my great grandfather got a german bayonet to the nuts in africa (he jumped into a 'cleared' trench that was not checked properly and the still liveing bayonet got him in the nuts, he never walked properly again and had his kidds before the war)
Surely all you would need is some clever, enthusiastic type for the initial design and perhaps prototype phase (Mr.Todeschini springs to mind), that's the kind of thing people crowdfund. After that, contract the manufacture out to a big factory in Asia. I can't see any way of having a high end, bespoke maker (like a commercial gunsmith) do everything start to finish and keep it within a reasonable budget. However you go about it, I imagine you'd have to go in with a nice chunk of capital from the get-go.
A mate and I are actually using an Australian variant of these. We're testing a few 'simplified' designs. The TL;DR of which is for this type of 'plunger bayonet' you basically use a steel reducing bush, two pipes (or an old shotgun), a spring, and a large construction screw. Add rubber instead of steel to the stock and we've had success AND you can make it at home from parts from any pluming or automotive shop!
The best way I can think to make what you're looking for would be to take an old cheap single shot 12ga, cut off about 18 inches of the barrel, find some Durable PVC or similar pipe, possibly metal that would tightly fit down the bore, find the appropriate springs or get them wound by a gunsmith or blacksmith. You'd want like 3 springs, one relatively light for the whole length, one stiffer about 1/2 the length and a very stiff spring dampener about 3-4" long to soften the impact if it's fully compressed. To make this I'd recommend using an old cheap, possibly broken single shot 12ga, cut off about 18-22" of the barrel, find a piece of very durable PVC or metal pipe the appropriate size to fit in the bore, cut it to the size desired. Get the 3 springs I mentioned above either buy them or have them wound for you. Anyone with a lathe can easily wind springs at a fair price, but it's very easy to find premade springs in many sizes. Also use a wooden dowel inside of the springs as a guiderod. Finally cut a groove on each side of both the shotgun barrel and drill a hole through pipe inside to put a pin through. Shotgun barrels are pretty thin so you could probably use an angle grinder or something similar to cut the groove, it only has to be like 4-5mm wide. You could also use a mill to cut the hole which would be easier but more expensive, but still affordable. Finally assemble all parts, pin them in place and you're good to go.I recommend you peen the pin a bit so it stays in place, but it's your call. Because they all will be pinned in place you can disassemble it completely for oiling or replacing parts. All done if you can get a really good deal on a broken beat to shit single shot 12ga you could probably do this for around $300-$350 USD. Also, when looking for the base gun or stock to use, make sure the grain is correct in the stock. The grain should go in the direction of the wrist, than straight through the comb to the back and be parallel to the bottom near the toe of the stock. I wouldn't worry too much about the toe as i don't expect it to get much wear the way you plan to use it, but the wrist is very important as if the grain is wrong it can break surprisingly easy. Alternatively if you want to make it from scratch I'd suggest you make it out of PVC, copper or aluminum pipe and set it in a polymer gunstock and weight accordingly. Either way will cost you about the same as riflestocks aren't cheap if you want them to hold up. Hope this helps.
Arioch IV Bizarre,is an understatement. I remember my great grandmother Cursing the Hun. Because of the brother in law being killed. She lived to 103. Still couldn't forget or forgive. Has been gone many years now. I won't forget. No problem with forgiving.
An aftermarket nylon stock maker could cast a replica stock with metal insert for weight, thin plates to cover the forestock, and a receiver to screw a threaded at both ends "barrel tube" into at the breach end. They already make stocks with metal inserts so that's a bit of design and a new mold. The "bayonet" is just a threaded rod, one end with a cup to capture the spring (probably could use a couple ball bearing washers to center the rod), rod goes through a screw on cap at the muzzle end (for regular maintenance) and gets a flat striking end screwed onto the exposed threaded end. That doesn't require much special equipment except the stock, which is a variation on an existing theme. They already make such stocks for WWI era rifle actions.
Mr.Easton, you don't need to fabricate the whole piece, or have it fabricated. Plenty of companies sell rifle furniture. This furniture -specifically the synthetic furniture- is typically hollow, or filled with some rigid sort of foam. These can be ordered online. You could drill our sections of foam and fill them with the appropriate weights, or use spray foam insulation to fill hollow furniture, and then drill and weight that. Industrial supply companies like McMaster.com sell all sorts of tubes and springs. It wouldn't be hard at all to order the appropriate rifle furniture, measure it, and then fit in the right tubes and rectangles. The most complicated piece would be the piece that would fit and lock into the furniture, and receive the barrel. For the creation of this, you could use one of many online machine shops that will make what ever you want as long as you send in the machining specs. Figure out the necessary dimensions of the part, and have a few made. The simulators would be simple enough that each person could assemble their own with relatively little effort.
