This was also posted on AR15.com, but this actually seems the more appropriate forum
M9 Bayonet
2/14/2008
Today my “M9 Bayonet” showed up in the mail. I won this on an E-bay auction for a total of $61.65, shipped. This is less then half what a new one goes for retaiL, and the reason for that is because this isn’t an official made-in USA M9 bayonet. Which likely means it is not the same quality either. So what did I get?
The knife comes in a cardboard box with a small tag that says “Rothod”. The blade is marked as Stainless, Taiwan”. Here are some pictures:
Knife in scabbard. The knife is held in place by two snaps. One is attached to the scabbard, and one is attached to the belt clip. The scabbard can be disconnected from the beltclip so that you can deploy it more easily as a wirecutter
Knife out of scabbard
other side:
markings
Pommel end
Blade end
looking down from top. What is the saw back designed to do? Is it for wood cutting? Is it any good at cutting sometime like soft steel, like rebar or a nail? Will that wreck it?
Sharp edge. Note that a 9mm Mag fits nicely, as does a Gerber multitool. The sharpened edge is still fairly thick: It’s 0.065” where the sharpening starts and is sharpened to an edge in about 0.06”, making for a 22° angle roughly to the blade edge. Perhaps a knife guru can comment on that, as I’m not actually sure what this means.
The mounting system is interesting. The sheath has a quick connect to a belt mount clip. The belt mount clip has a wire quick connect to that will attach around a belt. Is this the same as mil-spec? For some reason I thought mil-spec had a couple of funny wire clips that were supposed to connect to the eyeholes of a pistol belt/web belt. This doesn’t look like it connects to such eye holes.
Wire cutter functionality. Initially the fit here was very very tight. There was a bur left in the hole in the blade, which made this difficult. I haven’t removed the bur yet, but will need to. This is not exactly as quick as a pair of wire cutters to deploy, but it does appear functional.
here’s a closer look at the wire cutter end. Note the scratch on the T-lug from the bur. There’s also a large flat screwdriver blade on the end of the scabbard. As best I can tell, this blade is about right for the buffer tube screw head in the stock of an AR-15 – and darned little else.
Just another closer look at the scabbard and the pouch. The pouch is attached by a Velcro strap and can be easily removed. A nifty feature. The scabbard has a spring petal inside that holds the blade securely, which keeps the blade from rattling around. It also has a bit of tension and deploying the knife takes one hand to hold the scabbard and one to pull – even when attached to a belt. This does not bother me any, but might some.
The scabbard has a built in sharpening stone. How cool is that?? The stone itself appears to be fairly coarse. It’s also dry. Question: is one to actually use this stone in anything other than an emergency? Does it need to be oiled or wetted before use? Since I have one of those nicer home sharpening kits (w/ the three stones and the angle guide), I probably will just use that to sharpen the blade.
Speaking of sharp – the blades has an edge, but I don’t know if I’d call it razor sharp. It'll cut - I just sliced a piece of paper in half with it. But my Gerber multi-tool has a considerably sharper edge. The Gerber also has a much thinner blade. I’m not sure what one is to expect of the knife edge of a bayonet. How sharp is an M-9 supposed to be? It’s got more of a machete edge than what I’d call a fine knife edge. Hopefully this can be polished up with a proper 3stone knife sharpening kit. Which leads me to my next question: when using such kits on such a blade, which angle on the stones would be best to use?
Here’s what it looks like mounted on an AR-15. Fit is snug and secure, but not what I’d call too tight or difficult. Both the lug on the rifle and the cuts on the bayonet indicate that one is to mount the bayonet simply by slipping it over the muzzle and jerking down. In practice, this isn’t working for me and I have to squeeze the little tabs to get it to slip over the lug. Perhaps I’m just not jerking hard enough. Doesn't bother me any, but might someone else.
Measured dimensions:
OAL: 12.84”
Blade: 7.75”
Blade thickness: 0.30” @tang; 0.25” @ lug hole
Blade height: 1.346”@ base; 1.44”@ blade
Fuller depth (some call this a “bloodgrove”): 1/8”
Mass: (not yet measured)
Metallurgy: 400 series stainless steel. Analyzed to be 86% Fe, 11.8% Cr, 0.78% Mn, upt 0.4% Ni, and some trace Ti - as well as various other trace metals. Margin of error on the analysis is +-0.5% in some cases, so this could be 420SS or 410 SS, both of which are good blade alloys. 420 SS is the spec I've seen used for US made M9's. I haven't run a hardness test on it, so can't say how well annealed. In any event, the metalurgy appears appropriate. The grip is Zytel, a hard plastic.
Color: The grip is an OD green color. The blade has a grey coating – I assume phosphate but should be able to measure that tomorrow w/ an analyzer. I was hoping the coating would have a more metallic appearance. In retrospect, I think a black coated blade looks sharper.
Overall impressions:
I rather like it! As to quality, I’m going to find out the metallurgy tomorrow. The heft and feel are great - not too heavy, not too light. Not too big, not too small. I love all the neat extra’s in this design – utility pouch, built in sharpening stone, wire cutter, etc. My overall impression of the quality is good – for a half priced knock-off. I have a critical eye and tried pointing out every flaw I saw, but with all that in mind, I’m rather happy with my purchase.
I’m sure a Buck or other US made knife is better in every way, but for me I could never justify spending 3 figures for a blade that, for me, is just a toy. So for the last 20 years, it’s been spend $100+ or not have one. And for 20 years I’ve chosen to not have one. If top quality is your goal and you don't begrudge the coin - I strongly encourage to buy American. If you're like me and you simply won't buy one for >$100, this might be the ticket. The only thing I'd do different is get the black blade. I'd also look into trying to bundle some kind of utility or Web belt with it.
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