April 14, 201214 yr #26 Thank you Sarge for your help. I thought I will add some pics with an original M1855 Springfield bayonet in this scabbard. The scabbard is just a little to big for the Springfield bayonet as you can see in the pic. What I have never done with the scabbard was to clean it, as I was suspect of it and nearly returned it to the dealer because I thought it was not original. The leather did not seem right to me for it's age, the condition is near perfect and I was very suspect of the layout of the rivets including the crude stitching. Further more there was no patina around the the rivets. I clean antique leather with a special substance I have. This substance has the tendency to loosen the tar on the leather which was covered on all pre civil war and civil war era leather items. Except of cause rough leather or buff leather. This tar covering stopped in the later Indian wars ca. 1870's. As I cleaned it, tar actually came of this scabbard. I know of no reproductions that uses tar cover on their leather. This was an indication to me that it is genuine and the under ground has the same pattern as my original Gaylord. I believe that you are right with the holes at the end of the scabbard, it is difficult to see as the leather is crunched up in that area. There was certainly no glue as I first thought, that came alight after my cleaning. The pics you see know is after cleaning. I will brush it up a little more. Again thank you you helped me a lot. Skip
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