It’s pretty obvious you need more than one type of training weapon to suit different contexts- there is no point having a sparring weapon of which you can’t hit with the stock, and you won’t get one that is a realistic weight- need at least two types for different practice.
Sounds like a job for Kvetun... I don't think they've made guns, but they seem to be pretty good at developing new cheap gear really quickly. I'd certainly buy one, I've been interested in getting started with bayonets for a while.
An idea for the blade. sail battens. most classes of modern sailboat use strips of plastic to stiffen the sails. these are quite flexible (they only stiffen cloth) durable and already come with plastic blobs blunting the end (so they won't poke there way out of the pocket in the sail) another idea would be to attach the bayonet halfway down the barrel and make it long enough that the point is in the same position. this would allow a greater length of material for flexing making slashes less dangerous. caution would stillbe required not to hit your oponant with the actual barrel.
I have two of the swedish M1911 trainers, and wouldnt hessitate to use them and somewhat hard, with proper protection. It is what I bought them for and both of them are marked with deep cuts in the wood and such, one even needs glueing the stock. A possibility for regulating the length of the trainer, could be to have plungers of different lengths, so that a swap would facilitate going from a 20th century knife bayonet to a 19th century sword bayonet. Pipe insulation could be fitted to the bottom of the stock for some padding and cushioning of the impact. For training purposes I think it would be fine, but it would detract somewhat if doing shows. As for getting a steady supply of them, my thoughts around it untill I got my swedes, was to beg a favour of a friend that is a mechanical teacher in high school and have a proper machine shop at hand, making the steel part to fit in cast off stocks from Mauser M98s, which are in steady supply over here. Now, there is mostly a matter of reverse engineering the Swedes but the need to do it, are gone. I think the proper way forward would be to measure whatever original one have (am slightly envious on yours), do some research as to what is available in stock dimensions, find the closest matches, identify a usable stock, accept that it will not be a replica of an existing pattern and see what can be done from that. :)
I don't know about there, but non-functioning training rifles are fairly easy to find in the states and are generally full weight. Now, a training bayonet that isn't merely a blunt bayonet may be harder to pull off, but could be mimicked in various ways as you pointed out. Plus, it sound like the actual rifle was your biggest concern, so look into ROTC/color guard/drill team/etc training rifles and there will be lots of options. Or, as others have mentioned, you could just get a rifle stock (possibly like a CZ mannlicher stock as you're probably looking for something full length while modern styles are a bit short & light) then just mount an equivalent sized pipe with the plunger/spring system you showed or whatever else would safely replicate a bayonet while reaching the proper weight. Not really sure what your laws allow in terms of gun parts, so I would think a training rifle would be less problematic being designed specifically as a non-functioning exhibition drill rifle, but, then again, I don't know.
My idea revolves around using off the shelf rifle stocks (which you’d need anyway) and simple plumbing pipe with a trapped spring configured in a way that replicates the spring loaded barrel mechanism. You may need to find tune it with weights at certain spots but that should be sufficient, and relatively cheap until you can draw up the diagram in CAD and send it off to China
I traded e-mails with Purpleheart for a bit trying to hesh out details for making bayonet attachments or fencing bayonets, but it didn't pan out. You can make these somewhat simply with relatively available materials, but durability is an issue - especially the stock. Less of an issue with earlier systems, but I was shooting for later ones that use the whole weapon. While not as realistic, there's a reason the mukuju was what the Japanese settled on.
I have handled some danish bayonet trainers from the same time and they most deffently didn't have ANY springs. In the pictures I've seen they sometimes have some cloth on the round nob at the end but thats it. They just wore some heavy fencing equipment and only a glove on the left hand not the right.
This is my idea too. I can see how a metal spring-loaded training bayonet has advantages, but I doubt it would be worth it setting up a production line for it, when you can just buy of the shelf jukendo mokuju. Apparently the USMC trains with their own shorter version of a mokuju too. Yeah, it's a fair bit lighter, and you'd need some heavy padding at least, but this is also available of the shelf, and you'd save yourself a lot of hassle.
Also, at least according to Wikipedia, the US military used to practise with mock bayonettes until quite recently. Since they stopped now, perhaps it is possible to buy the practise weapons they used for it. I would assume that they are fairly accurate, and also I can't see the modern bayonette changing much from the colonial days aside from the gun stock being much shorter due to rifling making bullets more accurate.
