Nambu World: Murata Type 18 Rifle Bayonet
The Murata Type 18 single-shot 11mm rifle replaced the earlier Type 13 in 1885 (Meiji 18, the 18th year of the Meiji Emperor, hence the Type 18 designation). The Type 18 bayonets fit on the right side of the barrel, not underneath in the way we are more familiar with nowadays. I was fortunate to get all my Murata bayonets together in late 2008 from one major US collection. The standard Type 18 bayonet is covered by the 1988 Larry Johnson book Japanese Bayonets on pages 28-29, where it is given the number JB-6. The newer, 2007 book by Raymond LaBar, Bayonets of Japan, covers it on page 46, where it is assigned the number LB-44. It is also discussed on pages 22-23 of the Jerry Price book Japanese Military Bayonets & Machetes. The left side is shown below. The scabbard is leather with metal tip and mouth.
The Type 18 bayonet (bottom) is noticeably shorter than the Type 13 (top), but is still pretty long. The Type 18's overall length is 583 mm, or 22-7/8". The blade is 459mm (18-1/16") from the guard forward and the the grip is 113mm (4-7/16") from the crossguard back. Like the Type 13, the Type 18 also has a very thick blade: just ahead of the crossguard it is 9.10mm thick, or 0.356".
This close-up of the grip shows the blade lock spring (the lever secured by the rear grip screw) and the position of the mum, the Imperial crest.
Here's the left side. Note that it uses oval washers similar to those later used for many years on the Type 30 bayonet.
Here's a close-up shot of the mum.
The top of the scabbard, front view.
The top of the scabbard, rear view.
The tip of the scabbard, front view.
The tip of the scabbard, back view.
The scabbard mouth.
All the Murata Type 13 and 18 scabbards I have seen, which is admittedly not many, showed signs of having been bent in the middle like this one. My guess is that because they were so long, once the bayonet was removed and fixed to the rifle, the scabbard was vulnerable to hitting the ground and folding anytime the soldier kneeled, fell or went prone, since they were so long.
Unfortunately this particular bayonet won't quite fit on my particular Type 18 rifle, so I can't show them together. But you can check out the rifle itself by clicking on the link below.
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