mount. The classic Russian bayonet, which was glorified by the great commander Suvorov, belongs to just such a variety. In addition, this melee weapon comes in the following varieties:

• Bayonets with a tube with slots and without;
• Pipe bayonets with lock;
• Tubular without clamps;
• Bayonets that are fastened with clamps;
• Bayonets with clamps of screw design;
• Bayonets with latches.

In addition to faceted bayonets, a completely different group developed - bayonets-cleavers. This weapon was more functional, although in battle the same Russian bayonet significantly surpassed them in speed and maneuverability.

German bayonets of the two world wars of the 20th century

Before the outbreak of the First World War, Germany was the leader in the production of bayonets for rifles. German weapons of this type were distinguished by a huge variety of models, which can be seen in the rare surviving photos of those years. The most popular bayonet was model 98-05, which was represented by knife bayonets. This weapon was significantly different from the same Russian bayonets of the tsarist, and even the Soviet army.

This weapon proved to be so successful that German soldiers used them not only in the First, but also in the Second World War. Due to the fact that these bayonets were forged from high-quality metal, today many models of those years have been preserved.

The famous Mosin rifle bayonet

The first bayonets for the Mosin rifle appeared before the start of the First World War. If you look up archival documents of those years, you can see that initially it was proposed to make Mosin's bayonet of a knife type. However, proponents of the classical needle gun managed to insist on the old design. Mosin rifles after civil war continued to produce in the USSR, having carried out several upgrades of the bayonet.

It should be noted that in the USSR the bayonet mount was mainly modernized, leaving its shape unchanged. During the Great Patriotic War, bayonets with a knife or even a dagger blade appeared, but these were homemade.

By the mid-1930s, the Soviet command decided that the future was with blade-type bayonets, and the new SVT-38 rifle received a knife bayonet, which was clearly made based on the German model 98-05. Looking at the German army, the government decided that the bayonet for the new rifle should be worn on the belt, putting on the weapon only when necessary.

Indeed, a weapon with automatic reloading did not need a blade constantly attached to it. Nevertheless, the bayonet turned out to be quite formidable and long. Tests showed that this length was not needed, so the upgraded SVT-40 rifle received a shorter removable bayonet. Second World War showed that it was too early to write off bayonets - sometimes the fighters still had to go into a bayonet attack.

SKS bayonet and its features

After the end of the Second World War, the Simonov self-loading carbine was adopted by the USSR army. The results of the Second World War showed that a removable bayonet-knife had some drawbacks, so they decided to equip the new weapon with a folding integral bayonet, which does not interfere with transportation. SKS bayonets were produced in two types: needle and knife. This mounting design has not yet been used in the history of Russian weapons, so there were many opponents of folding models.

However, one could not disagree with the statements of the designers, who claimed that removable bayonets were practically useless in a surprise melee attack. Also, the folding design was safe for both the shooter and the people around him.

AKM bayonet and its modifications

The first Kalashnikov assault rifle, which entered service in 1949, was generally devoid of a bayonet. Only after the modernization of 1953 did he finally acquire these archaic melee weapons. The bayonet was called 6X2 and almost completely copied the SVT-40 bayonet. The only difference was in the locking mechanism.

The bayonet for the AKM was made on the basis of the Navy reconnaissance knife, which was designed by Lieutenant Colonel Todorov in 1956. For the AK-74 was developed its own version of the bayonet-knife, model 1978.

In 1989, another upgrade of the AK bayonet took place, but the terrible workmanship of these bayonets made all the efforts of the engineers useless.

At present, the bayonets are living out their last days. According to military experts, they will soon disappear completely.