The Owen Mk. I bayonet is a Pattern 1907 newly-manufactured with a 10 in. (254 mm.) blade having a 5 in. (127 mm.) fuller. Owen Mk. I bayonets were manufactured at Small Arms Factory No.3, Orange in 1944–45 and at Lithgow Small Arms Factory in 1953. The wood grips were made by Slazenger and are marked with SLAZ and a two-digit year.

The Owen Mk. I/I variant is an existing Pattern 1907 bayonet with the blade shortened to 8 in. These were converted at SAF-3, Orange in 1944, but are uncommon. Care must be taken to authenticate any example purporting to be an Owen Mk. I/I.

The Owen scabbard is identical to the Australian-made Pattern 1907, but shorter to accommodate a 10 in. (254 mm.) blade. The scabbard bodies were made by Mangrovite and the steel mounts at SAF-3, Orange.

This Owen Mk. I bayonet was made in January 1945 at SAF-3, Orange. The scabbard was made in 1953.

The STEN Mk. I bayonet was fabricated out of sheet steel and utilized a rod-style blade copied from the No. 4 Mk. II* socket bayonet. Although the STEN rod was of a larger diameter, this enabled the STEN Mk. I bayonet to use the existing No. 4 scabbard. Even more crude than the later No. 4 Mk. III bayonet, the STEN Mk. I represented the ultimate in Second World War bayonet simplicity.

The firm of B. & J. Sippel Ltd. produced the sheet steel parts. Spikes marked with the lowercase ”L” are believed to be made by Laspee Engineering Co. of Isleworth. This example was assembled by the firm Grundy Ltd. of Teddington. The socket bears Grundy’s dispersal code, “S41”. The socket also bears a partial Broad Arrow acceptance mark.

The large forward projection on the stamped spring steel catch serves as a fingerguard, so the bayonet can also be used as a hand weapon.

75,280 bayonets were believed produced during 1943–1944, 55,800 by Grundy Ltd. and 19,480 by N.J. Edmonds Ltd. Nearly all of the bayonets were believed scrapped, making period examples like this one quite rare today.

More info on the STEN Mk. I makers and history.

Go to the No.4 Spike Bayonets page.

This example was made by the Wilkinson Sword Co. Ltd., 53 Pall Mall, London. The scabbard is the early No. 5, without the thick brass throatpiece found on post-war scabbards.

Unlike most bayonets, the wooden grip scales wrap completely around the tang. Early examples have the grip secured by a single screw and a press stud without the screw slot.  These early examples are very scarce today.

316,122 No. 5 Mk. I bayonets were produced by the end of 1945. Wartime production was carried out by four manufacturers: 

Wilkinson Sword Co, London—188,354;

Viners Ltd., Sheffield—42,000;

Radcliffe—75,000; and,

Elkington & Co. Ltd., Birmingham—10,768. 

An unknown quantity were produced post-war at the Royal Ordinance Factory, Poole.

No. 5 Mk. I bayonets were also commercially produced by Sterling Ltd. for sale with the 9 mm. Sterling (Patchett) machine carbine and at Rifle Factory Ishapore in India.    Ishapore bayonets were made in small quantity.  More recently, a large quantity of RFI-marked reproductions has surfaced.  The vast majority of RFI-marked No. 5 Mk. I bayonets encountered today are reproductions.

Part knife bayonet and part socket bayonet, The No. 7 was a very innovative and complex design, with a unique swiveling pommel. The No. 7 Mk. I/L (spoken: number seven, mark one, land service) was intended to address a number of desires:

1) Replace the No. 4 spike bayonet (that nobody liked);
2) Utilize the clip-point blade of the No. 5 Mk. I bayonet (that everybody liked); and,
3) Serve a dual role as a fighting knife.

Despite all of it's ingenuity, the No. 7 Mk. I/L came to prove the old adage that a camel is a horse, as designed by committee. It was also capable of mounting to the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle, these bayonets were not issued as such, only being used with the No. 4 rifle for ceremonial purposes.

The grip scales are made of a resin impregnated cloth composite, Paxolin, and have deep finger grooves to allow use as a fighting knife. Examples are also found with black grips.

176,000 No. 7 Mk. I/L bayonets were produced. The design was perfected by the Wilkinson Sword Co., who produced 1,000 bayonets in 1944. Mass production was carried out by four manufacturers from 1945–1948:

Birmingham Small Arms, Ltd. —25,000;

Elkington & Co. Ltd., Birmingham —20,000;

Royal Ordnance Factory, Poole —30,000; and,

Royal Ordnance Factory, Newport —100,000.

This example was produced by Elkington & Co. of Birmingham. Elkington & Co. are one of the most important names in English silver and certainly the most important in silver plate - they invented the electroplating process in the 1830s.

