Testing How Bayonets Affect Practical Accuracy (VIDEOS)

The debate on how significantly an attached bayonet shifts the point of impact on a military rifle barrel continues to rage.

The latest installment comes from Robski with AKOU who tests out the shift that a spike has on a Norinco Paratrooper out to 200 yards on a plate. Of course, he is testing practical accuracy on a torso-sized plate at a relatively close range for rifle work and doesn’t compare it much further but it is still interesting.

To be sure, anytime you add something to a rifle barrel it can change the harmonics of the barrel, which in turn can shift a point of impact from the point of aim. Naturally, sliding several extra ounces of pig sticker over the muzzle can fall into this category.

Curiously, Russian Mosin-Nagant rifles, especially the older M1891s and 91/30s, seem to shoot more accurately with a bayonet attached as the legend goes that they were designed to always carry said pointy bit in the mounted position. Tsarist soldiers weren’t even issued bayonet holders, or so the story goes.

For the anecdotal evidence, check out the two below videos.

And going even further down the rabbit hole, check out the accuraccy comparison with and without sword bayonet insatlled on the Napoleanic-era Baker rifle.

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