M9 "Buck" Multi-purpose Combat Knife

To be mounted on the Diemaco C7 & C8 Assault Rifle/Carbine

Dutch M9 bayonet with Dutch Royal Army issued carrying system (E.G. Muetstege collection) 

When the Dutch Armed Forces received the Diemaco C7 assault rifles & C8 assault carbines, they also received a new bayonet. This bayonet was included in the contract with the Diemaco company in Canada. Since Diemaco did not make bayonets herself, the bayonets were bought from the Buck company in the USA.

These Dutch M9 bayonets can be identified by the so called "KL" number on the ricasso. The serial number of a Dutch M9 bayonet starts with KL with a five digit number, which always starts with a zero. On the other side of the ricasso is marked with Buck 188 USA and the year symbol ("\" for 1994).

The Dutch Armed Forces did not call this a bayonet but referred to it as a Multi-purpose Combat Knife ("Multifunctioneel Gevechtsmes") because of its multifunctional role and the fact that it was against some conventions to use a bayonet with a saw blade. So instead of calling it a bayonet (which it actually was) the Dutch called it a knife (which wasn't bound to conventions). 

The Dutch soldiers were not very happy with the quality of this bayonet because it often broke in two pieces while using it. The blade has a very short tang that extends through the crossguard.  This portion of the tang is threaded.  There is a metal tang rod that connects to the short blade tang and extends through the grip.  A socket head cap screw fastens the pommel to the tang rod. The main area of breakage with the M9 bayonets was where the tang rod connected to the blade tang. Another negative factor of the M9 bayonet was the 'soft' steel of the blade. When the bayonet an its scabbard were used as a wire cutter it often left dents into tip of the blade. Also the metal wire cutter piece at the end of the scabbard often broke while cutting barbed-wires.

    

The scabbard of the Dutch M9 bayonet always has a pouch in which a pocketknife could be inserted. The scabbard (with bayonet) were attached to a woodland camouflaged frog that was part of the ops-vest of a soldier. When attached to the ops-vest the bayonet was strapped to the leg of the soldier.

The Dutch issued M9 "Buck" Multi-purpose Combat Knife were not made in large numbers (only a few thousand) and are considered very scarce by bayonet collectors. Only a few have reached the open market, but most of them have been destroyed or kept by the Dutch Ministry of Defense.

Dimensions
Overall Length: 309 mm
Blade Length: 181 mm
Muzzle Ring Diameter: 22.1 mm

M9 "Buck" Multipurpose Combat Knife Galleries:

Click on Bayonet to see its Gallery