The Model 1941 was an innovative rifle design developed by U.S.M.C. Capt. Melvin M. Johnson as an alternative to the M1 Garand. The rifle's recoil-operated action required a lightweight bayonet, which accounts for the bayonet's skeletal appearance.

Essentially, a socket bayonet without a socket, this bayonet mounts to the rifle by means of an ingenious flat spring. The scabbard is leather with a brass thorn to secure the hilt strap.

A total of approximately 30,000 Johnson Model 1941 rifles are believed to have been produced. The Model 1941 rifle and bayonet were used in small numbers by U.S. Marines, the Netherlands, and Chile. The CIA armed some of the Cuban-Exile guerilla forces with Johnson rifles during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion.

Serial numbering of the muzzle ring is believed to have been done by the Netherlands, indicating that this example likely saw service in the Far East with Dutch Naval Forces or the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger or KNIL (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army).

When the U.S. entered the Second World War, no American bayonets had been produced since 1922. Although the M1 Garand rifle had been adopted in 1936, the majority of U.S. forces were still armed with the M1903 rifle of the First World War. A second production of M1905 bayonets occurred 1942–43 to supplement existing stocks of M1905 bayonets.

As shown in this comparison image, the second production represented a redesign that was easier to manufacture and maintain. The most visible characteristics are the crude machining, parkerized finish, and plastic grips. Both black and dark brown grips are encountered. M1905 second production bayonet manufacturers include:

—American Fork & Hoe Co.
—Oneida, Ltd.
—Pal Blade Co.
—Utica Cutlery Co.
—Union Fork & Hoe Co.
—Wilde Drop Forge and Tool.

Approximately 1.5 million were produced by mid-1943, when manufacture of the M1 bayonet began. This example was made in 1942 by Pal Blade Co. It is in near-unissued condition and has dark brown grips.

A new scabbard, the M3, incorporated a cloth-reinforced plastic body. The M3 scabbard was developed at Beckwith Manufacturing Co’s. subsidiary, Felt Process Co. in Roxbury, MA. Beckwith subsequently formed the Victory Plastics Co. subsidiary in Hudson, MA, to manufacture scabbards for the government.

Approximately 3 million M3 scabbards were produced 1942–43. All were made by Victory Plastics Co., except for about 100,000 M3 scabbards made by Detroit Gasket Manufacturing Co. A small quantity of M3 scabbards are also believed to have been produced by Victory Plastics ca. 1952–53.

The scabbard with this example is a U.S. Navy Mark 1, identical to the M3 scabbard, save for markings.

Scabbard (Top Mount): "U S N" over "Mark 1"

Scabbard (Under Top Plate): "2" over "B–N" over"9"

Reverse-engineered from the M1905 bayonet, the U.S. Navy Mark 1 bayonet is made entirely of sheet steel and hard, black Bakelite plastic. The bayonet is fragile and could not stand up to rigorous use. Most examples encountered today exhibit breakage.

The ricasso markings show that this example was produced by Victory Plastics Co. in Hudson, Massachusetts, subsidiary of Beckwith Manufacturing Co.; along with the Navy contract number associated with the bayonet’s production. Examples are also encountered marked “PB Co” in fancy script. These were made by the Pro-phy-lac-tic Brush Co. of Florence, Massachusetts, a peacetime manufacturer of toothbrushes.

300,000 Mark 1 bayonets and scabbards are believed to have been produced between November 1942 and July 1943. Roughly half of the bayonets were made by each of the two bayonet contractors. The U.S. Navy Mark 1 scabbard was also produced by Victory Plastics Co. Many USN Mark 1 scabbards are found with M1905 bayonets. Almost every U. S. Navy ship carried a compliment of small arms, often the M1903 rifle (the standard compliment for battleships was 850 rifles; cruisers 180 rifles).

Bill Porter reported on finding one of these in February 2005. The example in his report had wood grips (Porter’s Page 15). These have continued to turn up occasionally (I have seen 2 or 3, all with plastic grips). The story behind them unexpectedly arose during research into General Cutlery’s involvement with honor guard bayonets. This example turned up among a pile of real M1905 bayonets at a Ft. Worth, TX, gun show. Having recently discovered the story behind them, I couldn’t resist.

A well-known militaria dealer, the late Charles E. Snyder (dba Snyder’s Treasures), reportedly bought a quantity of surplus South Korean M5 (shorty M1) bayonets; and contracted with General Cutlery to manufacture and attach 16-inch replacement blades. General Cutlery would produce the blades and had an arrangement with a local Fremont, Ohio, welding shop to attach facsimile blades to bayonets that they refurbished for honor guard use.

Snyder expected M1905-style blades; however, General Cutlery made the blades using their M7 bayonet tooling. They assembled these strange 16-inch blades to some of the hilts, but Snyder apparently would not pay for them. This left General Cutlery with the assembled bayonets and a quantity of unassembled blades. How many they assembled is not known. As shown in Bill’s report, by ca. 2005, they had made their way onto the collector market. General Cutlery reportedly used some of the unassembled blades to produce a few long-bladed M7 bayonets for commercial sale.

Shortening of M1905 bayonets occurred 1943–45, by the same five contractors that produced M1 bayonets. All tolled, approximately 1 million M1905 bayonets were shortened.

This example was originally made as a M1905 bayonet at Springfield Armory in 1919. It was shortened by the Union Fork & Hoe Co. of Columbus, Ohio. These bayonets are found with both a spear point or a beak point (as this example illustrates).

