Bayonets

Introduction

An essential accessory for a service rifle, the bayonets issued with Swiss rifles came in a dizzying array of variants over the years. This section aims to provide a brief overview of each of the main variants. 

General Information

Although the whole family of Swiss straight-pull rifles were manufactured by the Eidgenössische Waffenfabrik (W+F) in Bern, Canton Bern, bayonets - along with many of the smaller components of the rifles themselves - were as a general rule subcontracted to other firms. They would be supplied to Cantonal Arsenals in the white and without serial numbers. Once there, the arsenal would match a bayonet to a rifle, and stamp the corresponding number onto the outer edge of the crossguard, prior to issuing them to a soldier as a set. A bayonet which lacks a serial number is thus likely to be an unissued example. Sometimes, bayonets can be found with an additional chrome plating. As well as improving the appearance, this adds a layer of much-needed corrosion resistance. Hearsay has it that this was an optional service that soldiers could have done privately by a gunsmith, although some arsenals may also have carried out the practice on an organisational level.

Bayonets made for infantry rifles have a muzzle ring diameter of 15mm, whereas carbine bayonets are 14mm. Although not necessarily issued together, any infantry rifle bayonet should fit onto any bayonet, and any carbine bayonet should fit onto any carbine or short rifle, except for cavalry carbines, which do not accept any bayonet (as the sabre remained the primary edged weapon of the cavalry). The bayonet lug is the same across all bayonets - a simple t-shaped piece - and so infantry rifle bayonets will fit onto carbines as well, albeit with the muzzle unsupported. Some infantry rifle bayonets were modified by the arsenals to fit properly onto carbines by fitting a 0.5mm thick bushing inside the muzzle ring (thus closing the ring to 14mm). If one were to mill out the muzzle ring on a carbine bayonet, it would fit onto an infantry rifle, but this process does not appear to have ever been carried out on an official level. 

For further detail on each individual model of bayonet, please see below. For details of which bayonets correspond (generally speaking) to which rifle, please see the pages for the rifles themselves. 

Sections

Infantry Rifle Bayonets 

Carbine Bayonets 

To be completed.