Bayonet - 1888 Pattern Magazine Lee-Enfield

The British Pattern of 1888 bayonet was made originally to fit the Magazine Lee–Metford (MLM) rifle, first introduced in 1888. This rifle had been designed to use a .303 Black Powder cartridge, however smokeless powder was later introduced for a new .303 cartridge, and the Metford rifling proved to be wholly unsuited for the more powerful propellant. As such, a new rifle was introduced in 1895, the Magazine Lee–Enfield, or MLE, which was almost identical to the MLM, but with a new barrel and sights. The stock and fittings were the same, and it took the same bayonet.