This Model 1905 shows the bright-finish blade used from 1905 to 1917 when the use of bluing was extended from the hilt and ricasso to the entire blade, and before all metal was Parkerized starting in 1918. This example has an “SA” over an ordnance bomb and date of 1908 on the reverse ricasso, indicating it was made that year in the Springfield Armory. The other side has a “US” over serial number 301417.

The metal is smooth, with no corrosion and excellent edges and point, and with crisp markings. The guard shows some remnants of blue, the pommel more so. The grips are very good, with excellent color, little wear and just minor handling scratches.

The scabbard is a 1905 scabbard with wood body bound in rawhide and covered with russet leather, dark brown in color, with a good finish showing just a few minor abrasions and scratches. The leather throat collar has a small “U.S.” stamped on the front. The reverse of the body is marked “R.I.A.” and “1909” over a set of inspector’s initials, indicating manufacture at Rock Island Arsenal at that date. The collar of the scabbard shows the arsenal modification that removed the old Krag style pivoting belt hook and substituted the double-ended wire belt hook secured to the body of the scabbard by a riveted leather collar. This pattern was eventually replaced by the 1910 style with a duck cover and leather tip instead of the full russet covering, and other patterns as the bayonet pattern remained in service into WW2.

The Model 1905 bayonet was developed out of dissatisfaction with the rod bayonet originally issued with the new 1903 rifles. The usefulness of knife bayonets in night attacks had been proven in the Russo-Japanese War and the extra length given to the US 1905 pattern over the old Krag knife bayonet was intended to compensate for the shorter length of the new rifle.

This is a very nice example showing some of the stages of development of the bayonet and the scabbard.  [sr]

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