I't something I have been interested in for a while myself. My fencing trainer actuelly knows how to fence with the bajonet because he was a miliary trainer. But I did not find any equipment for it. Except for Jukendo and those weapons don't seem very safe for a actual bajonet fight. And are very sportified.
The modern military uses steel wire skeletons and molds over resin or rubber to make training rifles. I'm sure similar technique can be applied to make HEMA bayonet fencing weapons. The problem is the economy of scale. HEMA community is small enough by itself, and bayonet fencing is even a smaller subgroup. This means the demand is so low that producing lower quantity to meet such niche demand is costly.
Matt please get instagram, ooh maybe also a podcast, your my favorite youtube channel, and id love to hear a podcast where you just ramble aboht things while driving, or talk about specific topics with a guest
Companies like Cabela make sell kits to make reproductions of various muzzle loading rifles and muskets. I suppose one could buy one of those kits and add their own barrel with the composite bayonet or make the springloaded one. Still wouldn't be cheap but you'd have an actual gun stock to start with.
At least as late as the 1970s, the US Army was training with "Pugil Sticks". These were claimed to be the size and weight of an M-14 rifle and were. All cloth padding on the outside with places for you to put your hands inside the padding and grab the wooden core. When using these, both people would wear football helmets because butt strokes to the head were encouraged a lot more than stabs to the throat or torso. To be honest, I don't think that they were really used to teach technique but mostly to encourage aggression or maybe just to entertain the drill sargents. In any event, there may be a great many of these things still around and they are probably pretty cheap.
So I can tell you that the US Marine Corps uses wooden Mokuju made by Purpleheart Armory for the bayonet training in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. Having been stabbed with one through a flak jacket I can tell you that I could feel it, and it hurt some, but it did not do damage. It is lighter than you want, but that does have the benefit, like you mentioned, of not being as dangerous if it hits someone. They are also a bit simpler, as instead of using springs they use a rubber tip to reduce the force. As of yet, they do not make them in the length you want, but something like that could easily be made as long as you need. I mean, the Marines were able to commission a shorter one to simulate an M4 with a fixed bayonet. I know it's not exactly what you were looking for, but it's inexpensive enough that you could buy one to evaluate and see if this option meets your needs, either long-term, or as an interim solution.
12 ga single shot shotgun. Slug the chamber and rear portion of the barrel with lead or something for the weight. This should also qualify as demilling it so it's no longer an actual firearm. Thread the end of the barrel for a cap. any old piece of steel rod and a bit of welding for the bayonet, held inside the barrel with a threaded cap and the breech slug. For the danger of the tail end, saw the butt short by about 6 inches, get a rubber butt pad and a couple of reasonably stiff springs to provide give when buttstroking. The most expensive part will be the shotgun, as I have no idea what the difficulties are with acquiring and then demilling over there. Over here in the states, I could probably cobble those things together (even using brand new shotguns) for around $250 each. Begger's version using black iron pipe would go around $50-100, probably, but wouldn't be balanced as well or pretty. ETA: I'll bet if you called Jorge Sprave, he'd have one at your door like he'd shot it out of a slingshot.
You could try contacting a maker of drill/parade rifles and see if they can do it. Alternately, you could buy a few parade rifles and then contract some to add the bayonet mechanism to them. From what I've seen parade rifles aren't that expensive, $40 - $60 US on the average for basic looking rifles and up to $200+ for accurate replicas of M1903 Springfields or M1 Garands.
Hmm, I just looked up some prices from amazon and it seems like you could put a crude but functional version of one of these together for about 120€ if you have a small homeshop with tools like a welder, angle grinder and some other basic handtools.
From the looks of it, any experienced carpenter can make that with relative ease. Also you dont really need to have steel barrels - there are quite a few durable plastics that will be safer, much easier to make and replace. I would very strongly suggest looking up some local carpenter's shop and getting their quote for making this tool.
There's a sword-vs-bayonet move in Roworth that, last I read it, seemed to imply you'd catch the back of their bayonet with the back of your sword as you closed in. Which makes me wary of these kinds of trainers since there's no bayonet butt sticking out, but also I don't think I ever got the move to work in the first place so maybe I was just reading it wrong.
