OT: Recruiting for a T2K game, in a different setting

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I'm a big fan of military weapons. My grand-dad collected Winchesters, dad was a fan of anything produced by Colt, me, as long as it was an issue weapon, I'm a collector, my wife keeps promising to buy a steel storage shed and move me and my guns out there. But I degress...

World War One saw a wide selection of weapons used by the Doughboys and Devil Dogs:

The Springfield rifle used the M1905 Bayonet in both bright finish (most common) and parkerized (late 1918) finish. This was a typical knife bayont that measured 20-inches overall, with a 16-inch blade (single-edged with a 4-inch "false-edge" coming to a point). Issued with a wooden scabbard, first covered in rawhide and then with a canvas covering stitched in place over the rawhide and with a cartridge belt hook so that it could be clipped under the cartridge belt.

The US Enfield rifle used the M1917 bayonet and this was the most commonly issue bayonet. It was issued in the "two-toned" finish; the guard, hilt and ricasso were blued and the blade had a grayish phosphate finish. It measured 21.8-inches in length and had a 17-inch blade. This was a single-edge blade that came to a sharper point than the M1905. Two styles of scabbard were issued, both were of wood covered with green leather and differed only in the method of securing the scabbard to the cartridge belt. Both the M1917 and the M1905 could be used on either Springfield or Enfield. The M1917 was also issued for use with trench guns.

The Krag M1892 bayonet was obsolete, but was used for training in the states as well as issued to Naval landing parties. It was 16 1/4-inches long with a 11 3/4-inch blade (the M1905 copied the style of the blade). It was available only in bright finish and was issued with an all metal scabbard that had a long metal hook that suspended it from the Mills Krag cartridge belt.

The Canadian Ross Mark I bayonet was purchased from Canada and were used for training in the states. The bayonet had a bright finish and was 14 3/4-inches long with a 10 1/8-inch long "butcher blade" style blade. It was issued with a brown leather scabbard with a reinforced throat and a long belt loop.

The M1891 Mosin-Nagant bayonet was, at best, an anachronistic weapon. This was an all metal socket bayonet (not much different from those issued in the 1700s!) with a cruicform blade that was 17-inches long. The tip of the bayonet had a chisel point and could be used as a screwdriver to open ammunition crates. The bayonet was blued and was not issued with a scabbard as it was intended to be fixed to the Mosin-Nagant rifle at all times. The bayonet (and its rifle) saw service with US troops in North Russia were it saw combat.

The French M1886 Berthier and Lebel bayonets. This was a unique, quatrefoil blade, spike-type bayonet. The hilts were brass or aluminum. The bayonet was 25.5-inches long and had a unique hooked quillon. These were often referred to as "knitting needles", French soldiers also referred to the bayonet as "Rosalie" it was issued with a leather scabbard. It was used for training by AEF units in France and was used in action by the 360th, 361st, 362nd, 363rd, 364th, 365th, 366th, 367th, 368th, 369th, 370th, 371st and 372 Infantry Regiments (Colored). These units were detached to service with the French were they earned a reputation for their fighting capability.

The British M1907 Mark I bayonet was issued along with the SMLE rifle to those AEF units serving with the British. It was very similar in design to the US M1917 bayonet, including the same 18-inch sword type blade and a virtually identical hilt. It was issued with a leather scabbard with a brass throat and attached to the cartridge belt by a canvas hanger.

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While bayonets had been around for centuries, World War One spawned the use of combat knives. While knives had been used by soldiers for centuries, trench warfare led to the development of what can only be called some very brutal designs.

The first US trench knife was the M1918 Trench Knife. It featured a slender, sharp-pointed 9-inch long triangular blade (little more than a sharpened spike) with a metal knuckle bow fitted with pyramidal-shaped projections. All metal parts were blued. The design was later modified by removing the projections and by bending the outer edges of the knuckle bow into two rows of five projections each. Both models were issued with a cylindrical leather scabbard with a metal throat and cartridge belt hooks. It was a servicable design, the projections allowing for a murderous punch and the blade able to punch through even the thick issue greatcoat. Its only drawback was that it could only be used in a stabbing method, it couldn't be used in a slash.

The next model was the M1918 Mark I Trench Knife. This version had a conventional 6 3/4-inch long double-edged blade and a cast bronze handle having a "brass knuckle" configuration as well as a metal "skull-crusher" pommel. It was supplied with a sheet metal scabbard with two attachment prongs. This was the more popular of the two models with over 1,232,780 being produced. While it certainly allowed for stabbing attacks, the handle did not allow for a rapid change of hands. But it was still a fearsome-appearing weapon, and by after action reports, a deadly one.

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First introduced to the US Army following the Spanish-American War and the so-called pacification campaigns in the Philippines, the bolo is the forgotten weapon of WWI. In addition to being a useful tool for brush-cutting, the heavy bolo blade was a formidable weapon.

The Collins No.1005 was the first issue bolo and was purchased around 1900. It had a curved and heavy bright finished blade that was about 15 1/8-inches long. It came in three versions, one with a green horn handle, the second with a wooden handle and the final with a wooden handle, but with a steel ferrule between the handle and the blade. All three were issued with the same tooled leather scabbard with a wide belt loop.

