1950-53 Korea:
During the Korean War, there were several different types of bayonets used. Many of the older versions of bayonets were redesigned so that the military could operate them with their gloves on. The M1 and the M1905 were both used and saw quite a bit of action during the Korean War but others had to be developed so that they weren’t so hard to remove while they had gloved hands. They needed the gloves because of the cold climate in Korea. The M5 bayonet was introduced in 1953 and it had a completely different design than any of it’s predecessors had. It was still meant to attach to the M! Garand Military Rifles that were being issued at the time. It actually looks more like a knife that would be used for fighting than an actual bayonet. The M5 had a barrel mount ring on the cross guard and it was the only one up until this point that was like this. The grips were made of black plastic and it had a much larger push button to remove it from the rifle. The blade was a Parkerized steel. It is believed that the M5 was also issued to the Korean troops at the time of conflict. If you find one that is marked with a K-M5A1 along with an arsenal looking stamp, it probably was a Korean soldier’s. The scabbards for the M5 bayonets will have the stamp USM8A1 just like the M3, M4, M5, and M7’s have.