K98 Bayonet Cleaner Up-er

[emtmedic005]

Hey so i have this old K98 Bayonet on my desk and i sorta cleaned itup when i forst got it in Bastonge with naval jelly. But i want to sharpen it up, i have a sharpening stone, will that do it? Or do i need the grinder i have in the garage? I already did some "sharpening" with the stone but it seems like i will need to be doing it for the next year to get it sharpened? O yeah and theres a nice coat of black "crap" on the blade and as i sharpen it there is a nice shiny blade underneath, is there an easyier way to clean the blade off, such as some sorta chemical, it seems like i would need some sorta Acid to corrode that black crap off the blade and the handle. O and when i bought it the guy who sold it to me promised that it had blood on it from the battle, so i know its good.

[bradclark1]

Bayonets weren't 'shapened knives'. It's against the rules of war to have sharpened bayonets. The blade was dark to stop the sun reflecting off the blade. You've probably already ruined some of the value of it. Any more work on it will make it worthless.

[August]

Originally Posted by bradclark1

Bayonets weren't 'shapened knives'. It's against the rules of war to have sharpened bayonets. The blade was dark to stop the sun reflecting off the blade. You've probably already ruined some of the value of it. Any more work on it will make it worthless.

Exactly and let me add that no soldier puts a bloody bayonet back in it's scabbard unless he likes failing inspections.

[Chock]

Yup, sharpened edges on bayonets is war movie stuff in most cases, although the bayonet I have for an M-16 is one exception, that does actually have a reasonably sharp edge, conversely, a friend of mine has a WW1-era US army bayonet and that it more like a traditional one, very long and not very ssharp apart from at the point.

The real way to use one is basically as you would a lance or spear, with a thrusting attack. Check out some training footage of people ramming them into sacks.
One movie that does portray them being used correctly is Zulu, where blows are parried with the rifle and them a counter thrust is delivered. Pretty grim stuff really, and I wouldn't have fancied being in such a fight (or any other sort of fight for that matter).

Interesting to have stuff like that, but you have to regard yourself as a 'custodian' of such historic items, and treat them with care.

Chock

[emtmedic005]

No i dont really care about the vaule of thee bloody thing
i just want to make it sharp to use as a all purpose camp blade.

When i go bear hunting i use it to clear brush and at night i but it at the end of my K98 and keep it in my tent, to fend off bears

[HunterICX]

Originally Posted by emtmedic005

No i dont really care about the vaule of thee bloody thing
i just want to make it sharp to use as a all purpose camp blade.

When i go bear hunting i use it to clear brush and at night i but it at the end of my K98 and keep it in my tent, to fend off bears

what the hell?!
Gladly I,m not a bear in your area

[Oberon]

I never really understood why the bayonet wasn't phased out after the first world war, I mean, with the invention of the Machine gun the massed rush that bayonets were useful against was pretty much obsolete. Plus IIRC, actually fitting a bayonet made the rifle less accurate, and yet IIRC us Brits still had bayonets in the 1950s! :hmm:

[PeriscopeDepth]

Being in close quarters with a bolt action rifle, a bayonet can come in handy.

PD

[bradclark1]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I never really understood why the bayonet wasn't phased out after the first world war, I mean, with the invention of the Machine gun the massed rush that bayonets were useful against was pretty much obsolete. Plus IIRC, actually fitting a bayonet made the rifle less accurate, and yet IIRC us Brits still had bayonets in the 1950s! :hmm:

Close quarters fighting, when you don't have time to reload that clip or magazine not to mention the psych factor.

[Weigh-Man]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I never really understood why the bayonet wasn't phased out after the first world war, I mean, with the invention of the Machine gun the massed rush that bayonets were useful against was pretty much obsolete. Plus IIRC, actually fitting a bayonet made the rifle less accurate, and yet IIRC us Brits still had bayonets in the 1950s! :hmm:

Wasn't the bayonet used quite a lot during the Falklands War, documentaries I have seen say the fighting got very up close and personel

[antikristuseke]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I never really understood why the bayonet wasn't phased out after the first world war, I mean, with the invention of the Machine gun the massed rush that bayonets were useful against was pretty much obsolete. Plus IIRC, actually fitting a bayonet made the rifle less accurate, and yet IIRC us Brits still had bayonets in the 1950s! :hmm:

Its true that ataching a bayonet would makea rifle less accurate if it touches the barrel because it interferes with barrel harmonics. Besides bayonetes are multi purpouse tools nowadays, look at the AK-47/74 bayonet to see what i mean and can still come in handy in ****-hit-the-fan situations.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Oberon

I never really understood why the bayonet wasn't phased out after the first world war, I mean, with the invention of the Machine gun the massed rush that bayonets were useful against was pretty much obsolete. Plus IIRC, actually fitting a bayonet made the rifle less accurate, and yet IIRC us Brits still had bayonets in the 1950s! :hmm:

I know the Germans used Bayonets durring their last push at Stalingrad, they didn't want to waste bullets or take prisoners.