Why is there so much disdain towards the M9 Bayonet?

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Uncle Buckmaster

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Oct 21, 2021
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I've noticed that one blade which seldom is mentioned on blade forum, and on the occasion that it is, it gets a lot of disrespect is the M9 Bayonet. Heck, it seems like in most circles, the M9 Bayonet appears deceptively obscure in spite of the fact that it is still being manufactured by a wide array of companies, simply because it's so scarcely discussed.
Perhaps even more puzzling is the fact that the AKM Bayonet tends to be thought more highly of, regardless of the fact that the M9 Bayonet is essentially just a higher quality clone of the AKM Bayonet.

Granted that the M9 Bayonet isn't a great bayonet, nor is it a great knife, but it was designed/intended to be more of a multipurpose tool than strictly a bayonet or a knife, and for that it seems to have been a success.

One comment I often see is that it's a weak design because of the way that the blade is threaded into a stick tang, yet by accounts, I've never heard of them actually failing in the field, so realistically speaking, it can't be as weak as folks seem to think it is. Yeah, if you bought a $12 Chinese M9 on Amazon then tried to use it as a hard use field knife, then it would most likely break, but a real M9 by Buck, Phrobis, Ontario, or any of the other military contract M9s, I don't think so.
But then again, that's why I'm posting this thread, maybe folks have had bad experiences with the M9 and that's why it's looked on with such disdain.
 
No disdain!
OKC.

HYo208O.jpg
 
Uncle Buckmaster said:
I've noticed that one blade which seldom is mentioned on blade forum, and on the occasion that it is, it gets a lot of disrespect is the M9 Bayonet. Heck, it seems like in most circles, the M9 Bayonet appears deceptively obscure in spite of the fact that it is still being manufactured by a wide array of companies, simply because it's so scarcely discussed.
Perhaps even more puzzling is the fact that the AKM Bayonet tends to be thought more highly of, regardless of the fact that the M9 Bayonet is essentially just a higher quality clone of the AKM Bayonet.

Granted that the M9 Bayonet isn't a great bayonet, nor is it a great knife, but it was designed/intended to be more of a multipurpose tool than strictly a bayonet or a knife, and for that it seems to have been a success.

One comment I often see is that it's a weak design because of the way that the blade is threaded into a stick tang, yet by accounts, I've never heard of them actually failing in the field, so realistically speaking, it can't be as weak as folks seem to think it is. Yeah, if you bought a $12 Chinese M9 on Amazon then tried to use it as a hard use field knife, then it would most likely break, but a real M9 by Buck, Phrobis, Ontario, or any of the other military contract M9s, I don't think so.
But then again, that's why I'm posting this thread, maybe folks have had bad experiences with the M9 and that's why it's looked on with such disdain.
Click to expand...
I am 48 years old and the only disdain I have heard of the M9 bayonet is usually the $12 China/MTech junkers. I have never once ever heard of anyone disdaining an authentic M9 Bayonet. Perhaps the Bushcraft/Baton folks disdain them because they are stick tang. But I don't pay any heed to those who think a rock or club across a spine of a knife is a better wood splitter than a hand axe.
 
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justjed said:
Why? Because it's not an elegant design. End of story.
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I dont think anything designed to be a potential force multiplier on the business end of a shotgun needs to be elegant 😉

But I get it. They are kind of a ka-bar but not really. They are a bayonet but not as iconic as an m7 hanging off an M16. I wouldn't turn one down if I needed a fixed blade, but I can think of about 50 other knives I would rather have in a scrape...unless I get to count the shotgun it is attached to as part of the knife 😀
 
My good friend, the late Chuck Karwan did an article on the M9, round handle instead of oval, the serrations had gone thru so many reviews at JAG (Lawyers) that they were about useless. Apparently afraid of getting into the situation the Germans did with their saw toothed bayonets in WWI. I was issued the M4,M5,M6, M7 and M9 bayonets during my service, only used them for parades and a few times for Riot Control.The best bayonet I have examined was the current USMC bayonet. John
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking down the M9 when I say it's not elegant. It's functional. It does pretty much everything you might need a knife to do, even if it is a little clunky in hand. And it does pretty much everything you might need a
bayonet for. Except for being intimidating. One of the prime uses of bayonets in modern warfare is psychological, the intimidation factor. In my opinion, the mounted M9 is a knife on a stick, but nowhere as frightening as a gleaming 13-16"
stabbing tool in the same location.

The M9 is exactly what it was designed to be, but it looks as if it was designed by a committee. 10lbs of taters in a 5lb bag.

That said, I wouldn't feel too bad about having one...
 
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Rupestris said:
I don't know that there is a "great bayonet".

If it has come down to actually having to using one, your day is pretty much ruined already. 😜
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I could also bring up a counter point. If it comes down the bad guy got stuck with a bayonet. Their day is also more than likely ruined.
 
For the last 250+ years, the command "Fix bayonets!" has brought chills to both attackers as well as defenders on both sides of any armed conflict you care to name.
It's a universal truth, getting stuck sucks, it matters not the tool.
 
