1873 bayonet markings

[kquest]

Hi,

I have two question I would like to ask about this bayonet. First: How can you tell the difference between modified (socket shrunk) civil war era bayonets and 1874 45/70 bayonets of the Indian Wars era. Secondly, some of these have a single letter (ie. F, S, T, etc.) stamped below the "US" stamping on the blade. What does this letter represent?

Thank you,

Ken

[kquest]

I wanted to make a correction in this post:

It should read "M-1873 bayonet questions" sorry for the typo

[Steve Rogers]

My understanding is that you can't tell the difference between the two unless the locking ring has the shorter mortise cut in it, in which case you are looking at a pre-1863 version of the 1855 bayonet that has been cold-pressed to reduce the socket. If it has the longer 1863 mortise it can be either a CW bayonet cold pressed or one of the "1873 Type 2" that were made in that configuration originally. There may be more recent information available on one of the bayonet forums, but that is what I recall of the "current wisdom." Similarly, most seem to guess that the small letters on the bayonets are inspector's marks. I still use Reilly, American Socket Bayonets and Scabbards, as a reference, but perhaps there is something more up to date out there.

[kquest]

My understanding is that you can't tell the difference between the two unless the locking ring has the shorter mortise cut in it, in which case you are looking at a pre-1863 version of the 1855 bayonet that has been cold-pressed to reduce the socket. If it has the longer 1863 mortise it can be either a CW bayonet cold pressed or one of the "1873 Type 2" that were made in that configuration originally. There may be more recent information available on one of the bayonet forums, but that is what I recall of the "current wisdom." Similarly, most seem to guess that the small letters on the bayonets are inspector's marks. I still use Reilly, American Socket Bayonets and Scabbards, as a reference, but perhaps there is something more up to date out there.

Hi Steve,

Thank you for the reply and information. I appreciate it. I will have to check out the book you sited.