If you want to spar with firearms, SimUnitions makes excellent "paint bullets" that are simply used in real firearms. If you get plumb-bob bayoneted sparring rifles made, I think it'd be cool if they could fire single shot paint rifle rounds. Or the ability to give "officers" working sidearms. 3 people with melee weapons against 1 with a loaded rifle with bayonet fixed would be interesting, so would 2 big teams outdoors with terrain each with 1 officer, or practicing using the sword to parry while getting a revolver out of a holster to use (19th century military holsters look pretty crappy to me, no drawing and firing in less than a second [which I have done] using those things!), or a small group protecting one rifleman while he reloads against a large group. For me, I'd like to see how well 2 revolvers carried Wild Bill style deals with large groups of melee weapons used by competent people working together who ambush me etc (multiple hits necessary to stop people, because hollow-points aren't invented yet). Just brainstorming way to simulate 19th century scenarios. Good thoughts about finding ways to dampen the impact of the butt end; maybe they could make the stock similar to the collapsible M4/AR stocks (buffer tube spring) but they compress under pressure instead of locking in adjustable place. Folding stock technology could also help make stocks that give way to the sides and top/bottom under pressure. At least, I hope so, because that'd be really cool! I like how similar the training tool is to real rifles. The Izmash plant that makes Kalashnikovs in Russia (the original plant) also makes airsoft guns, and they are 95% like regular AKs! Made by the same people on the same assembly line in the same plant at the same time, they just put in a few different parts. This obviously makes a better training tool that's more fun to use. And you've got the world's toughest airsoft gun!
Not to mention that in, the USA at least, some people and law enforcement types will be very upset because it looks like a gun. So it'd likely be really hard to get a hold of or even use anywhere someone might even just glance at you.
My plan would be: Hardwood stock roughly musket-shaped, large foam buttpad to minimize injury, and the blade from a good left hand dagger affixed to the end. Of course no one I know is interested in bayonets and I can barely maybe manage a longsword so someone else will have to do this...
The butt and stock can be made padded and flexible, the blade can be made both spring loaded and flexible, but the problem is the weight - 9 pounds is 9 pounds (that's about 4 kilos, for the empirically challenged) , and will hurt when you get whacked by it. You may (almost) eliminate the chance of serious injury, but it will still hurt.
Seems like it might be better to pick some standardized pipe sizes for the barrel and bayonet then sell a kit containing a light weight stock made out of some modern plastic, all the extra hardware you need (spring, bayonet tip, some special aresting mechanism, probably a special cap you screw on the end of the barrel pipe and the bottom of the bayonet pipe). You could also weight it with something like specially designed compartments in the stock for placing something standardized and heavy, steel washers or tiny segments of pipe that are enclosed in it or something. It would cut down on shipping weight and make it easier to ship to places with restrictive weapons laws that might be suspicious of something rifle-shaped.
Ever thought of making your own? A while back I remember buying a bunch of cheap SKS wood stocks that were mostly unfinished. You could easily add on your own tube and plunger if you know what you are doing (I wouldnt). WOuldnt really have the weight though.
I bet Lynn Thompson would be happy to make that. And I am sure a lot of people who own SKSes (and other riffles that come with bayonets still) would like to practice with such a dummy.
James Pawson I was thinking a similar line. My SKS will remain in tact, but friends of mine have replaced their stocks, and I may be able to get a couple. A trip down to the hardware store, some time in my work shop, may have a reasonable SKS dummy. Not what Matt wants, but good for me. You know, train for the weapon that is actually in my house.
If you are looking for historical accounts of bayonet vs sword, a good place to start might be the Opium Wars & other 19th-century Sino-European conflicts. I haven't read much about detailed tactics, but Qing musketeers elsewhere in this era were usually behind a line of soldiers armed with dao and rattan shields and then a line of pikemen, and there is a period painting of American troops with bayonets attacking ramparts defended by Qing soldiers with dao and shield. The design of those ridiculously late-Qing dao like the one you just sold me MAY date to the beginning of these conflicts (?and be intended for use against Brown Bess muskets with bayonets? just my thought). At any rate, I can't imagine that number of English and Scots going around killing people without a lot of diaries being written about it. I'd also expect something similar in the Indian Mutiny around the same time; there are certainly illustrations that have both swords and bayonets.
Do we see "rotational moves" in the various polearm treatises and battlefield accounts. Namely, you thrust with a spear, the opponent parries to the outside, and then you step in and swing the butt-end at him. A 6-6.5 foot shaft has enough momentum at the butt end to break ribs or to do some internal damage with a solid hit. Essentially what Matt is afraid someone would do with the bayonet simulator. For that matter do the training manuals that deal with bayonet talk about incorporating the rifle butt into your attacks?