John A. Larsen said:
My good friend, the late Chuck Karwan did an article on the M9, round handle instead of oval, the serrations had gone thru so many reviews at JAG (Lawyers) that they were about useless. Apparently afraid of getting into the situation the Germans did with their saw toothed bayonets in WWI. I was issued the M4,M5,M6, M7 and M9 bayonets during my service, only used them for parades and a few times for Riot Control.The best bayonet I have examined was the current USMC bayonet. John
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The saw teeth on the M9 Bayonet had always struck me as sort of a downgrade from the Buckmaster 184/185 saw teeth.

I actually own a Smith & Wesson M9 Bayonet which retains the Buckmaster-style saw teeth.

SW3-B-M9-Bayonet.jpg


Whether or not they're actually any good I cannot say, but then again, the SW3B M9 is hardly what I would consider a prime example of craftsmanship, (Made in Taiwan with 420J2 Steel) so even if the saw teeth didn't work especially well, I would sooner fault the bayonet itself.
I bought it mostly because it looked cool and was on sale, not because it was an especially high quality example of an M9 Bayonet.
 
there's been a bunch of threads with praise and like on them in the Buck forum, but on the Phrobis ones made by Buck......
 
Most of the conversations on these forums are focused of folding knives. We have a fair number of fixed blade collectors as well, but when you get down to ethnographic, historical and militaria the numbers drop off sharply. There is nothing wrong with these knives, but don’t expect the same level of enthusiasm on these forum. We do not have dedicated military or bayonet sub-forums to draw in those collectors.

Having lived through the Rambo knife craze, I like the serrations on the M9. They provide texture without hindering cutting performance as you would with most of the goofy Saw backs knives.

n2s
 
What movie was that (about the Korean war) wherein the American troops were hiding among rocks, running out of ammo, and massed attacks just kept coming in, until their commander shouted "Fix bayonets!"

There is no bad bayonet. Anything pointy at the front end of your rifle can be very useful in a life-or-death situation. Trouble is, rifles are a bit different now from those used in Korea (or even Vietnam.) I reckon mounting a bayonet onto a contemporary AR-15 type of rifle, and using it realistically, will render that rifle totally messed up.
 
ahhh, the m9 bayonet.
cool factors aside....
let's just say it came about
because it certainly took some pointers
from the soviet akm bayonet,
its main feature
being the electrically insulated wire cutters and some slight sawing function thrown in.
from what little i know,
the soviets fore-saw more need for
wire cutters than just a bayonet in any future push into western europe...
and by adopting this feature
somebody at pentagon and
later the entire free world
justified the soviet concern
of the dangers posed by wires. lol
the m7 bayonet which was derived from the m3 trenchknife, is a far lighter and hence livelier sticking knife/bayonet.
as a thrusting weapon
the m9 paid too much
attention playing macguyver.
granted for some light field work and general knife utility...
but stop short of building a log cabin.
it is a heck of a lot more cumbersome as an edged weapon tool
than the rival soviet package
of the period which btw, is dull.
hurray! and that makes a plus point for the m9 at last

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Uncle Buckmaster said:
....

One comment I often see is that it's a weak design because of the way that the blade is threaded into a stick tang, yet by accounts, I've never heard of them actually failing in the field, so realistically speaking, it can't be as weak as folks seem to think it is.
Click to expand...

there was such hope in '86 for the m9
www.upi.com

Army replaces the bayonet - UPI Archives

Army officials wanted a bayonet for their combat forces to be all it can be, so they found a hunting knife look-alike in a blade that can stab, saw and...
www.upi.com www.upi.com

"....the prior M9 bayonet the handle was formed as a separate part, loosely slipped over the tang, and fastened to the tang with a cap screw. That approach is operable with the present bayonet, but is not preferred because of its lower strength as compared with the molded handle design.
The preferred form of the present bayonet construction is much stronger than that of the prior M9 design. The one-piece, integral blade-and-tang configuration, with the stress-reducing features discussed previously, does not have the potential sources of weakness present in many prior bayonet configurations. Elimination of a threaded connection between the blade and the tang eliminates the threaded structure which is a potential source of premature failure under load. Molding the handle to the tang packs the handle material tightly to the tang and eliminates possible looseness of the handle on the tang that can occur when the handle is fastened to the tang with a threaded or other type of connector. Additionally, the present approach is less expensive than the prior approach, because fewer pieces are required and assembly costs are reduced. The corrosion resistance of the unit is also improved...."
source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US5594967A/en

"...WARNING SUMMARY - Continued GENERAL SAFETY WARNING DESCRIPTION - Continued WARNING When utilizing the M9 Multipurpose Bayonet System scabbard as a wire cutter, be sure to keep hands/fingers away from the wire cutter plate. Wear leather gloves...
WARNING The M9 Multipurpose Bayonet System is not insulated against electric shock. Do not use it to cut live wires..."
source: https://fdocuments.net/document/b49004-m9-bayonet.html?page=3
 
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