In the second half of the thirties of the last century, several new types of self-loading and automatic rifles were adopted by the Red Army. The first was the ABC-36 designed by S. G. Simonov, put into service in 1936. This weapon had a number of characteristic shortcomings, which is why the development of self-loading and automatic rifles continued. The next representative of this class was the SVT-38 rifle, created by F. V. Tokarev and subsequently upgraded to SVT-40. Like other rifles of the time, the new weapon was supposed to receive a bayonet for use in hand-to-hand combat.
At the end of the thirties, the military leaders, not without reason, believed that the bayonet battle had not outlived its usefulness and would remain an important element of the coming conflicts. Thus, all new rifles, including self-loading ones, had to be equipped with blades for use in close combat. The 7, 62-mm self-loading rifle of the Tokarev system mod. 1938 or SVT-38. When developing this weapon, the experience of creating previous automatic systems, as well as blades, was actively used. For this reason, the SVT-38 was to receive a bayonet-knife, somewhat similar to the AVS-36 blade.
In the mid-thirties, it was no longer considered that the bayonet should be constantly attached to the rifle. Attach it to the weapon (this applied only to new systems, but not to the old "Three-Line") now should only be necessary. The rest of the time, the blade had to be in a sheath on the soldier's belt. This feature of the application, as well as the specifics of the use and emerging tasks, led to the final rejection of needle bayonets. The future was only for bayonet knives.
Rifle SVT-40 with an attached bayonet. Photo Huntsmanblog.ru
The SVT-38 rifle received a relatively long bayonet-knife, the general structure of which resembled a blade for an ASV-36 rifle. A number of features of the previous weapon showed themselves well and switched to new products without noticeable changes. However, other design features have been redesigned.
The main element of the new bayonet was a single-sided blade with a sharpened symmetrical combat end. With a total weapon length of 480 mm, the blade length was 360 mm. The heel and most of the blade were 28 mm wide. Due to the long length of the blade, the sidewalls were used. Unlike the bayonet for the ASV-36, the new blade had straight valleys located along its longitudinal axis. According to some reports, the early bayonets for Tokarev's rifles had a sharpening on the edge located on the side of the ring, which is why when installing a bayonet on the weapon, the blade turned out to be on top, under the barrel. According to other sources, the blades of different parties were sharpened both on one and on the other edge.
In the rear part of the blade, a cross was fixed, made in the form of a metal plate with an elongated upper part. In the latter, a ring with a diameter of 14 mm was provided for mounting on the rifle barrel. The head of the grip was made of metal and had a device for mounting on a weapon. In its back surface there was a deep groove in the form of an inverted "T". There was also a spring-loaded latch operated by a button on the left surface of the handle. The space between the crosspiece and the metal head was closed with two wooden cheeks on screws or rivets.
Bayonet knife mod. 1938 with scabbard. Photo Army.lv
Bayonets for SVT-38 were equipped with a carrying sheath. Their main part was made of metal. A leather or cloth tape bent into a loop was attached to it with the help of one or two metal rings. With this loop, the scabbard was attached to the soldier's belt. The design of the scabbard made it possible to carry the blade and, if necessary, quickly remove it for installation on a weapon or use for other purposes.
Rifle systems for bayonet mounting were of a fairly simple design. The bayonet-knife was to be mounted on the muzzle of the rifle muzzle and fixed with an inverted "T" bracket mounted under the barrel. At the same time, the blade was rigidly fixed in its place and could be removed only by acting on the latch. The design of the rifle and bayonet allowed stabbing and cutting blows.
To install the bayonet on the SVT-38 rifle, it was necessary to remove the blade from its scabbard and attach it to the front of the weapon. In this case, the muzzle of the barrel had to fall into the ring of the cross, and the T-shaped bracket had to be placed in the corresponding groove in the head of the handle. When the bayonet was displaced towards the butt, the ring was put on the muzzle, and the barrel bracket entered the groove and was fixed in it with a latch. With comparative simplicity, such a design of the installation systems provided the required rigidity and strength of the fastening.
