Bauer Ordnance Corp. M7 Bayonet

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rangerbluedog
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Bauer Ordnance Corp. M7 Bayonet

Post by rangerbluedog »

I just picked up this old M7 bayonet at the gunshow today. BOC would be Bauer Ordnance Corp I think. Probably circa 1969.
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zzyzzogeton
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Re: Bauer Ordnance Corp. M7 Bayonet

Post by zzyzzogeton »

I believe that YOUR M7 is a very early production version. If you look at the backcut, the grind is very nearly a 90 degree grind. This is very much like the backcut on the M4, M5 and M6 bayonets. The early M7s had backcuts that looked more like the left most bayonet in the picture below.

The M7 was introduced in 1964, the same year that the M16 began phase in. Bauer was one of the initial manufacturers of the M7, producing about 1M of them.

M7 suppliers by contract for the US Government, in addition to Bauer Ordinance, were Colt, Ontario, General Cutlery (GENCUT), Imperial, Conetta, Columbus Milpar (MILPAR), Fraser Mfg (FZR) and Carl Eickhorn (for Colt).

I snitched the following info and pic from the usmilitariaforum. The words and pic were posted by Gary Cunningham back in 2009, the foremost bayonet authority in the US prior to his passing.

In the photo below, based on observation more than any official sources, from left to right:

1. The normal early style runout found on most of the early M7s. They do not have quite as sharp a corner as was common in the M3, M4 etc.

2. The later official style of runout with a rounded corner. This was apparently done to stress relieve the corner, although what documentation I have found does not state the exact reason. and I have not yet found an exact date for the change. MilPar may well have used this style of runout.

3. Although somewhat longer and more rounded than #2, this appears on the very late production M7s and is probably within specifications since the spec simply states "Configuration of runout may vary - sharp corner not permissible." It is late enough that in the case of MilPar it should be considered commercial since it does not appear until after MilPar went out of business.

4. This long slope is almost certainly commercial production.


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rangerbluedog
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Re: Bauer Ordnance Corp. M7 Bayonet

Post by rangerbluedog »

Awesome! Thanks for the info!
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