Is this authentic?

[AlexPensFan86]

My dad gave me this bayonet when I was a kid and he was under the impression that it was authentic. Unfortunately he passed away before I could question him further about it. I was wondering if anyone on here is able to authenticate it or at least give an educated guess. It is slightly rusted and the point is still fairly sharp but is otherwise in excellent condition.

 

[Patrick H]

Looks like a couple of different ones that passed through my hands. I don't know which era it's from. We have sharp eyed experts here who will be able to advise you.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

From your photos only, this appears to be a Confederate Richmond made bayonet. Perhaps Laynard Puller can provide more information.
J.

 

[Package4]

Unfortunately the locking ring appears to be missing, so cannot tell if the locking ring screw is off center as in the Richmond bayonets. The rust also doesn't allow weather there is discoloration on the blade where the steel blade meets the iron socket. Definitely authentic, Richmond blades show a "warbling" of the blade when looking down the blade towards the socket.

The above I learned from the "Puller" while hanging around him at various shows, surprised that he still has two functional eyes after watching him stare down the blades of numerous sharp pointy things.

 

[UCVRelics]

As @Package4 stated I would need to see photos of the socket end and where the blade meets the socket end as below. If you could post those it would be a helpful. The Richmond bayonet is somewhat rare as the first year production at the the new Richmond armory was 20000 muskets and only 600 bayonets.

 

[AlexPensFan86]

As @Package4 stated I would need to see photos of the socket end and where the blade meets the socket end as below. If you could post those it would be a helpful. The Richmond bayonet is somewhat rare as the first year production at the the new Richmond armory was 20000 muskets and only 600 bayonets.

View attachment 215228
View attachment 215229

Is this the part you are asking to see?

 

[AlexPensFan86]

Interesting side note, I asked my uncle what he knew about it and he told me that he found it behind a coal furnace at a farmhouse that my family briefly lived at in Acosta Pennsylvania when he was younger. He also told me that the house was later destroyed to create a coal mine.

 

[Lanyard Puller]

AlexPensFan86,
Your last photos showed the blade contours better than the first batch. It is a Confederate bayonet but to classify it as a Richmond product is difficult as they made two or three different types in different socket sizes and blade patterns. There were contracts all over the South to make these things. Arnold & Cooley in North Carolina, for example, had a contract to produce 50,000 "Enfield Style" bayonets and scabbards. Don't know how many they made. A few photos of Richmond bayonets follow:

The "slab sided" bayonets were made for repaired/modified arms {Paul Davies, C.S. Armory Richmond}.
UCVRelics posted a far better one than I can manage this morning.

These 'regular' type blades are mostly encountered, but note the unstopped grind on the flutes.

I'd probably say it was made in Richmond, as well. The one in the middle {above} is most likely a N. Carolina product.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

A big "Thank You" to Lanyard Puller for the great comparative analysis photo of the bottom flute grinding!
J.

 

[Package4]

So you have a very desirable bayonet, that is not only authentic, but fairly rare and Confederate! Thanks to Jobe & UCV for their keen eye in recognizing and the "Puller" for confirmation and eye candy!

Looking up Acosta, PA, it is likely that this bayonet was a veteran bring back, as Acosta, is fairly far, from the Gettysburg theatre of operations. Acosta is just Southeast of Pittsburgh.

 

[AlexPensFan86]

So you have a very desirable bayonet, that is not only authentic, but fairly rare and Confederate! Thanks to Jobe & UCV for their keen eye in recognizing and the "Puller" for confirmation and eye candy!

Looking up Acosta, PA, it is likely that this bayonet was a veteran bring back, as Acosta, is fairly far, from the Gettysburg theatre of operations. Acosta is just Southeast of Pittsburgh.

Yeah Acosta is pretty much a small village in Somerset county. My entire family grew up in that county and I lived there until I was about ten when my mom remarried and we moved to Allegany County Maryland. I think the fact that you guys believe I have a CS bayonet is beyond amazing and I am super grateful for all your help! You all have helped me piece together a mystery that has been bugging me about 20 years. Now I can't help but wonder how a confederate bayonet ended up in the basement of an obscure PA farmhouse. There are so many possibilities! It could have been that a confederate vet moved there after the war, it could have been captured by a union soldier who lived on the property, or it could have been found by a relic hunter. The possibilities are endless.

 

[Lanyard Puller]

It was most likely taken home as a war trophy. There's still lots of Confederate stuff turning up in Northern states, especially Pennsylvania and New York. It's my dedicated purpose in life to buy it land get it back South of the Potomac again. {as much that is allowed by the budget !!}