Bayonet mod. 1938 with scabbard (top) and blade arr. 1940 with scabbard (bottom). Photo Knife66.ru
7, 62-mm self-loading rifle of the Tokarev system mod. 1938 of the year was put into service in 1939, and soon after that its mass production began. The assembly of new rifles was deployed at the Tula and Izhevsk arms factories. Bayonet knives were also produced there. There is information about the production of bayonets for SVT-38 and at some other enterprises. Manufacturing plants marked their products with "brand" brands and numbers. Depending on the batch and production period, the marking could be applied to the side surface of the cross, the heel of the blade, or even to the cheek of the handle. The designations used also depended on the time of production and the manufacturer.
During the first few months of the operation of the SVT-38 rifle in the troops, it was possible to identify various minor flaws that should have been eliminated during modernization. Claims were made both to the rifle itself and to its bayonet. The appearance of such complaints led to the creation of a modified rifle, which was put into service in April 1940 and known under the designation SVT-40. Together with her, they adopted a new bayonet mod. 1940 g.
One of the main objectives of the modernization project was to reduce the size and weight of the rifle. Initially, it was planned to shorten the weapon by reducing the length of the barrel, but tests have shown that in this case, there are malfunctions in the operation of automation. Because of this, it was necessary to reduce the length of the weapon, not by reducing the rifle, but at the expense of the bayonet. Thus, the main difference between the bayonet-knife mod. 1940 from the previous sample, the overall length and dimensions of the blade became.
The general design features of the bayonet remained the same, but the length decreased. The total length of the bayonet was reduced to 360 mm, the length of the blade - to 240 mm. The width of the blade, the location of the valleys, the dimensions of the handle, etc. remained the same, since they did not in any way affect the overall length of the rifle with melee weapons. Reducing the length of the blade also led to some reduction in mass: together with the scabbard, the new bayonet-knife weighed no more than 500-550 g.
Shortened bayonet for SVT-40 rifle and its scabbard. Photo Bayonet.lv
According to some sources, bayonets for SVT-40 of early releases had a sharpened upper (located on the side of the cross ring) edge. Later ones had a blade on the other side. However, it cannot be ruled out that the location of the cutting edge depended on the batch and manufacturer and could differ for weapons of different periods.
The bayonets of the new model of the first batches had the same latch as their predecessors. Later this device was improved. During the operation of weapons in the troops, it turned out that during fencing on rifles, the enemy's weapon can accidentally press the latch button, thereby disconnecting the bayonet or, at least, breaking the strength of the connection. In this case, the fighter remained practically unarmed and lost his chances to emerge from the fight as a winner. To exclude such situations in the design of the bayonet arr. 1940 a new small detail appeared.
The design of the latch itself with a spring and a button remained the same, but a small shoulder appeared on the outer surface of the handle head. He had to cover the button and protect it from accidental presses. The collar almost completely covered the button from the top, back and bottom, so that it could be fully pressed into the handle only when pressed from the front. Due to this, the probability of accidental loss of a bayonet was sharply reduced.
The upper surfaces of the handles of bayonets arr. 1940 (top) and arr. 1938 (bottom). The safety collar of the button is clearly visible on the newer sample. Photo Knife66.ru
For several years, the Soviet defense industry produced about 1.6 million Tokarev rifles in several modifications. In addition to the main variants of 1938 and 1940, the SVT-40 sniper and the AVT-40 automatic rifle, as well as the AKT-40 automatic carbine were produced. Not all of these samples were equipped with bayonets, which is why the number of blades fired was noticeably less than the number of rifles. In fact, bayonets were produced only for rifles of the 38th and 40th years. There is information about equipping automatic AVT-40 with bayonets. Bayonets were not received for other types of weapons.
After the end of World War II, Tokarev's self-loading rifles and their modifications were deemed obsolete and sent for storage or disposal. In addition, a significant number of weapons were adapted for civilian use and sold to the public as hunting rifles. In the course of this alteration, army rifles were deprived of some elements, primarily bayonets and T-shaped brackets under the barrel.
In addition to the Red Army, Tokarev rifles and bayonets were used by the armed forces of some friendly states. Some of the outdated shooting systems were transferred to the countries of the Warsaw Pact, etc.
In connection with the cessation of production and operation of rifles designed by F. V. Tokarev's bayonets were actively written off and sent to be melted down. Nevertheless, a fairly large number of such edged weapons have survived to this day. Now bayonet-knives for SVT-38/40 are a popular model among collectors of edged weapons. At the same time, depending on the state, history, etc., the price of the blade can fluctuate within fairly large limits.