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15.1

The Sterling L2 was widely exported, with 400,000 produced before production ceased. Sterling went bankrupt in 1988. Loved for its reliability, the Sterling first entered British service in 1944 (as the Patchett machine carbine) and served British forces until 1994.

Closely patterned on the No. 5 Mk. I bayonet, these bayonets were commercially produced for Sterling by Hopkinson Ltd.

This is an early example that used the No. 5 blade and wood grips secured by screws. Sterling briefly produced a variant with riveted plastic grips, but found them unsatisfactory. Later examples used the L1 Series blade and riveted sheet steel grips, with rivet spacing identical to the L1 Series bayonets.

Many Sterling bayonets lack the clearance hole in the pommel or exhibit only a witness mark of where it would be, if drilled. While the etched Sterling windowpane blade marking is found on many examples, some earlier examples like this predate its adoption.

The scabbard is a copy of the No. 5, but has a more crudely shaped point.

This example appears to have actually been used in some sort of military or police force, as evidenced by the rack numbers pressed into the wood grips.

The blade is polished bright and carries the etched Sterling windowpane blade marking. The "H" and "C" cast into the pommel signify manufacture by Hopkinson and that the pommel is a casting (rather than a forging).

The scabbard is a copy of the No. 5, but has a more crudely shaped point.

The Haitian Uzi bayonet is similar to the Uzi bayonet used by Israel. The bayonet has black plastic grip scales. The blade markings are uniquely Haitian. The press stud has an unusual central screw slot. The scabbard has a plastic body and round metal frog stud, similar to the FAL Type B bayonet. The South African Uzi variant, designated S1, has sheet steel grip scales.

This example came in a web belt frog.

Haiti obtained arms from Israel during the 1970s and 1980s, including 1,600 Uzi submachine guns (600 in 1974; 1,000 in 1979). In 1983, the New York Times reported that that a subsequent shipment of Uzi's for Haiti was blocked by European authorities. It is not clear whether it was ever delivered.

These Haitian Uzi bayonets were possibly manufactured by Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) or, more likely, the Belgian firearms giant Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal (FN Herstal), and supplied along with Uzi submachine guns that armed the notorious Tonton Macoutes militia. Following restoration of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by Operation Uphold Democracy, the Uzi’s went to the newly-formed Police Nationale d’Haïti (Haitian National Police).

Tonton Macoutes was the common name given to the Milice Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale (Militia of National Security Volunteers). In a Haitian fable, Tonton Macoutes was an evil spirit that kidnapped misbehaving children at night and stored them in his knapsack, never to be seen again.

This example was made in 1940 by Femaru Fegyver És Gépgyár Reszvenytarsasag (Hardware, Weapons and Equipment Factory L.L.C.) of Budapest. This example is the cavalry variant, with an auxiliary front sight atop the muzzle ring.

This bayonet utilizes the French Berthier crosspiece and press stud arrangement. However, the remaining features are quite unique. The flattened cruciform blade profile makes for a very stout blade, much stronger than a typical cruciform blade. The round pommel unscrews to allow replacement of the one-piece wooden grip. The rifle has a stud on front of the upper band, which inserts into the bayonet's pommel to secure the bayonet in place.

The scabbards were painted a light green. A small amount of the original paint remains near the top, having been protected by the frog.

Scabbard (frog stud): (Crown of St. Stephen)

I classify this unmarked example as Israeli, however, it may have been produced under license by Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal (FN Herstal) in Belgium.

This example has black plastic grip scales. The scabbard has a plastic body and round metal frog stud, as was used with the FAL Type B bayonet.

Israel Military Industries Ltd. (IMI) began producing the Uzi in 1955, but lacked sufficient manufacturing and marketing capacity to meet the demand for export contracts. IMI licensed marketing and export production of the Uzi to Belgian firearms giant, FN Herstal from 1956 into the 1970s. Terms of the arrangement were that all contracts required Israel’s advance approval and Israel received half of the profits.

ARMSCOR in South Africa produced the Uzi under license, where it was designated S1. The Ian Smith government in Rhodesia also produced the Uzi under license from 1976 until white minority rule ended in 1980. Unlicensed Uzi copies have been produced in China and Croatia.

The Netherlands was the first foreign country to adopt the Uzi, which was acquired by the Dutch Army in 1956. The Uzi was eventually adopted by police and military of more than 90 countries, including the U.S. Secret Service. The Uzi remains in production today, with more than 10 million believed to have been produced.

A simple rod bayonet that inserts into the nose cap of the M6 Military Model.

The Military Model had a horizontal forward grip resembling the Thompson M1. There were two other versions of the M6, the Police Model and the Semi-Auto Carbine, both of which had a vertical fore grip resembling the early Thompson and did not accept a bayonet.

