M1895 "Rifle" Bayonet

To be mounted on the M1895 Mannlicher Rifle

After more then seven years of testing, the Royal Netherlands Army finally got it's new rifle in 1895. On the 4th of December 1895 it was decided that a Mannlicher weapon (caliber: 6,5 x 53,5 R) would act as the new standard service rifle. This rifle became known as the M95 and stayed in service until the Second World War.

During the rifle testings also different models of bayonets were tested. This finally resulted that the choice was made for a bayonet with strong resemblance to the British Lee-Metford rifle bayonet. The M95 rifle bayonet had a triangular, almost 36 cm long T-back blade, by a total length of almost 48 cm. Initially the bayonets were ordered by three forreign suppliers: the Oesterreichische Waffenfabriks Gesellschaft in Steyr (marked with OEWG), Alexander Coppel in Solingen (marked with a balance scale and the letters A and C) and the firm of Weyersberg & Kirschbaum in Solingen (marked with W.K.& C.).

In 1904 the Dutch started to fabricate their own M1895 bayonets which was done at the Staatsbedrijf der Artillerie Inrichtingen in Zaandam (marked with HEMBRUG). Since the arrival of the M95 rifle it took several years before the bayonet got its definitive shape. Since approximately 1900 the hooked quillon (stacking hook) disappeared, while in 1905 the leather scabbard got a brass ferrule and a securing leather strap.

These are the years in which the following makers made the Dutch M1895 "rifle" bayonets:
Until 1900 - Oesterreichische Waffengesellschaft (OEWG)
1900 until 1905 - Weyersberg Kirschbaum & Cie (W.K.& C.) and Alexander Coppel (A.C.)
1904 until 1940 - Hembrug department of Staatsbedrijf der Artillerie Inrichtingen (HEMBRUG)

Dimensions
Overall Length: 480 mm
Blade Length: 360 mm
Muzzle Ring Diameter: 14,5 mm