I usually try to collect correct bayonets and scabbards for the long arms that I own.
In this case… I do not own a rifle for one of the two bayonets shown below.
The (Second Type) bayonet and scabbard are the M1855 for the U.S. Model 1841 rifle as shown below.
(a.k.a. Mississippi rifle)
(Click on the bar to enlarge the images.)
The markings on the bayonet.
The lower P is the "proved" mark. The upper initials PB are the inspector's initials.
Whitney Contract, this gun is dated 1848. (Originally .54 caliber, some rifles were later altered to .58 caliber)…this rifle remains in .54 caliber.
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Dahlgren (knife) Bayonet.
AMES Mfg. Co. Chicopee, Mass.
Markings:
On one side –1864 U.S.N DR (Navy inspector Daniel Reynolds)
Other side-- AMES MFG CO /
CHICOPEE MASS
(Interesting comments from unknown author.)
The first Knife Bladed bayonet is considered to be the Model 1861 for the Plymouth / Whitneyville rifle. It is perhaps better known by its nickname the Dahlgren Bowie Bayonet, named for it inventor Admiral John A. Dahlgren. Many articles have been written about the Dahlgren bayonet but what is most intriguing are the actual letters from the Admiral himself regarding its design and use. As we know the basic use of a bayonet is mounted to the end of a rifle or musket. To Dahlgren's thinking this is not the proper use of his newly invented arm. It should be known that Admiral Dahlgren was in command of several Navy ships and knew first hand what close quarters fighting was about. With this in mind perhaps we can relate to the admirals thought when he wrote that the bayonet was best used in the hand not mounted on the end of the rifle it was designed for. It is also interesting to note that the 1861 rifle already had a sword bayonet designed for it at the time of Dahlgren's invention of the new bayonet. In Dahlgren's own words he called it the "most useless thing in the world except at the end of a musket." Perhaps this explains why most Dahlgren bayonets do NOT fit the Model 1861 rifle. They were meant to but they were also designed to be used as a close quarters fighting weapon in a sailors or marines hand. The Admiral invented a bayonet because a knife would not be sanctioned by the Ordnance Board. But being the clever fellow he was.... the bayonet did not really have to fit the rifle either.
NOTE:
The Whitney "Plymouth" rifle, named after the U.S.S. PLYMOUTH, a naval ordnance testing ship which had been built under Dahlgren's supervision, has the distinction of being the only U.S. contract arm to be originally rifled in .69 caliber.
DavidInformation
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