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I need a bayonet expert to help me out with identifying a bayonet. I purchased it online so I wasn't able to try it on my rifle, but I did a lot of research to make sure I was getting what I wanted. My research said that the 17-18" blade Enfield bayonets were made for the 1853 Enfield, and the next pattern of bayonet made for the Martini-Henry had around 22" blades. Unfortunately, while this bayonet does have a 17" blade, the socket diameter is too small to fit my Armi-Sport Enfield. It matches the socket diameter of my original Martini-Henry bayonet. So, was there a transition period when shorter bladed bayonets were made for smaller caliber rifles?
I can't get a photo loaded, but here are the markings from top to bottom. If anyone knows how to read bayonet markings, I'd like to know what these mean.
The first mark is a large "E" and on the left side of the E is a faint "59" marked sideways.
Below the E is "10/73" (I believe this is the month it was made or accepted)
Next is "81"
At the bottom are two letters which look like D and W but they are sideways and facing opposite each other. This is not the War Department mark unless they omitted the arrow and flipped one of the letters.
I can't get a photo loaded, but here are the markings from top to bottom. If anyone knows how to read bayonet markings, I'd like to know what these mean.
The first mark is a large "E" and on the left side of the E is a faint "59" marked sideways.
Below the E is "10/73" (I believe this is the month it was made or accepted)
Next is "81"
At the bottom are two letters which look like D and W but they are sideways and facing opposite each other. This is not the War Department mark unless they omitted the arrow and flipped one of the letters.
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