M1905 bayonet

M series bayonet
An M1 Bayonet made by the American Fork & Hoe Co.
Type	Bayonet
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	United States
Wars	Philippine–American War World War I Banana Wars World War II Korean War
Production history
Manufacturer	Springfield Armory Rock Island Arsenal American Fork & Hoe Oneida, Ltd. Pal Blade and Tool Utica Cutlery Union Fork & Hoe Wilde Drop Forge & Tool
Produced	from 1905 onward
Variants	M1905 bayonet M1942 bayonet M1905E1 M1 bayonet
Specifications
Scabbard/sheath	Model of 1905 scabbard Model of 1910 scabbard M3 scabbard

The 'M' series of bayonets was initiated in 1905, and continues in use to the present. There have been several modifications to the original design, the greatest being with the introduction of the M1 subseries near the end of World War II.

The Model of 1905 bayonet was made for the .30 caliber U.S. Rifle Model 1903. The designation Model of 1905 was changed to Model 1905 in 1917, and then to M1905 in 1925, when the Army adopted the M designation nomenclature. The M1905 bayonet blade is 16 inches (40.6 cm) long, and the handle is 4 inches (10.1 cm) long. The bayonet also fits the .30 caliber U.S. M1 Garand rifle (or simply, M1). In 1942, the same basic bayonet design (equipped with a plastic instead of a wood handle) was again produced and designated the M1942 bayonet.

The M1942 is the collector designation of the M1905 Bayonet with a plastic, instead of wooden, handle. It was manufactured in sufficient numbers to keep up with wartime production of the .30 caliber M1 rifle, with which it was intended to be used. Again, the blade is 16 inches long with a 4 inch long handle. Interchangeability allowed the M1942 bayonet to be used on any M1903 rifle, while allowing the mounting of the earlier M1905 bayonet on the 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.

The M1 Bayonet was designed to be used with the .30 caliber M1 Garand. The blade is 10 inches (25.4 cm) long, and the handle is 4 inches (10.1 cm) long. Before 1943, the M1 Garand and all variants of the M1903 Springfield rifle were using the M1905 and later M1942 bayonets. In 1943, the U.S. Army decided to shorten the bayonet design. Many of the M1905/M1942s as possible were recalled, had their blades cut down to 10 inches, and were reissued.

The shortened M1905 bayonets were re-designated as M1905E1. New-production 10-inch bayonets were designated as M1 bayonets.

The 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 much longer Japanese Type 30 sword bayonet on the already very long Arisaka rifle caused many American troops to retain the longer, unmodified M1905 bayonet.