This is a very nice example of the breechloading Hall Rifle Bayonet, which Reilly notes as relatively scarce. The metal is smooth, semi-bright (they were issued in the bright,)d with good edges and point, no pitting and just minor age stains. In Reilly’s typology this bayonet corresponds to his B76A, unmarked, as he remarks the vast majority of surviving Hall bayonets are. Given that roughly 24,000 of the 29,593 breechloading Hall rifles of the 1819 and 1841 pattern were produced at Harpers Ferry and that a predominant number of survivors are unmarked, it is natural to suppose these were made at Harpers Ferry also. Supporting this, and making this bayonet perhaps scarcer, is its use of a 9-inch long fuller on the face of the blade rather than a 7-inch fuller, which Reilly suggests might indicate manufacture for the M1841 Hall, just 4,213 of which were made at Harpers Ferry in 1841-42.

Halls were revolutionary (if not entirely successful) not only as breechloading arms but also as the first US rifles to be fitted for bayonets throughout their production run. In spite of almost 30,000 made, however, Reilly considered the bayonets relatively scarce and often mistaken for the more common 1816 musket bayonets by their T-shaped mortise, which differs in placement, but only slightly. A distinct difference, however, is in the slightly higher bridge and a supplementary notch in the bridge to fit the front sight, which, like the rear sight, is offset slightly to the left of center along the barrel to give a clear line of sight past the external parts of the breechloading/firing mechanism.

This is very good example of a Hall bayonet that, given the other variations noted by Reilly, can be a collecting subcategory of its own. [sr][ph:L]

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