Post-War U.S. bayonet and scabbard production has posed significant challenges to researchers. Limited federal contract data has left many gaps and, at times, has proven difficult to interpret accurately. As with any story that is pieced together over time, there have been advances, as well as errors, made along the way. My research builds on previous work by noted authors/researchers, Gary Cunningham, Bill Porter, and Frank Trzaska. Gary’s research can be found in his books; and the work of all three on Frank Trzaska’s great site, http://usmilitaryknives.com.
The following summarizes what appear to be the U.S. government contracts, building on what has already been published with additional research of my own. The information presented below shows the extent of M7 Bayonet procurement discerned from publicly-available data, adds new details, and clarifies some details previously reported elsewhere. There remains much to still be discovered and explained through further research. If you are aware of any additional contracts or have information to add, comments and clarification are welcome.
| M7 Bayonet Contracts Summary | ||||||
| Contract No. | Contractor | Date | Amount | Quantity | Contract Type | Notes |
| DA-11-199-AMC-625 | Columbus Milpar & Manufacturing Co. | 5/7/1964 | not available | 93,498 | Definitive Contract | Date and quantity per Cunningham. Image of a package label with contract number on Cunningham's 2014 Bayonet Points CD that didn't make it into his 2015 book. |
| DA-11-199-AMC-670 | Columbus Milpar & Manufacturing Co. |
February 1966 | $277,000 | not available | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Believed to be for M7 bayonets (see table below). |
| April 1966 | $277,000 | not available | Additional Work | |||
| DA-11-199-AMC-667 | Columbus Milpar & Manufacturing Co. | April 1966 | $455,000 | not available | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Believed to be for M7 bayonets (see table below). |
| DA-11-199-AMC-723 | Conetta Manufacturing Co. | June 1966 | $720,000 | ? | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Cunningham reports total quantity of 310,000 from Conetta's two M7 contracts. However, the reported quantity is too low for the amount paid, so must have been a partial report. |
| November 1966 | $38,000 | ? | Additional Work | |||
| June 1969 | -$11,000 | n/a | Funding Action | |||
| M00150-67-C-0176 | Columbus Milpar & Manufacturing Co. | October 1966 | $37,000 | not available | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Marine Corps direct contract. Address Activity Code M00150 is for Marine Corps Supply Activity, Philadelphia, PA. Believed to be for M7 bayonets (see table below). |
| DAAF03-67-C-0068 | Columbus Milpar & Manufacturing Co. | June 1967 | $103,000 | not available | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Believed to be for M7 bayonets (see table below). |
| DAAF01-68-C-0431 | Conetta Manufacturing Co. | December 1967 | $279,000 | ? | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. See notes above regarding quantity reported in Cunningham. |
| April 1968 | $32,000 | ? | Additional Work | |||
| July 1968 | $248,000 | ? | Additional Work | |||
| DAAF01-69-C-0224 | Bauer Ordnance Corp. | October 1968 | $1,991,000 | 1,835,392 | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Quantity per Cunningham. Quantity reported consistent with amount paid. |
| February 1969 | $1,990,000 | Additional Work | ||||
| DAAF01-72-C-0188 | Fraser Manufacturing Corp. | October 1971 | $84,000 | 40,000 estimated | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Quantity per Cunningham. The quantity in Cunningham was based on my analysis, using Military Assistance Program unit cost reported for 1971. |
| September 1972 | $15,000 | Additional Work | ||||
| DAAF03-73-D-1030 | Imperial Knife Co. | January 1973 | $685,000 | 361,800 | Order Under Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Quantity per Cunningham. Quantity reported consistent with total amount paid for both contracts. |
| DAAF03-73-D-1046 | Imperial Knife Co. | May 1973 | $469,000 | Order Under Contract | ||
