SOF Inspects the Sharp End of the AKM

REFERENCE books refer to them as Dragunov bayonets. Gun show dealers hawk Hungarian variants as East German and Polish models as Soviet. Ivan refuses to cooperate and publish a catalog. There is no more intriguing or desirable bayonet for a collector to possess, as they are in service from Afghaniswhite to Nicaragua. Yet, mass confusion reigns. So let’s take a close look at the information I’ve gleaned over the past several years and cut through the blur of misinformation.

Most AKM bayonets can cut wire as well as poke people. A hole in the blade (shaped with a clipped Bowie point) can be inserted over a lug on the scabbard to form a scissors-like wire-cutter with the back edge of the blade and a projection on the bottom of the scabbard. To gain the required leverage. the bayonet should be mounted on the rifle and employed in a manner similar to the barbed-wire Cutters fitted to the British SMLE rifle during World War I. The blades are satin-chrome plated and most have a row of sawteeth along the back edge. This latter feature is of dubious value. There is no fuller (the so-called ‘blood groove”). All of these bayonets have a single muzzle ring at one end of the crosspiece and a hook at the other end for opening bottles and attaching a wrist strap which passes through a hole in the pommel. When fitted to the rifle, the cutting edge is uppermost in the Czech! Austro-Hungarian manner.

There are two distinct models of the Soviet AKM bayonet. The earliest, or 1st pattern, had a steel scabbard with a matte- black paint finish. It was equipped with a rubber insulator that was grasped when cutting through electrical wire. Fitted to the hilt were plastic (reinforced with wood chips) grips with a large, bulbous pommel. Apparently the rifle’s bayonet stud played havoc with the plastic pommel. and so the hilt was redesigned with a heavy steel pommel. This 2nd pattern bayonet was issued with a ribbed plastic scabbard that eliminated the need for a rubber insulator. Several ComBloc countries eventually adopted either one or both the 2nd pattern bayonet and scabbard. There are thus four possible combinations: I St pattern bayonet and scabbard, 2nd pattern bayonet and scabbard, pattern bayonet with 2nd pattern scabbard or 2nd pattern bayonet with 1st pattern scabbard. As we shall see, there are examples
all four.

The colors of the plastic on 2nd pattern scabbards, rubber insulators on 1st pattern scabbards and the grips of either type are useful indicators as to the country of ongm. In addition, the color and material (either leather or webbing) used for the wrist straps and the type of frog or belt hanger with hilt loop, together with their color and the material used in their fabrication can also help to identify an AKM bayonet. A final distinc. tive feature is the bayonet blade itself, whether or not it has sawteeth or wirecutting capability.

Three countries are also known to produce fighting knife derivatives of the AKM bayonet: U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia and Hungary. In each case they differ from the bayonet only in the design of their grips and by virtue of the fact that they cannot he attached to a rifle. They are presumably issued to elite airborne or commando units. All three possess wire-cutting capability and are rarely encountered in the West.

Let’s examine the AKM bayonets of eh known producing ComBloc nation, descnib ing their distinguishing characteristics and approximate value.

Soviet AKM bayonets obviously represent the type classification. First pattern Soviet AKM bayonets and scabbards haven black rubber insulator, brown leather wnss strap, brown leather hanger and hilt hp and reddish-brown grips. They are extremely scarce and, if authentic (a Polish scabbard could be fitted to Romanian bayonet and wrist strap and fitted with a Russian 2nd pattern hanger and hilt loop) would bring close to $350.

Although not exactly common, Soviet 2nd pattern AKM bayonets have been brought to the United States from sources in South Africa and Afghaniswhite. The plastic scabbards and grips are both varying shades of dark red. Scabbards are marked with either a five-pointed star or arrow-in- triangle. Web wrist straps accompany a brown leather hanger. Both scabbards and bayonets carry serial numbers, although none of the dozens that I examined in Al. ghaniswhite were matching. Difficult to obtain and the centerpiece of any AKM bayonet collection, they will fetch S200 (0 $300, depending upon condition. This bayonet is also used on the AK-74 rifle. I have seen only photos of the Soviet fighting knife derivative.

