Spencer Navy Rifle Sword Bayonet Question

Michael W.

First Sergeant
Joined
Jun 19, 2015
Location
The Hoosier State
I recently acquired a Spencer Navy Rifle (which I will feature in a separate thread). Accompaning the rifle is this S&K sword bayonet, which is described as "Type No. II" in The American Bayonet 1776-1964 (p. 124). Type No. I is the more familiar Ames bayonet. However, I am most familiar with the Collins sword bayonet, which is what is typically seen as surviving examples of Spencer Navy bayonets. But Collins is not mentioned with these others. So exactly how many manufacturers produced a sword bayonet for the Spencer Navy? With only 709 or so manufactured with the bayonet lug attachment for the sword type bayonet, I would have thought one contracted maker would have been sufficient. Asking those that know much more than myself. @Package4 @ucvrelics @Jobe Holiday
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I always thought that the proper bayonet for the Spencer Navy was the Collins, the same one used on the Sharps & Hankins Navy.
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Me too! According to that reference book, there apparently are more...?
I would like to see the lug on your Spencer as the only bayonet I have seen on a complete Spencer Navy rifle was a Collins. The other just don't fit and lock. Does the S&K fit your Spencer and lock?
 
I would like to see the lug on your Spencer as the only bayonet I have seen on a complete Spencer Navy rifle was a Collins. The other just don't fit and lock. Does the S&K fit your Spencer and lock?
Here you go. No, the S&K does not fit. I was advised by the seller that it needed to be taken to a professional to be fitted.
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Can't wait to see the rest of the Spencer.
 
I was skeptical about the S&K bayonet until I was shown the information in The American Bayonet. But correct or not, one of the conditions of acquiring the Spencer was I had to acquire the bayonet as well. As I had spent several years attempting to purchase it from the seller, I was not going to argue.
 
Next question, the Collins bayonet made for the Spencer, were they interchangeable, or each hand fitted the same way they were designed for the "Plymouth" Navy Rifled Musket?
 
I always thought that the proper bayonet for the Spencer Navy was the Collins, the same one used on the Sharps & Hankins Navy.
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Can anyone tell me if Roy Marcot's book "Spencer Repeating Firearms" covers the bayonets used in detail? I am particularly interested in the saber bayonets. The book is so expensive and if it does not cover the bayonets it would be a waste of money for me.

Albert Hardin was a major pioneer in the bayonet hobby and his book "The American Bayonet" was one of the first publications covering the American saber bayonets. I refer to it frequently but it has so many errors that you have to question almost everything.

Another old book, "US Sword Bayonets 1847 - 1865" by Rollin Davis gives more accurate details but only covers a few bayonets. He claims that the bayonet used by the Spencer Navy Rifle was a Collins' bayonet. He also states that the guide slot on the hilt of the Spencer bayonet is only 3/4 inches long instead of the 1 inch slots for the Sharps and Sharps Hankins bayonets.

The rifle pictured in this thread looks like it has a 1 inch guide bar. Can anyone elaborate on this issue?
 
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The D-anchor-C mark on your bayonet shows that it was made by the Belgian maker O.P. Drissen company of Liège who use that mark, and these were made for the Belgium light minnie rifle aka the Brazilian Naval Rifle. You won't find any authority that will tell you and this Belgian company made saber bayonets for the Spencer rifle.
 
The D-anchor-C mark on your bayonet shows that it was made by the Belgian maker O.P. Drissen company of Liège who use that mark, and these were made for the Belgium light minnie rifle aka the Brazilian Naval Rifle. You won't find any authority that will tell you and this Belgian company made saber bayonets for the Spencer rifle.
I agree! David Noe an Joe Serbaroli cover this bayonet in detail in European Bayonets of the Civil War.

Al Hardin in The Americian Bayonet incorectly listed this bayonet as an English Short Sea Service Enfield Rifle Bayonet, a Colt Revolving Rifle Model 1855 Bayonet and a Spencer Navy Rifle Bayonet.

Once in print it becomes very difficult to correct.
 
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