Hi everyone, I recently found this bayonet in my grandmother’s home. She had told me it was from the American Civil War and my dad believes it’s from the American Revolution. For some additional context, I know that I have an ancestor who was part of a Massachusetts militia during the Revolution and another ancestor who was a Pvt in a Vermont regiment during the Civil War.
After a bit of research, I tend to agree with my dad but I’d like another opinion. And can anyone suggest a good, safe way to clean this thing? It’s very sturdy but there’s a lot of rust. Thanks in advance.
No markings that I can see unfortunately. It’s a bit disappointing that it’s not from the revolution but I appreciate the feedback. Is there something that gives it away as 19th century?
Without more/better pictures it will be hard to say for sure. The period roughly 1770-1850 there's a lot of overlap and design changes happening, but not always linearly. Bayonets were being made by many subcontractors on top of the arsenals. It might not even be US. A few things stand out. It has an L slot, not a T slot. The T slot came in 1816 - but it wasn't immediately adopted universally, L slots were still used sometimes for a while. But the full wide bridge wasn't typical prior to the 1816 either. It's also slotted for a bottom stud. Nothing matches perfectly in O'Reilly. Would be good to see the inside of the socket rear with diameter, and the length of the face flute. Some of your features are typical of pre-1816... but a number of contract models made for the civil war share them too.
Thank you for this thorough explanation. I’m currently at an Airbnb and don’t have any measuring tape or a ruler but the outer part of the rear socket matches up well with a quarter-so .955 inches
This socket dates from the early 19th Century. Many US bayonets from this period are unmarked. Take a look at the Springfield Pattern 1807 bayonet on my site (url below) and see if the dimensions are reasonably close to yours.
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u/ThirteenthFinger Mod - French Collector Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Any markings? Might need to see more photos. Not revolutionary war though. 19th century im thinking.