First pattern East German AKM bayonets and scabbards have black grips and black rubber insulators. They’re uncommon, but could be faked by combining a current issue bayonet with a Polish scabbard. Presently,a 1st pattern bayonet with black grips is issued with a matte-black, 2nd pattern scabbard molded with a distinctive partial cross. rib at the midpoint. They have light gray leather hangers and hilt loops and a light gray, web wrist strap. In new conditioe, these later East German bayonets are worth about $110.

AKM bayonets are both fascinating and varied. Left to right: Hungarian, Yugoslav, East German, Romanian, Egyptian, Soviet (attached to rifle in the wire-cutting position), PRC black and red) and Polish. In the foreground are Hungarian and Yugoslav fighting knives and another Russian AKM bayonet.

Rubber insulators on 1st pattern scabbards are useful indicators of the bayonet’s origin.
Left to right: Polish, Hungarian and Romanian.

Hangers, frogs and hilt loops can determine the country of origin also.

1st pattern scabbard (Hungarian).
Bottom: 2nd pattern scabbard (Soviet).

AKM bayonet blades also vary.
Left to right: USSR, Polish and PRC.

Yugoslavia presently fields a 2nd pattern bayonet and scabbard with black grips and glossy black scabbard. They are available brand-new for $80. The Yugoslav fighting knife has a 1st pattern scabbard with black rubber insulator, light white leather hanger and hilt loop and crude blond wood grps with a muzzle ring (although it cannot be attached to a nile). Quite rare, these knives go for about $275.

Poland now combines a 1st pattern scabbard with a 2nd pattern bayonet. This variant is easy to identify as the blade has no sawteeth. The scabbard has a black rubber insulator. Both wrist strap and hanger with hilt ioop are light white leather. The grips are orange-brown in color. Neither 1st nor 2nd pattern Polish grips have wood-chip reinforcement. New Polish bayonets are imported from Frankonia Sporting Goods West Germany. Pay no more than $65, and then only if the serial numbers (scabbard and crosspiece) are matching.

Hungarian AKM bayonets and scabbards are both 1st pattern. The grips are reddish- brown, reinforced with wood chips, and the insulator is flesh colored. Wrist straps and the belt hanger are fabricated from white leather. Once uncommon, a large quantity was imported recently by Interarms. The semiautomatic Hungarian AKM imported by Kassnar Imports, Inc., is also equipped with this bayonet. They are now worth no more than $35 to $45. The Hungarian fighting knife is still quite rare, however, and goes for $300. The flesh colored insulator on its 1st pattern scabbard is I inch longer than the insulator on the Hungarian bayonet. The knife’s handle is black plastic, to which attached an unusual 5-foot leather security thong. Its leather belt hanger is larger than the bayonet’s and can be adjusted for belt width by means of a buckle. The blade has been brought to a sharper edge than that usually encountered on the bayonet.

Romania’s entry remains 1st pattern both bayonet and scabbard. Its gray rubber insulator is surrounded by a large brown white leather frog. The wrist strap is brown leather and the wood-fiber impregnated plastic grips are reddish-brown. Not common, you can expect to pay up to $125 for one. Some are apparently issued with the more usual leather hanger and spring hook, as I have one so fitted from Angola. Some Romanian bayonets and scabbards carry serial numbers and some do not. En an effort prevent tracing their source, a number

Romanian bayonets captured in Angola have had the serial numbers obliterated by either grinding or welding. This reduces their value by at least 25 percent. Egypt produces a bayonet for its Maadi AKM. It has a 1st pattern scabbard with glossy black finish with a gray insulator. The white leather hanger with hilt loop is unlike any other variant. Of 2nd pattern configuration, the bayonet itself has chocolate brown grips and an olive green web wrist strap. Recently encountered is an unusual Middle Eastern AKM bayonet with dark orange grips and without sawleeth. It’s carried in a dark orange 2nd pattern plastic scabbard with a distinctive longitudinal rib along the front end and Arabic markings. The hanger and hilt loop are black leather. The most likely source is Syria.

