1873 TD bayonets

[Sturwilh]

Were any number of trapdoor bayonets imported and issued without a "US" stamping??? I found a bayonet like that with a rear bore diameter of approximately .732" and a forward bore diameter of approximately .723". This bayonet would be a tight fit on the rifle I have, therefore I didn't attempt to mount it and possibly scratch the barrel. I don't have a known "73 bayonet to compare.

[Dick Hosmer]

To the best of my knowledge, they did not. The 1865-1870 .58 and .50 caliber trapdoors used CW musket bayonets as-is. When the barrel diameter was slightly reduced in 1873, old bayonets were cold-swaged to the smaller diameter. This process left small 'fins' of metal which were ground/polished off prior to bluing. When the supply of surplus bayonets was finally exhausted in 1888, they switched to the rod bayonet.

One socket bayonet appears pretty much like the next, unless you have a specimen to compare the little profile quirks. There are probably close to a hundred possibilities - foreign and domestic - for the one you have. Could a proper specimen have not been stamped with the US? Yes, but that would be very unlikely.

Some do fit more snugly than others, but you were wise to not attempt to force it.

[Sturwilh]

To the best of my knowledge, they did not. The 1865-1870 .58 and .50 caliber trapdoors used CW musket bayonets as-is. When the barrel diameter was slightly reduced in 1873, old bayonets were cold-swaged to the smaller diameter. This process left small 'fins' of metal which were ground/polished off prior to bluing. When the supply of surplus bayonets was finally exhausted in 1888, they switched to the rod bayonet.

One socket bayonet appears pretty much like the next, unless you have a specimen to compare the little profile quirks. There are probably close to a hundred possibilities - foreign and domestic - for the one you have. Could a proper specimen have not been stamped with the US? Yes, but that would be very unlikely.

Some do fit more snugly than others, but you were wise to not attempt to force it.

Thank you Dick.

[John Sukey]

Keep in mind that other rifles of that period used the same pattern bayonet. Enfields, and Schmidt Rubins, for example

[Sturwilh]

Keep in mind that other rifles of that period used the same pattern bayonet. Enfields, and Schmidt Rubins, for example

Yes but muzzle ring diameter of this bayonet is ~.733" and this dimension is small for many such bayonets but it is in the ballpark for the 1873 TD. I believe it is not made for the TD as per Dicks above remarks so I'll just let it go at that. Thank you for the input John.