The M-59 bayonet is a later improvement on the original AK series bayonet.  It takes the form of a knife blade, but adds wire cutters and has a sawback cutting edge.  This gives its user the ability to cut all manner of wires and ropes with ease.  The simple blade bayonet attaches by sliding onto the muzzle and locking in place by means of a spring loaded catch.  It was so successful with the AKM that it was later used on the SVD sniper rifle and AK-74 assault rifle.  As with all Soviet blade bayonets, the M-59 was issued with a scabbard that was to be worn on the utility belt to the right of the buckle.

      This bayonet has several disadvantages.  First, the steel that they are made from has such a high temper that it can be very hard to keep sharpened.  The second disadvantage lies in the wide blade.  When a soldier stabs an enemy when it is mounted on his rifle, the force of the two handed jab drives the blade deep into his target.  The wide blade is difficult to pull out of the target because it creates so much resistance and cannot be easily brought against other attackers.  

The Attachment Point Here is a close-up view of the mechanism that the bayonet uses to attach to the rifle.  As with the earlier M-47, the tip of the muzzle protrudes through the ring at the front of the bayonet, while a catch at the rear of the bayonet locks around the bayonet lug on the rifle. The release button is located on the right side of the bayonet at the base of the handle.  This release button can be seen closely in the bottom right picture.

The Bayonet Scabbard The scabbard of the M-59 is appears to be quite complicated.  The body is made of stamped metal, with a rubber grip around it.  The bayonet is held in place by a leather frog, which is attached to the body by a thin metal clip.  There is also a small canvas loop that goes from the hand guard to the rear of the bayonet, presumably to keep one from dropping it accidentally in combat.

The Wire Cutter The M-58 has the ability to act as a pair of wire cutters if required to do so.  The soldier simply reverses the bayonet and fixes it to the scabbard as in the picture at right.  Cutting wire under fire would be difficult at best, as the soldier still has to unhook the scabbard from his belt to reach the wire in most cases.  This problem is by no means unique to the M-58, the M-7 once issued by the United States has the same problems.