I think the problem would be making a stock you could hit people with. A springy plunger is pretty easy to make, but making something that heavy safe to hit people with is tough. It would almost have to be made with, or padded with, heavy foam - which would make it not handle like a real gun. You could strap a plunger onto a Cold Steel gunstock war club (after sawing the stabbing point off), and make the whole thing for under $100. But it wouldn't be safe to hit with the stock. Better than nothing, though.
Have you tried pugil sticks? They would seem to be just what you need - very durable but reasonably safe if you use simple protective gear. They are suppose to simulate the weight and "feel" of a rifle with bayonet. OH! you can safely use the butt stroke, ha,ha.
Mr. Easton, have you considered talking to the american companies that make drill rifles?
5 лет назад
You should give your specs to companies building shotguns. This is essentially the same size and the same calibre as a shotgun and most shotguns comes with customisations so it should be a matter of what kind of material do you want and what is the solidity you are looking for.
I'd make a rod style bayonet of a semi-rigid rubber threaded onto a spring-loaded short steel plunger completely captive inside an iron water pipe 'barrel' and a high density rubber stock cast or printed in the shape of the desired musket pattern furniture. All balanced with magnetic weights on the 'barrel' concealed by the furniture.
If you had real rifles, it would probably be very easy to temporarily convert them to trainers. Basically, this is a variation on the spring and ramrod idea. Put a spring down the barrel, put a wooden dowel down the barrel (if it breaks it is easy to repair and the wood won't damage any rifling). Tie paracord or some other strong string from the bayonet lug to a point on the dowel. This will keep the dowel from being pulled out while not interfering with it being depressed. Maybe put some duct tape or something on the end of the dowel so that it doesn't splinter.
It would seem like a bayonet training tool is the same thing as a spear training tool, but with a gun stock strapped to the spear body, possibly with weights.
My comment seems to have dissapeared - but how many of these would you be looking for, and what would you consider "reasonable"? I don't think the stock should be difficult, and the metalwork doesn't seem that complicated. Further, the stock could be made more safe for use if things like the metal butt was replaced by something softer (although not risk free of course).
you might have to go with just getting two, because with it being custom made no matter what you're going to have to spend a lot of money for it, unless you are friends with a blacksmith, or gunsmith
I am traing on dual wield swords and I have pretty improven myself. It would be wonderful to have suggestions from you . Is it possible for you to evaluate a video of my dual sword practising ?
The basic design is extremely simple: rifle stock, length of pipe or tubing threaded on one end, rod threaded on both ends, cap that will fit in the tubing for the bottom end of the rod, cap for the "barrel" which allows the rod to slide freely, cap for the top end of the rod, and a light compression spring. About the only thing I can think of for the but stock is to pad it. The main problem I see here is the weight distribution.
Replied before I read yours. That's basically what I pictured. Aftermarket nylon stock makers already make stocks with metal inserts to screw the action to and for stiffness. Simple enough to add them where needed for weight and balance for a bayonet trainer. And aftermarket rifle stocks can go for as little as
Matthew Carberry That's not a bad idea. Additionally, I think it would be a good idea to buy ones that have provisions for adding recoild pads to the end of the butt stock, instead of attaching a normal recoil pad you add some foam padding instead. I think that execise mats, like the ones you find at gyms would be ideal. They can be bought for pretty cheap, readily available, and fair sturdy, one sheet of foam would go a long ways too.
hi,, it should be pretty easy to replicate using off the rack steel tubing / bar stock,, the hardest part would be getting the spring and damping to work smoothly ,, but i assume the one you have can be stripped for repairs etc ,, so it's parts should give a decent ballpark ,, starting point to work with ,, any half decent small engineering shop should be able to replicate it using mostly off the shelf parts ,,you may need to get different companies to do the wooden stock ,, phone a few for quotes it will be way cheaper than having a gunsmith make one
Seems like the problem is the weight. As you say if you hit someone with 8 or 9 pounds of anything you could do some damage. A nylon stabby end is good, but a foam butt is still dangerous if it is a big heavy butt. You may want to consider a light weight (not historical) option or only do very light safe sparring (not realistic). Maybe a modified pugil stick with one end being a blunt and flexible "blade". the blade should have a circular cross section so that it bends equally and every direction.
Matt, if you have the time, please do a movie sword fight review of the 1993 film, "The Three Musketeers", with Charlie Sheen, Kieffer Sutherland, Oliver Platt and Chris O'Donnell. Any fight in the movie will do. I'm just curious to see your opinion.