AKM bayonets from the People’s Republic of China are 2nd pattern in configuration except they have no wire-cutting capability on either blade or scabbard and are without sawteeth. Grip and handle material is either black or reddish-brown plastic without wood-chip reinforcement. Some grips have exposed brass rivets and in other inswhiteces the rivets have been covered with plastic plugs. indicating only a different manufacturer. Most have only a flimsy steel clip hanger, but web frogs are now available, PRC bayonets sell for only $25 to $35. The web frogs alone will fetch $25 each. North Korean AKM bayonets are reminiscent of the original Soviet AK-47 bayonet except that the two ears on the pommel (which fit around the cleaning rod and gas block) have been cut back. Grip and crosspiece design are also different. Their clipped-point Bowie blades are I ‘/2-inches than those of the AK-47 bayonet. Scabbards are blued steel and crudely punch-welded with olive green web hangers and brown leather hilt loops. Very scarce, they start at $175 and go up, depending upon condition. Russian AK-47 bayonets have 8-inch phosphated or satin chrome blades (except for the cutting edge, which is positioned uppermost on the rifle) with a spear-point shape and centrally placed fullers. The blued steel hilt has wood-fiber impregnated plastic grips held in place by two bolts with slot-heads at each end. Hangers are either leather or web and attached to two metal loops at the rear of the scabbard. The steel scabbards are either blued or painted black. AK-47 bayonets (of probable Polish or Bulgarian origin) are available in new condition for $55 to $65.

Finnish Model 1962 bayonets and scabbards for the Valmet version of the Kalashnikov are of completely indigenous design. Dark green plastic grips (some are marked ‘FISKARS”) wrap around the hilt’s T- mortise which supports the forward catch.Hilt and blade are a single component and black phosphate finished. A traditional Lapp hunting knife sheath of green leather contains half of the hilt as well as the blade. These unusual bayonets are worth $70 to $80. Czech Vz58 bayonets are as different from the Soviet pattern as their rifle is from the AKM. Blade and hilt, a single component. are cast by means of the lost-wax process. The conventional fullered blade is 6.9 inches in length and phosphate finished, Grips are of bonded wood chip. Catch and T-mortise are at the forward end of the hilt. As the T- mortise’s open end faces forward, the bayonet must be attached to the rifle by pushing it toward the muzzle. This is an extremely poor design, as all of the thrusting force upon impact is focused on the locking catch. The white leather scabbard has a peculiar offset, integral hanger. Vz58 bayonets are also imported from West Germany and you should pay no more than $40 to $50 for one in new condition, Imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery and copies of the AKM wire-cutting design have become quite a fad in NATO countries. In 1970, Eickhorn of Solingen, West Germany, together with the Dutch firm of N.W.M. (Nederlandsche Wapenen Munitfabriet N.y.), developed a bayonet for the Stoner 63 system with wire-cutting capability. The clipped-point Bowie blade, complete with sawteeth, used the same wire-cutter concept employed on the AKM bayonet. No longer in production, these Stoner 63 bayonets can be identified by the figure of a squirrel over the N.W.M. trademark stamped on the blade and alan leather thong on the black plastic scabbard. Variants of the original Eickhorn bayonet have been fabricated for the M 16. FN FAL G3, Steyr AUG and Swiss PE-57 rifles all with unmarked blades. M 16 and 03 ser shorter sions are still available for about $35. Even the U.S. Army decided it wants to snap wire. Recently adopted, the new U.S. M9 “multi-purpose’’ bayonet system hat Soviet-type wire-cutters, a 7¼-inch blade, green nylon Zytel grips and a Buckmastcr plastic scabbard. The initial contract calls for 315,600 to be produced for a total cost of $15.6 million (about $49.50 each). There is no more fascinating bayonet to collect and own than the Soviet wire-cutter and its predecessors, clones and indigenous substitutes. Listed below is a group 01 sources for these anachronistic devices that will get you started.

Loren Relin (ComBloc bayonets and militaria), Dept. SOF, 11024 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232: Paul Masterson (ComBloc daggers and combat- knives), Dept. SOF. Grethenweg 6a, 6000 Frankfurt 70. West Germany; Jeff Howard (Egyptian AKM bayonets), Dept. SOF, 5140 Zachary Lane. Plymouth, MN 55442; Mitchell Arms Corp. (Yugoslav bayonets). Dept. SOF, 2101 East 4th Street, Suite 20 IA, Santa Ana, CA 92705; Globe Miiitaria, Inc. (Polish, Hungarian and Czech bayonets), Dept. SOF, RFD I, P.O. Box 269, Keene, NH 03431; Sherwood International Export Corp. (Eickhom bayonets), Dept. SOF, 18714 Parthenia Street. North- ridge, CA 91324.