OKC 494 M7 Bayonet Review: The Vietnam Bayonet You Can Still Buy New
Ontario still builds the Vietnam-era M7 bayonet new to the government pattern. Here’s what the 494 gets right, what the internet keeps getting wrong about it, and who should actually buy one.
The Army pulled the M7 bayonet from front-line issue in 1986 when the M9 arrived. Forty years later, Ontario still builds it new to the government pattern, and dealers still sell it: $116.58 at KnifeCenter as of early July 2026. So who’s buying a retired bayonet in 2026, and should you be one of them? Short answer: clone builders and collectors, yes; camp-knife shoppers, no. Here’s the long answer.
Two of the numbers you’ll read about this bayonet elsewhere are wrong, including on pages that are selling it. We fix those on the way through.
OKC 494 M7 Bayonet
The Vietnam-era issue pattern, still built new to the government drawings. The right buy for M16A1 clone builders and collectors; if you just want a good fixed blade, the 498 is better and cheaper.
Sixty Years of Service in One Paragraph
The M7 was adopted in 1964 alongside the M16 and went to Vietnam on the end of it. It replaced the M6, which rode the M14. A rotating cast of contractors built M7s over the decades, and Ontario ended up the company still making the pattern; they also build the OKC-3S bayonet the Marines have carried since 2003. The M9 displaced the M7 in Army service in 1986, but if you carried an M16A1, this was the blade on your web gear. That history is most of the product. Own that going in.
What You Actually Get, With the Internet’s Errors Fixed
The 494 is a 6.7-inch spear point in 1080 carbon steel with a zinc phosphate finish and a sharpened false edge along the top. Overall length is 11.75 inches, blade stock is 0.19 inches, hardness runs 54-56 HRC per the spec sheet, and it ships with an M10-style molded plastic scabbard.
Two corrections, because reviews of this thing copy each other’s homework. First, the edge is plain, not serrated. You’ll find writeups praising the M7’s “serrated edge for cutting rope,” and current production has no serrations. Neither did the issue pattern. Second, the bayonet weighs 11.2 ounces. The 1.19-pound figure floating around appears to be bayonet plus scabbard. Eleven ounces on your belt. Not a boat anchor.
The grip is checkered black polypropylene, slim and correct to the government pattern, with a steel crossguard carrying the muzzle ring and a pommel housing the spring release levers that lock onto a bayonet lug. One more myth while we’re here: some reviews suggest using that pommel as an emergency hammer or glass breaker. Don’t. The release mechanism lives inside it, and battering the latch is how a bayonet turns into a knife that won’t mount.
On the Rifle
The muzzle ring and lug spacing are cut for the M16/M4 pattern, so the 494 mounts on any AR-15 with a bayonet lug in the standard spot. That’s a bigger caveat than it sounds. Between long free-float handguards and low-profile gas blocks, plenty of modern builds have no lug and nowhere to put one. On a 16-inch carbine wearing a 15-inch handguard, a bayonet has about the utility of a trailer hitch on a canoe. Our AR-15 bayonet guide covers which setups actually take one. Also worth thirty seconds of homework: a few states count a bayonet mount as a regulated feature on semi-auto rifles, so check your state’s rules before building toward one.
Off the Rifle, Honestly
As a standalone knife, the M7 is mediocre, and it’s supposed to be. Dagger-style spear point, soft heat treat, slim grip: fine for cord, boxes, and opening rations, outclassed for camp chores by nearly any dedicated fixed blade at half the money. Here’s the receipt. At the same dealer, Ontario’s own 498 Marine Combat Knife costs $66.58 and the 494 costs $116.58. The bayonet costs almost twice as much as the better knife. Collectibility does that.
Maintenance is standard carbon-steel duty. Clean and dry the blade after use, oil it, touch the edge up on a whetstone, and check the release levers for grit before the day you need them.
The Blue Ridge Wrinkle
Prices across the OKC military line have wandered since 2023, when the Franklinville, New York factory closed and Blue Ridge Knives bought the Ontario name and designs. Dealer stock is now a mix of old-factory and newer production, so if earlier US manufacture matters to you, ask before you buy. And if you want a Vietnam-era original from one of the wartime contractors, that’s a collector purchase at collector prices; the 494 is the affordable way to put the pattern on a rifle. At $117, “affordable” is relative. Still beats auction prices.
The Verdict
Buy the 494 if you’re finishing an M16A1 clone, filling out a collection, or you carried one in the service and want it back on the wall. It’s the correct pattern, brand new, with a warranty instead of sixty years of unknown history. Skip it if you just need a good fixed blade; the muzzle ring is dead weight and the 498 is the better knife for less money.
Finishing a retro build? Get the 494, mount it once for the photo, and go read the handguard section of our bayonet guide before you buy anything else.
Ready for more? Check out our Best AR-15 Bayonets guide and our OKC 498 Marine Combat Knife review.
Justin Trump is the managing editor and owner of CAT Outdoors. The son of a Vietnam veteran, he’s a Certified Glock Armorer, an avid gun enthusiast and 2A advocate. He holds two firearm patents for the CAT M4 and Talon tools. When not managing CAT Outdoors, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, rooting for Michigan sports teams, and serving his church.