US M1873 Socket Bayonet for the Springfield Trapdoor Rifle, Pennsylvania National Guard
Socket bayonet for the Model 1873 .45-70 Springfield Trapdoor rifle, with fullered triangular blade and steel scabbard. Scabbard with drainage hole and frog hanging hook, black leather frog with rotating belt loop. The brass swivel of the belt frog is also cast with ‘N.G.P.’ indicating that it was made for the Pennsylvania National Guard. The leather inside of the scabbard loop is also roughly inscribed with ‘WM’, presumably a soldier’s initials.
The last model of standard-issue socket bayonet, the M1873 was used with the 1873 and 1879 ‘Trapdoor’ Springfield rifles, until 1884 when the new model introduced a rod bayonet.
The blade is bright with some patination, likewise the socket apart from the shank, which has bluing. The scabbard body is free of dents, it has been painted black with substantial flaking to the paint revealing patinated steel, particularly along edges. The leather frog is partly cracked along the seam attaching the semicircular ‘ear’ piece to the scabbard loop – it can support its own weight but should be handled with care. Some rubbing to the leather frog, surface flaking to the belt loop in places. The loop still rotates freely. One small dent to the flat side of the scabbard body.