You could replace the butt with nylon and/or pad it with foam, you'd have to mess around a little to get the weight distribution right but it would be safer.
I can imagine how this will go. 1st video: That is my 25 metre long, rubber powered bayonet launcher, with a 2.5 ton draw weight, outfitted with a broadhead. Let me show you its features. 2nd video: Today I present to you the bayonetzooka with 1000 joules of power. 3rd video:Since the two previous versions were not satisfying enough I made a full auto version with an ammo capacity of 20. I would totally love to watch such a series.
PS These sport naginata ends (www.tozandoshop.com/Naginata-Habu-Bamboo-Blade-for-shiai-type-p/001-ngs1.htm) are fairly decent for sticking on the ends of long heavy objects for hitting people. I've used them for spear simulators. The bend really takes the broken rib factor out. You could stick them on the end of 'drill rifles' (www.paradestore.com/index.php/our-products/replica-rifles.html) or something similar.
Greener was famous for the Martini adaptations - the Greener Martini Shotgun (used by prison guards and riot police), and later for adapting the Martini into a harpoon gun - I think the one in Jaws is a Greener.
Sorry, I don't know what Fawcett is. These are not uncommon - they turn up in antique shops and auctions every few weeks and I got this one from a shop.
Hmm. Not all that complicated, and someone with a half decent workshop should be able to make a passable reproduction with relative ease. As for updating the design... That's a different proposition entirely. With a bottom-mounted bayonet with a spring-loaded pivot and a slide mechanism could be used to allow both stabbing and downward cuts, and some careful padding could be used to make the butt a little less lethal (memory foam springs to mind, but springs could be used too). The key items needed in a workshop would be a bandsaw, drill press... That's really it; a lathe wouldn't go amiss but I don't think it would be critical to the construction. Alas I lack all of these, but if I had access to them I'd certainly give it a shot.
Not really, the larp places I go to use bamboo swords covered in pool noodle usually with a harder foam cap. We make spears too with a little more care for the sturdiness of the tip cap and a bit of softer foam on it. I would imagine you could do the same thing to make a bayonet, and if you tape the outside heavily it would probably do ok with non-sharp sword hits. Things that look roughly like this: www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjU4O3by6DcAhVS7VQKHXhfCIkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Flisting%2F176067138%2F8-low-pro-spear-stab-only-polearm&psig=AOvVaw3E0osYZIh8WsIDO0UV5l_M&ust=1531726389526570
Why not work on your oponent armor instead of your training weapon? A light armor that can absorb those hits would be ideal. Some tipe of outer "foam" in the weapon and armor that aborbs the hit and some hard pads (on the armor) to prevent unwanted neck/head movements or trauma. Something similar to the logic behind training boxing gloves and head protectors.
Matt, it'd be great to hear you talk about hand to hand fighting training in modern militaries if you haven't done so. For example, what bayonet drills to modern soldiers do?
thecaveofthedead In one of his Waterloo videos, there's a soldier who talks about it. There's a lot of screaming and simple thrusts, very little complexity.
I know it's been two years, but Matt have you seen what Black Fencer has?: blackfencer.com/en/home/167-rifle-with-bayonet.html It is a little light, I think 2-3 lbs in old imperial measures so sword weight, but that does help with the safety I would think. Alternatively, the old US Bayonet manuals of the 1850s tell you to take a stock bayonet and cut it down & modify it to take a screw-in replaceable blade & tip, so one could always do that if they had access to a machine shop...
Does anybody else notice that the less neckbeardy youtubers in this genre tend to have fewer subscribers? Captain Context, Ian LaSpina, etc. What's up with that, I wonder?
To be fair Lindybeige has the second most subscribers, second to Skal, and he's not very neckbeardy. +AkiohiNeither does Lindybeige, neither does Metatron, neither does Ian Laspina, (as far as I'm aware). Of the more popular channels, (the ones with over 100,000 subs) Matt and Skal are the only ones who do HEMA I think.
matt is all to willing to attack his own followers who advocate for the second amendment and such. La spina talks about armor which many people have less of an interest in.
I traded e-mails with Purpleheart for a bit trying to hesh out details for making bayonet attachments or fencing bayonets (more like the one in the video), but it didn't pan out. You can make these somewhat simply with relatively available materials, but durability is an issue - especially the stock. Less of an issue with earlier systems, but I was shooting for later ones that use the whole weapon.
