Kalashnikov Bayonets of the World

I tend to be analytical and curious and this is what I found when I stripped down a AK47, AKM Type I and II bayonet. I used rough, damaged non matching bayonets. I stop short of drilling or punching metal rivets on the pommels and cross guards as I felt nothing more would be revealed. I was surprised that the pin securing the grip to the blade tang on the Type II was plastic!? I had expected a machine screw and nut like on the Type I. If any one is interested in more details or close up pictures let me know. Mike

Nice one, well done!

interesting. how well did the type II go back together. i have one with cosmo in ever part of the bayo and i clean it and it keeps oozing out lol.

I had no intension of putting the Type I & II bayonets back together again. I suppose it could be done, they do fit together but they would never be the same as original again. Both bayonets used large amounts of an opaque glue, (epoxy?), in their assembly. On the Type I, I had to drill out the plastic plugs and glue on all four screw holes and use a razor saw to split the grips where they where glued together at all contact surfaces. The grip screws were also covered with glue and I had to use a Dremel tool to clean them up for removal. The Type II one piece grip was glued to both the pommel and blade tang. The plastic pin was glued in and covered by plastic plugs and glue on both side that had to be drilled out. I was lucky to be able to break the grip loose from the pommel and tang without damaging it.

As far as removing the grease/cosmoline that all the Yugos seem to come packed in I would suggest soaking in an automotive solvent, (talk to your mechanic/shop), or a household degreaser, (dishwasher soap/laundry detergent). WD40 and CLP also work well but are more expensive. In S.E. Asia we used barrels of JP4 heated over a fire to clean weapons packed in cosmo in long term storage cases. Dangerous, but a lot easier and faster than stripping and cleaning cosmo from each one individually. A dip in the barrel and then just routine cleaning. Mike

Very nice post.
On the plastic plug thing for the Type II AKM bayonets, I mentioned that in my book. You did a lot better job of disassembling this Yugo than I did on the East German in my book.
The glue is indeed Epoxy if it was done per Russian specifications, btw.