The M1904 Hospital Corps Knife was another early bolot-type knife. It had a rounded tip, bright-finish 12-inch long blade. It had a wooden grip with finger grooves and a brass cap on the end. It was issued with a brown leather scabbard with a long leather belt loop, later replaced with cartridge belt loops. While never intended as a weapon, some did find their way into the hands of Doughboys who used them in trench raids.

The M1909 Bolo was the first, offical bolo. This had a 14-inch long, bright finish blade with a sharp tip and a slightly curved wooden handle without finger grooves. It was issued with a brown leather scabbard with a brass throat and a long belt loop.

The M1910 Bolo had a shorter 10 3/8-inch long blade and its wooden handle had grasping grooves. It was a lighter, more compact design that was well regarded. It was issued with a wooden scabbard covered with canvas and a leather tip as well as cartridge belt hooks.

The final bolo was the M1917, of a similar design to the M1910 but designed to speed up manufacturing and not as finely finished as the M1910. The M1917 was issued with a sheet metal scabbard and all metal parts of the scabbard and the bolo were parkerized.

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While widely used for hundreds of years, the unique aspects of World War One resulted in a renewed emphasis handguns. Simply put, a rifle with a bayonet attached was just too unwieldy in the confines of a trench.

M1911 .45-caliber Pistol: In the early 1890s, the US military abandoned the famous M1873 Singe Action Army revolver in favor of a double-action revolver that was chambered for the much lighter .38-caliber “Long Colt” round. In the fighting in the Philippines, the .38 to be a miserable failure and the US Army searched for a more effective cartridge. Research confirmed that a cartridge of less than .44-caliber could not be counted on as a reliable “man stopper”. The various tests to determine the best self-loading military pistol design culminated with the adoption of the Colt “U.S. Pistol, Caliber. 45, Model of 1911” chambered for the new .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge. The .45 ACP was a rimless round and featured a heavy 230 grain bullet moving at 830fps. The M1911 was designed by legendary firearms designer John M. Browning. It was recoil-operated and had a detachable box magazine holding 7-rounds. The weapon weighed 2.47 pounds and had a barrel length of 5-inches and an overall length of 8.62-inches. The M1911 was issued with either the M1912 Holster, which was a full-flap design with a swivel attachment with wire hooks. A modified version of this holster, the M1916, deleted the swivel. Also issued was a canvas-web magazine pouch that held two spare magazines, unlike later issue, this pouch had two “lift-the-dot” fasteners. The M1911 was issued to officers and NCOs of the AEF as well as machine gunners, automatic riflemen and variety of combat and non-combat personnel. In addition to the 75,000 that were available prior to the war, 643, 755 were built during WWI. Alterations to the trigger, main spring housing, receiver and sights resulted in the M1911A1. This pistol remained in service until the mid-1980s, the last of the World War One weapons to do so.

The M1892-M1905 Revolver: Production of the M1911 never met the need for pistols, the shortage was so great the 25,000 of the M1895-M1902 revolvers were taken out of storage and issued to non-combatant units, both stateside and overseas. This pistol was issued with its original leather holster with a partial cover flap and a belt loop on the back. The holster was of the cavalry-influenced “butt forward” configuration. The pistol weighed in at 2 pounds, 2 ounces and had a 6-inch barrel and an overall length of 11.5-inches. All together, some 40,00 of the M1892, M1894, M1901, M1903 and M1905 revolvers saw service.

The M1917 Smith & Wesson and M1917 Colt Revolvers: As mentioned earlier, the shortage of M1911 pistols led the Army to acquire other pistols for issue to the troops. Both Smith & Wesson and Colt were approached to produce a double-action revolver, chambered for the .45ACP cartridge. Since the .45ACP cartridge is rimless, this meant that the cylinder extractors would not be able to eject the empty casings. An ingenious “half-moon” shaped sheet metal loader allowed the rimless cartridges to be easily ejected and reloaded. Each clip held three .45ACP rounds. Smith & Wesson used the frame of its New Century revolver as the basis for their version. It weighed 2 ¼-pounds and had a 5.5-inch long barrel and an overall length of 10 ¼-inches. 166,732 were produced during the war. Colt used the frame of its New Service revolver for the basis of its version. It weighed 2.5 pounds, had a barrel length of 5.5-inches and an overall length of 10.8 inches. A total of 151,700 Colts were produced. Both revolvers were issued with a leather holster with a partial cover flap and a wide belt loop that allowed the pistol to be carried butt-forward. A canvas pouch that held three sets of half-moon clips was also issued.

Whether armed with the M1911 pistol or the M1917 revolver, the Doughboy carried a larger percentage of handguns into combat than the troops of any other nation. It has been estimated that as much as 60% of all combat troops were armed with a handgun, in addition to their rifle and bayonet. A infantry battalion TO&E for 1918 lists 322 pistols to be issued and a division was allotted 11,193 pistols.