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A general trend is that the greater the rate of fire of the gun, the shorter it ended up being, as a tradeoff against its viability with a bayonet. Yes they had carbines, but note the trend from 28" barreled 5 shot bolt actions to the 24" barreled 8 shot semi-auto garand - a shorter rifle with a curved grip. Go to the M14 and you find a shorter barrel length and a larger magazine. Go yet further to the assault rifles and you'll find less strength to support hand to hand use. Go further to submachineguns and bayonets were hardly ever even considered for them, and their size was much smaller, also due to the ammo they fired, but then again the ammo power also affects the rate of fire.
