To me, the only drawback to both the Tommygun and the grease gun was that there were no bayonet lugs. Other than that I would be happy to be issued either. Shanking someone with the bayonet would be awfully up close and personal, but no more so than with the M1 Carbine or the M1A Carbine. Both of which do come with bayonet lugs. Bayonets are nice because the tendency to run out of ammo in an intense firefight or having to deal with a malfunction is high. Sometimes field stripping a jammed weapon is not the recommended thing to do. Bayonets give you that extra "edge" when it's needed the most. Also they make it easy to open up a can of c-rations when you lose you P-38