I just received a mint copy of this which I had won in an auction this morning and I’m very impressed. This is a study of American Socket bayonets from the colonial rea to the end of the trapdoor era. The first part of the book is composed of half scale line drawings of the bayonets and a written description of each while the second part is devoted to scabbards and frogs with both drawings and descriptions. It is a reference book and therefore might be considered “dry reading” by some yet I found it engrossing. In the first few minutes I discovered that the mule ear USN Jenks carbine (of which I once had one) had a bayonet. A trivia question for you: Between 1795 and 1806 a large quantity of Springfield muskets was fabricated with a special bayonet that was permanently soldered to the barrel. Does anyone know how many were produced in this configuration? I would recommend this book to any serious collector of US arms and to reenactors looking for the last measure of authenticity.
American Socket Bayonets and Scabbards
A Comprehensive Illustrated History of Socket Bayonets, Scabbards and Frogs in America From the Colonial Through to the Post-Civil War Period
Robert M. Reilly
1990
ISBN: 0-917218-45-0
A Comprehensive Illustrated History of Socket Bayonets, Scabbards and Frogs in America From the Colonial Through to the Post-Civil War Period
Robert M. Reilly
1990
ISBN: 0-917218-45-0