US M1873 Socket Bayonet for the Springfield Trapdoor Rifle, Massachusetts 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 ricasso of the blade is stamped ‘MASS US’. The brass swivel of the belt frog is also cast with ‘MASS’ indicating that it was made for the Massachusetts National Guard. The leather inside of the scabbard loop is also roughly inscribed with ‘AL’, 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.

Both bayonet and scabbard have been deeply blued and retain a great deal of this original finish. 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 very minor flaking to the frog’s surface in places. The loop still rotates freely. One small dent to the flat side of the scabbard body.