Designed by Gordon Ingram, the M6 was first manufactured by the Police Ordnance Company in Los Angeles, California. The only major contract for the Military Model was with Peru. Peru procured 10,000 of the M6 Military Model: 2,000 were U.S.-made, in 1951, and, beginning in 1952, another 8,000 were produced under license at Fabrica Armas, Los Andes, Peru. Smaller quantities were also procured by the Cuban Navy and the Constabulary in Puerto Rico.

Police Ordnance Co. closed in 1952, which enabled Ingram to spend about a year working in Peru supervising establishment of their M6 production. Ingram returned to the U.S., going on to design the legendary M10.

Steyr designed the MP 34 to accept the Austrian M1895 bayonet. Steyr produced a special version of the M1895 knife bayonet (pictured above), possibly for MP 34 export contracts.

The m/938 bayonet is a conversion of the Portuguese M1904 bayonet. Portugal found it more economical to rework existing M1904 bayonets than to purchase the Austrian M1895 bayonets.

According to bayonet author and researcher Dennis Ottobre, the conversion consisted of having the hilt cut in half across the tang, a new crossguard with high mounted 15 mm. muzzle ring installed (replacing the original completely) and then the tang was shortened and rewelded with new shorter grips installed. With all the cutting and welding it was necessary to reblue them entirely. 

The m/942 remained in Portuguese service into the 1970s, seeing combat in Africa during the Portuguese Colonial Wars. It must have been quite a sight, seeing this old-world submachine gun serving alongside the futuristic Armalite AR–10 assault rifle.

The m/948 was produced from 1948–1955. Fabrico Braco de Prata (Silver Arms Factory) was a State-owned arms factory in Lisbon. Today, FBP is known as INDEP—Indústrias Nacionais de Defesa, EP (Defense National Industries, Public Corporation).

The m/948 was the only indigenous submachine gun used by Portugal. It enjoyed a long service life, seeing combat service in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portuguese India and Timor.

These "Armamento Marhina" marked examples were sold by a well-known surplus dealer as original items. However, differences in fit and finish between these and other obviously-legitimate examples have led to the consensus that they are likely reproductions.

The South African S1 bayonet has sheet steel grip scales. It used the multipurpose R1 scabbard, with a plastic body and integral teardrop frog stud; and a universal throatpiece allowing use with the R1, S1, FAL Type B, and S.A. No. 9 bayonets.

Initially, Uzi submachine guns and bayonets were purchased from Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal (FN Herstal) in Belgium. South Africa subsequently obtained a license from FN Herstal to produce the Uzi at the state-owned ARMSCOR factory in Lyttleton. The license was supposedly revoked in 1963 following passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 181, calling for a voluntary arms embargo against South Africa. Nonetheless, ARMSCOR continued producing the Uzi into the 1980s. According to a So. African contact, ARMSCOR made the S1 bayonet from 1968–1976.

This bayonet and the Rexim-Favor MC Mk. 4's bayonet mount are both closely patterned after the German FG 42, where the bayonet is reversed in its mounting to stow beneath the barrel. Both the Favor and German FG 42 bayonet borrow much from the French M1936 bayonet.

The Favor submachine gun was a French design marketed by the Swiss firm, Rexim S.A. (Société Anonyme = Corporation). Rexim contracted with the Spanish Arms Factory of La Coruña (Fábrica de Armas de la Coruña) for manufacturing.

The Favor was an odd design, outdated before it was put into production. It was one of the few submachine guns to fire from a closed bolt, which further set it at odds with more contemporary designs. It is believed that approximately 5,000 were produced. The Favor was a modular design that could be configured with different stocks, as a pistol, with different barrels, etc., so not all examples produced included a bayonet mount. The number of bayonets produced is unknown, but is likely to have been substantially fewer than 5,000.

Due to lack of sales, Rexim went bankrupt in 1957. Following Rexim's bankruptcy, the Arms Factory of La Coruña continued marketing the unsold guns. Only Turkey purchased in quantity, which they heavily modified, designating their variant M–68. Today, the Rexim-Favor is best known as the basis for one of the fictional laser weapons used in the 1977 Star Wars movie.

The blade is double-edged, reminiscent of the Serbian M1899 bayonet. The grips are made of molded plastic.

The M1956 bayonet is a modular design which can be taken to pieces and have parts replaced. Catalog numbers sometimes found on the various parts include:

36-189-6 (Blade)
36-190-2 (L. Grip)
36-190-3 (R. Grip)
36-191-2 (Scabbard)
S-38-191-9 (Belt Frog)

Although the dimensions seem pretty normative, it is so small and light that it seems like a toy. Look how small the scabbard is, compared to my hand (and I have very small hands).