| DAAF03-76-C-6646 | Imperial Knife Co. | June 1976 | $315,000 | 63,270 | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD (NARA has contract no. as just C6646). Cunningham indicates Navy contract, but this was an Army contract. Cunningham indicates quantity 63,270 for both 1976 Imperial contracts. However, only this contract was for the M7 (the other 1976 contract, DAAF-03-76-C-6658, was for the M5A1 bayonet). Quantity reported consistent with amount paid under this contract. |
| DAAA09-80-C-4839 | Imperial Knife Co. | July 1980 | $1,025,000 | ? | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD (NARA has contract no. as just C4839). Cunningham indicates quantity of 128,431. However, the reported quantity is too low for the amount paid, so must have been a partial report. |
| DAAA09-83-C-0344 | Imperial Knife Co. | March 1983 | $281,000 | 45,816 | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD (NARA has contract no. as just C0344). Quantity per Cunningham. Given amount paid, quantity of 45,816 likely applies to each order under the contract. |
| August 1983 | $281,000 | 45,816 | Additional Work | |||
| DAAA09-84-C-0504 | Imperial Knife Co. | 4/17/1984 | $240,000 | not available | Definitive Contract | This contract not identified in Cunningham. Contract details per NARA AAD. |
| DAAA09-85-C-0540 | General Cutlery, Inc. | 3/12/1985 | $502,000 | ? | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Cunningham indicates quantity of 45,800. However, the quantity is too low for the amount paid, so must have been a partial report. |
| DAAA09-87-C-0931 | General Cutlery, Inc. | FY 1987 | not available | not available | Definitive Contract | This contract was unknown until an example turned up in sealed packaging. No record of this contract in FPDS or NARA. Made inspection slit in package to verify manufacturer. The quantity produced under this contract is unclear. |
| DAAA-09-88-C-0129 | Ontario Knife Co. | 11/13/1987 | $718,000 | 58,100 | Definitive Contract | Contract for M7 bayonet/M10 Scabbard combo. Contract details per NARA AAD. Quantity per Cunningham. Quantity reported consistent with amount paid. |
| DAAA09-88-C-0366 | General Cutlery, Inc. | 1/29/1988 | $568,000 | 56,801 | Definitive Contract | Contract details per NARA AAD. Cunningham reports various figures for the delivery quantity: 24,400; 56,801; and 81,201 (sum of the first two). 56,801 is consistent with amount paid, so is likely correct. |
| DAAE20-98-P-0241 | Lan Cay, Inc. | 5/1/1998 | $20,463 | 1,287 | Purchase Order | Manufacture subcontracted to General Cutlery Co. Not reported to NARA <$25,000. Amount and quantity per contract summary. |
| DAAE20-01-P-0180 | Ontario Knife Co. | 3/7/2001 | not available | not available | Purchase Order | This contract not identified in Cunningham. Contract for M7 Bayonet and M10 Scabbard packaged separately. NARA shows total of $71,936, which would be for both bayonets and scabbards. |
| DAAE20-03-P-0449 | Ontario Knife Co. | 9/4/2003 | $15,990 | not available | Simplified Acquisition | Contract for M7 Bayonet Knife and M10 Scabbard packaged separately. NARA and FPDS show 2 transactions: $32,874 & $15,990. FPDS indicates $15,990 was exercise of an option for a total of $48,864. Deduced breakdown as 1 combined purchase order for M7 bayonets & M10 scabbards for $32,874, plus option for more M7 bayonets at $15,990. |
| 9/24/2003 | $15,990 | not available | Exercise of Option | |||
| W52H09-04-C-0222 | Ontario Knife Co. | 9/9/2004 | not available | not available | Definitive Contract | This contract not identified in Cunningham. Contract for M7 Bayonet and M10 Scabbard packaged separately. NARA shows total of $269,574, which would be for both bayonets and scabbards. |
| W52H09-06-C-0002 | Lan Cay, Inc. | 11/22/2005 | $257,987 | 12,000 estimated | Definitive Contract | This contract not identified in Cunningham. Contract for M7 Bayonet/M10 Scabbard Combo. Subcontracted to General Cutlery Co. Contract amount pencils out exactly to 12,000 at $21.50 ea. |
| W52H09-06-D-0068 | Ontario Knife Co. | 4/20/2007 5/18/2007 7/31/2008 | not available | 3,000 | 3 Delivery Orders for M7 Bayonets | Indefinite-delivery contract that included the M7 Bayonet, M7 Bayonet/M10 Scabbard Combo, M10 Scabbards, complete M9 Bayonets, and M9 spare parts. Estimated amount derived from USASpending.gov info. Quantity shown are max. M7 and M7/M10 combo quantity allowed under contract, which appears to have been completely fulfilled. info. |
