Hinged Bayo on SKS rifle, What is it for?

[CamoDeafie]

you know..depending on the rifle in question, a bayonet could also be used to cut wires, (the AK sheath and the Phrobis M9 comes to mind...) otherwise, yes a bayonet is for sticking into people as a last resort. fun fact; the first Bayonets with the muskets and muzzleloaders; effectively meant that the troops could still act like the foot soldiers of Cromwell's time with the bayonets attached, as the shoulder arms were effectively pikes when not loaded...this is also why many rifles from the earliest firearm eras were quite LONG....as it was expected to fight horseback cavalry and massed attacks.
I wonder what happens if one were to attach a bayonet with an 16, 18 inch blade onto a 6 inch barreled pistol..... >.> <.< I know of another kind of bayonet that could be used as a machete...maybe thats the bolo one? and then there's the pre-WW1 and WW1 16" bladed bayonets....not all bayonets had handles on them, the Civil war and Spanish-American war had socket bayonets... however, the American bayonets from WW2 onwards up to the M9 have always had the same blade profile and similar grips.....the M9 was the change over to the "rambo"/Ka-bar style fighting knife bayonets as it was thought that it should function as a fighting knife not just for sticking into people, but for fighting as well, rather than issuing two different bladed tools to each infantry man.... ..for the SKS, I think generally there are 3 styles.....one is mainly commercial.....the other two are pretty much set for combat....the pig-sticker/tent pole/spike bayonet which are newer...and the earlier blade type with blood grooves....(another fun fact; "blood grooves" were just to make swords lighter while maintaining the stiffness.....that blood could run down it without being smeared was an additional bonus lol) and then the shortened blade/spike as seen on "paratrooper" sks...I put "paratrooper" as I don;t know if they actually issued shorter SKS for actual paratrooper weapons....when the AK 47 superseded it and became the standard arm for most com-bloc countries.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Just so you know, pulling the bayonet from the SKS makes it easier for the cleaning rod to fall out.

I think the Russians were ahead of us in realizing that if you make a bayonet that works as a field knife you don't have to carry two different tools. Since the bayonet is rarely used, but the field knife is constantly used, I approve of the more recent designs that are good field knives and fair bayonets.

Yep, I recall when the feds suddenly said bayonets on those imported SKS rifles were illegal. I think it was during the 1994-2004 AWB. Dealers suddenly had SKS rifles without bayonets, and nearby they'd have a display of rather familiar looking steel "tent pegs."

I still miss my nice Russian SKS that had a nice blade bayonet.