M3 scabbards were shortened as well. This example is a 16 inch M3 type that has been shortened to conform with the M7 design.

A clone of the U.S. M1892 bayonet, the Sedgley knife bayonet’s workmanship is crude compared to Springfield Armory production. It is unclear whether there were scabbards produced, as all seem to be found in U.S. M1892 scabbards. The M1892 scabbard that this example came in has an unusual marking on the belt hanger. Likely, a property mark of some sort.

According to research by noted M1903 authority, Clark S. Campbell, published in the Society of American Bayonet Collectors (SABC) Journal, Volume 33, Fall 2000, 8,100 of these substitute rifles are believed to have been produced beginning in 1942 by R. F. Sedgley Inc., 2311 North 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA. These rifles were assembled using low-number M1903 receivers and parts scrapped by the Army, along with new barrels, stocks, and die-cast parts produced by Sedgley.

Sedgley is believed to have furnished 2,600 rifles to the Norwegian Contingent in Canada and 2,000 to the Dutch East Indies under commercial contracts. The remaining 3,500 rifles were furnished to the following organizations via the Ordnance Dept.:

1,500 Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
1,000 Minnesota State Guard
   700 Virginia Military Institute (VMI)
   300 Pennsylvania Military College

Initially, the M1 Carbine did not accept a bayonet. Beginning in June 1944, the front band included a bayonet lug. Most earlier carbines were subsequently retrofitted with the bayonet-lug front band.

The M4 bayonet was an adaptation of the M3 combat knife, made by changing the guard and pommel to enable mounting as a bayonet. As discussed below, adapting the M3 "butt plate" (pommel) for bayonet use proved more daunting, due to the strong forces exerted in bayonet fighting and the thinness of the plate.

The first production run of M4 bayonets was 1944–45, with a subsequent run by Camillus Cutlery Co. in 1953. All tolled, just under 2.5 million were produced. Producers include:

—Aerial Cutlery Co.
—Camillus Cutlery Co.
—Imperial Knife Co.
—Kinfolks, Inc.
—Pal Blade Co.
—Utica Cutlery Co.
—W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co.

This example was made by the Imperial Knife Co., Providence, Rhode Island.

Production of the M4 bayonet latch plate was very complex. They were machined out of steel forgings or bar stock. The T-slot required especially intricate and precise machining, the outer oval profile was time-consuming to machine, and precise heat-treatment was also required. For adequate strength, the T-slot fillets (corners) had to be uniform and precisely radiused; and the heat-treatment within a narrow hardness range.

This was beyond the capabilities of the bayonet contractors. The majority of latch plates were produced by Standard Products Co. of Port Clinton, Ohio. Utica Cutlery appears to have briefly produced latch plates, then stopped. When Standard Products could not supply enough latch plates, the government also contracted with Hemphill Products of Providence, Rhode Island. This example's latch plate was made by Standard Products. The number identifies the heat-treatment lot.  Standard Products also produced M1 Carbines during the Second World War.

See U.S. Post-War Era Bayonets for additional information on subsequent M4 bayonet production.

The Second World War U.S. plastic scabbard design and initial test samples were developed by Edwin L. Beckwith (son of Beckwith Manufacturing Co. founder Harry H. Beckwith) and chemist, Charles P. MacIver, both of whom were employed at the Beckwith Manufacturing Co. shoe component subsidiary, Felt Process Co. After the government contracted with Beckwith Manufacturing Co. to produce scabbards, Harry Beckwith created a new subsidiary, Victory Plastics Co., to manufacture them. The scabbard contracts originating with the Beckwith parent company is why the steel throatpieces are marked "B. M. Co.”, while scabbard bodies bear the Victory Plastics Co. "Vp" mark. Edwin Beckwith served as president of Victory Plastics Co. for its entire 23-year existence.

Beckwith Manufacturing Co. was headquartered in Dover, NH. Victory Plastics Co. was located in Hudson, MA. The Dover, NH, Beckwith plant manufactured shoe components and never had involvement with scabbards. All M8A1 scabbards produced under Beckwith's government contracts were manufactured by Victory Plastics Co. in Hudson, MA.

The following are examples of Second World War M8 and M8A1 Scabbards. See Post-War M8A1 Scabbards for additional information on subsequent M8A1 scabbard production.

According to Cunningham, approximately 1.7 million M8 scabbards were produced from July 1943 to April 1944.

Cunningham indicates that the B in the top plate mark represented Beckwith and the N New England Pressed Steel Co. of Natick, MA, who fabricated the steel fitting. This example's low-numbered top plate and Victory Plastics mold marks show that this is an early M8 scabbard.

In early 1944, the design was amended to both lengthen the strap assembly and incorporate a wire belt hanger. As amended, the scabbard was designated M8A1. According to Cunningham, approximately 3.1 million M8A1 scabbards were produced from April 1944 to August 1945.

The first new-made M8A1 scabbards used steel fittings marked "M8" until these were used up. Cunningham's research found that top plate marks 2/2 running up to about 3/3 were made as M8A1 but are still marked M8 on the throat. This example's top plate mark is 2/9, which is clearly in that range.

Top Plate: "B 2/9 N"

Body: "Vp 45"

The belt strap assembly marking shows that it was treated with a Moisture Fungus Proofing chemical in March 1953. The throatpiece and scabbard body have also been painted.

Top Plate: "B 4/1 N"

Body: "Vp 47"

Strap Assembly: "M-F-P" over "3-53"