| 8/22/2006 10/16/2006 11/19/2008 4/2/2009 | $1,863,900 |
90,000 | 4 Delivery Orders for M7 Bayonet/M10 Scabbard Combo | |||
| GSMPNEC-V-6219 | Ontario Knife Co. | 10/6/2009 | $310.97 | not available | Purchase Order | Appears to be an Army contract for M7 Bayonet/M10 Scabbard combo bundled into a General Services Administration (GSA) multi-contract award for "Army Multinational Assistance Group 6043." |
| SPM7L1-11-M-D867 | Ontario Knife Co. | 8/5/2011 | $135,455 | 3,746 | Purchase Order | Procurement by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) via a middleman for M7 Bayonet supplied by Ontario Knife Co. Contract details and amount per USASpending.gov. Quantity per DLA info. |
| SPRDL1-18-P-0495 | Aces Enterprises, LLC | 9/10/2018 | $118,000 | 2,000 | Purchase Order | Procurement by the DLA via a middleman for M7 Bayonet/M10 Scabbard Combo supplied by Ontario Knife Co. Amount per USASpending.gov. Quantity per DLA info. |
| 3/15/2019 | $118,000 | 2,000 | Purchase Order | |||
| SPE7L3-19-P-0375 | Aces Enterprises, LLC | 10/15/2018 | $89,800 | 2,000 | Purchase Order | Procurement by the DLA via a middleman for M7 Bayonets supplied by Ontario Knife Co. Amount per USASpending.gov. Type and quantity per DLA info. |
| W56HZV-19-C-0169 | Omega Innovative Products, LLC | 8/26/2019 | $313,320 | 5,600 | Definitive Contract | Procurement by Army Materiel Command, Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal via a middleman for M7 Bayonet/M10 Scabbard Combo presumably supplied by Ontario Knife Co. Amount and quantity per USASpending.gov. |
| 9/26/2019 | $313,320 | 5,600 | Exercise of Option | |||
| SPE7L1-23-P-5237 | Universal Spartan, LLC | 3/17/2023 | $120,470 | 1,721 | Purchase Order | Procurement by the DLA via a middleman for M7 Bayonets supplied by Ontario Knife Co. Contract details and amount per award announcement. Quantity per solicitation announcement. |
Notes |
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| Sources
Cunningham: Gary Cunningham, U.S. Knife Bayonets & Scabbards (Pennsylvania: Scott Duff Publications, 2015) |
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| © Ralph E. Cobb 2022 All Rights Reserved | ||||||
| Fiscal Year 1966 and 1967 Milpar Contracts That Analysis Suggests Were for M7 Bayonets |
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The majority of Milpar’s M7 bayonets were produced at a time when every M16 Rifle and M7 bayonet manufactured went into service as fast as they could be obtained. As a result, observing Milpar M7 bayonets in original factory packaging has proven illusive. Now that we have conclusively identified Milpar's M5A1 and M6 contracts, we can begin to look at other factors that may help identify which of the remaining Milpar contracts were for M7 bayonets. One factor is identification of the purchasing office for each contract. This helps sort out contracts that were for bayonets vs. contracts for spare parts. Army contracts for bayonets appear to all have been ordered through Rock Island Arsenal. Spare parts appear to have been ordered through Springfield Armory and various regional Army Procurement Detachments (who supplied regional Army Depots that performed repair and refurbishment). When we eliminate contracts that appear to be for depot repair parts, we are left with four contracts. Another available data point are the M7 bayonet deliveries reported for Milpar's 1966–67 contracts in Cunningham. When we estimate the quantity likely resulting from these four contracts, it comes very close to the reported delivery quantity. |
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| Contract Number | Date | Fiscal Year | Amount |
| DA-11-199-AMC-670 | February 1966 | 66 | $277,000 |
| April 1966 | 66 | $277,000 | |
| DA-11-199-AMC-667 | April 1966 | 66 | $455,000 |
| M00150-67-C-0176 | October 1966 | 67 | $37,000 |
| DAAF03-67-C-0068 | June 1967 | 67 | $103.000 |
| Total | $1,149,000 | ||
| Estimated Quantity @ $2/bayonet | 574,500 | ||
| FY 1966 & 67 Quantity Reported in Cunningham | 563,530 | ||
| Sources
Cunningham: Gary Cunningham, U.S. Knife Bayonets & Scabbards (Pennsylvania: Scott Duff Publications, 2015) |
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| © Ralph E. Cobb 2022 All Rights Reserved | |||
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