1905 cutdowns

[Fred Pillot]

Anyone know if the 1905 16" to 10" cutdown Springfield bayonets were done early enough
to see much use in WWII?

[partestres]

I believe they started to hit the supply system in late 1943 when the change was made to the 10" M1, so quite a few would have seen service along with the newly made M1s that were being produced at the same time. I don't have a link handy but I seem to remember Gary Cunningham covered these extensively in one or more of his Bayonet Points articles. You could do a quick Google search.

[Larry G.]

I believe they started to hit the supply system in late 1943 when the change was made to the 10" M1, so quite a few would have seen service along with the newly made M1s that were being produced at the same time. I don't have a link handy but I seem to remember Gary Cunningham covered these extensively in one or more of his Bayonet Points articles. You could do a quick Google search.

https://www.usmilitaryknives.com

[Art]

The short answer is that both the M1 and cut down M1905E1 bayonetts were in service in quantity by late 1943 and saw a lot of service during WWII. The M1905E1 designation is used for convenience and refers to the bayonets used in the cut down trials. It is my understanding that the cut down bayonets were referred to as M1 bayonets when they actually entered service.

[Tom in N.J.]

Not only did cut down bayonets make it into service, one was used to illustrate the M1 bayonet in WWII tech manuals.

[Fred Pillot]

Good info. Thanks all! Also thanks for the links to Bayonet Points!