Talk:Sword bayonet

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I have never heard of a 'yataghan' bayonet, or any curved bayonet at all. That may merely reflect my ignorance, but I am suspicious. I'm not aware of any Turkish or Arabic culture that had a tradition of 'massed armies' trained in the use of pike. Thus, not tradition of 'infantry squares', and thus no reason to develop the bayonet. Theblindsage (talk) 03:35, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

-- Ok, nevermind--http://arms2armor.com/Bayonets/fren1866.htm Looks like another fashionable Orientalism adopted by Third Empire France. http://thearmouryonline.co.uk/BayonetHistory.htm "Before leaving the sword bayonet, mention must be made of the so called "Yataghan" bayonets such as that for the famous 1866 "Chassepot" rifle. These will be the most common 19th century pattern encountered by collectors. The first of this type, based on the Turkish recurved  yataghan was introduced by France in 1840 to NCOs and this shape quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe and the Americas.  The first British yataghan bayonet, the brass gripped  P1853 Artillery was an almost identical copy of the French 1842 model." Yes, exists, but existed as a 'formal' weapon similar to the issue of swords to officers during the U.S. civil War, long past any significant combat relevance. --Theblindsage (talk) 03:56, 2 December 2011 (UTC)