Trapdoor Bayonet Scabbards

[KenK]

Picked up 3 Trapdoor Bayonet scabbards in a box of gun stuff at a yard sale. Two have two lips with holes for a leather frog and the other one has a rounded clip. Look at the phots and tell me what I aquired please. Will be selling them. Thanks

[John Sukey]

Been a long time since I had trapdoors, (35) but always remember the time a friend walked up to me at a gunshow with one and asked if it was a good deal. I tole him yes, and then turned it over. The brass plate on the leather frog said USMC!!!!!:eek:

I know that's not any help to you but it did bring back a memory.;)

[KenK]

Been a long time since I had trapdoors, (35) but always remember the time a friend walked up to me at a gunshow with one and asked if it was a good deal. I tole him yes, and then turned it over. The brass plate on the leather frog said USMC!!!!!:eek:

I know that's not any help to you but it did bring back a memory.;)

Memories are what life is about. Thanks for sharing John.

[Jim K.]

The trapdoor bayonet (except for the rod bayonet) and scabbard are the same as the bayonet and scabbard for the CW rifle-musket for the simple reason that they are from the CW. There never was a trapdoor bayonet or scabbard; all were left over from the CW. The bayonet socket was cold swaged down to fit the trapdoor barrel.

Jim

[Bayonetman]

Not to be difficult, but there was indeed both a Model 1873 bayonet and several versions of scabbards for the trapdoor series. Some bayonets were manufactured with the correct size socket prior to the development of the cold pressing process that allowed the thousands of surplus Model 1855 bayonets to be modified to fit the .45-70. To the best of my knowledge, no one has yet found a sure fire method to tell the ones made for the trapdoor and those that were modified to fit.

Although the steel body scabbard did appear on a fairly limited basis during the Civil War, by far the most common scabbard in the war was still a leather body with a brass tip.

Following the war, the Emerson and Silver patent steel body was made standard with variations of the Hoffman frog. About 1873 the frog was changed to a somewhat similar style with a US rosette. This version continued to use the two tabs bent over the frog to retain the scabbard in it.

By the mid 1880s the tab was changed to one large rounded one to make it easier to replace the frog when necessary, this one being used on the common Model 1885 scabbard with the large brass loop. There were other experimental or limited use versions as well.

In the first photo, top to bottom are the pre 1873 scabbard, the Model 1873 and the Model 1885. The backs of the Model 1873 and Model 1885 are left to right in the second photo.

[KenK]

Your picture is a great help. Now I know how the frog was attached. I had two with the two ears and one with the rounded ear. I sold all three. Thanks for the info.

[musketshooter]

Bayonet scabbards for the civil war muskets were brass tipped leather, not metal.