AK47 Bayonet

V

valentin_84

Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
57
Hey guys,

I have been looking for a quality AK47 bayonet for a long time and still can't find one. Military production bayonets are basically junk. The handles are plastic, blades are cheap metal, and sheaths are super ugly!

Does anyone know of a really nice aftermarket quality bayonet or know of a custom knife maker that has made any? I can't be the first person that has thought of this, there has to be someone out there that has had the skill to make one of these!
 
Maybe you saw only cheap copies of AK bayonet, I assure you that the army issue is pretty tough, decent carbon steel and the handle is not ordinary plastic. And, yes, it's ugly :D
 
Just about every AK bayonet that I have seen has plastic or bakelite handles or at least scales. The first pattern bayonets have less bakelite than the later pattern wire cutter models. The later style Polish bayonets have amore conventional looking butt, more red-orange (rather than maroon) bakelite and have a more modern looking scabbard than the more common Romanian bayonets. The current Bulgarian bayonets have a similar, but black, scabbard. The current Bulgarian bayonets also has a more modern/conventional knife look (overall) than the earlier AK bayonets.

I have a later pattern Romanian AK bayonet in my collection. I think it is important to underscore the fact that these are designed as stickers and not cutters- they WILL NOT make a good field knife. The razor wire cutting feature worked. I can't speak for how well insulated they are- never tried that. Even with the bakelite handles, they are very rugged. I wouldn't have a custom knife made to stick on the end of a rifle. For both the sake originality, history, and almost everything else, I would recommend finding a surplus bayonet that you like and going that route.

Here is a nice web source: http://www.ak47bayonets.com/AK47_Bayonet_Bulgarian.php
 
don't know of any.
but it would be quite a challenge technically for an ordinary lone knifemaker trying to replicate the ak bayonet.
it is not primarily designed to be utilize as a general cutting or slicing tool.
the ak bayonet was first and foremost designed to be a compact electrically insulated wire-cutter with an efficient piercing/thrusting capability.
the first appearence of the Warsaw pact's wire-cutting bayonet made heads turn at NATO.
it just wasn't merely a novelty but a real foreseeable threat coming from thousands of red warsaw pact grunts who weren't going to be deterred by any amount of traditional barb wire planted statically across their planned path of advance...
so multiply that, it becomes necessary that product manufacturing be simplified in order to meet the great numbers that were to be fielded.
hence, sloppy finish, cheaper alternative materials but still meeting the physical demands expected from a wire-cutter.
the first western attempts in replicating the ak bayonet was the German made series of KCB-70 bayonets
http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/porters_page_11.htm
http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/porters_page_21.htm
it goes without saying that nothing beats the robust simplicity of the ak versions even if it's often reffered to as a piece of "silly" russian gear that doesn't actually cut anything.
 
I have a Romanian Ak-74 bayonet (bowie style) and an AK-47 (spear style).I managed to raise quite a good edge on my 74.I use it as a field knife when I go paintballing or just want a knife to go hacking around with.
Mind you it took a LOT of elbow grease to sharpen it.I killed one of my diamond stones in the process.
 
no-one said:
Pardon me Valentin....but..why ?
Click to expand...

I'm building a really high end rifle. It has the awesome Russian palm swells on the front grips that are getting really rare, a matching wooden pistol grip that you never see, and a matching buttstock. The wood is getting re-finished in a beautiful deep Russian red and the rest of the rifle is getting refinished with black polyresin, not just parkarized. It's going to be a really nice looking AK and I don't want to put on a plain Jane, ugly, cheap looking bayonet onto it. I want something as nice as the rifle!
 
A high end AK, bit of a misnomer, the AK was designed to be rough and ready, it is still probably one of the best guns for inexperienced troops, it can be dropped in mud washed in a stream and carry on doing what it is designed for, to injure and maim - the round isnt even designed to Kill and the ammo was deliberatly designed to have a big spread so that people coudl spray and hope. By most definititions a high end rifle shoudl be accurate, somethign the AK was never intended to be.

but if all you want is a pretty rilfe with a knife? then I am afraid if you want pretty then modern militaria is not the best place to start. Modern weapons are utilitarian and not for show. It would always be possible to get a plated blade and get a whole new hilt made up out of some exotic wood, not sure if the cost would be worth it but if it floats your boat then go for it, and post us all a picture.

Just thought the Czech VZ58 is for an AK derivative and the early wood hilted ones can be found chrome plated with fancy wood furniture (see my web site under AK at www.old-smithy.info) of course you would have to modify the mounts on your rifle and refinish it but this is as good as it probably gets
 
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