CS scabbards

[Delhi Rangers]

Gentlemen:
Who is a good source for a bayonet scabbard for an AOT impression? I use a P53 Enfield bayonet. Who and what type would you recommend? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Johnny Pullen

[1842musket]

Johnny,
I would recommend 2 sources in particular:

www.missouribootandshoe.com

www.orchardhillsutlery.com (specifically the CS scabbards made by Cary Davisson)

There is no particular "AOT style" bayonet scabbard that I'm aware of, and much like original CS scabbards I've seen with an ANV provenance, I've seen original CS scabbards with an AOT provenance with brass, tin, lead and iron tips. I personally think a brass tipped CS scabbard would be a good choice and Bob Serio (mo boot and shoe) can make you a documented CS scabbard with a sheet brass tip. There's nothing wrong with the lead ball tipped scabbards, but I think this is probably overrepresented in our hobby. More than 50% of the original CS accoutrements I've examined used brass in the finial, button or tip.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Larry McIrvin

[Clark Badgett]

Contact J.R. "Butch" Myers in Richmond, VA and he'll talk your ear off about accoutrements, and he says he has documentable proof that Richmond sent stuff to Georgia for the western armies, and vice versa. Call information for his #, he lives on Horse Pen Road.

[Texian]

I am looking at two original bayonets, one marked with an E over a crown over the number 30, the second marked with the number 46 under a crown and the letter B, the makers name of "REEVES & Co" ,and what appears to be a G over M or NC. Which is more appropriate, if either, for my 1862 Tower Enfield and why? Also, in the absence of any specific unit information regarding the type of scabbard issued, which is the most common for an ANV impression, the sewn scabbard or the actual Enfield style scabbard?
Thanks,
---Ed

[JimKindred]

Start with Robert M. Reilly's "American Socket Bayonets and Scabbards". There is a chapter on Confederate scabbards.

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo Kameraden!

Short answer on the bayonets: neither.

Bayonets with government markings such as you describe (Enfield inspectors' marks) or the British "broad arrow" denote British government ownership and were issued only with RSAF guns (although some argue some of these did come into the Confederacy very late in the War...).
Such bayonets, from around the world, and particularly Canada, having been flowing in the US for years now that the selling prices of "ACW items" have skyrocketed.

Bayonets can be tricky, as there is a legion of stampings such as initials, various stand-alone crowns, numbers, abbreviations, etc. At the risk of making a broad sweeping statement, no markings are often the best for ACW use.

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt

[Texian]

Gents,
Thanks for the info and leads.
---Ed

[Niels_Kaas]

A valuable, if somewhat prolix, source is Graham Priest's article, "'Enfield Bayonets' in the Civil War, 1861-1865," which appeared in Man at Arms, 24 #2 (April 2002). The primary focus of the article is on bayonet markings. It's worth checking out if you're serious about this.

Paul Lockhart
Copperheads

[Michael McComas]

The Reeves bayonet is actually the better candidate of the two. It's a contractor-made bayonet that was inspected in Birmingham. The Crown-over-B mark is the inspection mark of BSA, Small Heath, Birmingham, and was in use from 1861 until the 1960's. That mark in and of itself does not denote British government ownership because BSA was a contractor. (See Skennerton The Broad Arrow, p. 69 Inspection Markings) However, the G/M or G/NC is a unit marking. I'd have to see what and where it is to be able to tell you for sure what unit the bayonet belonged to.

[2MDF&D]

Also, in the absence of any specific unit information regarding the type of scabbard issued, which is the most common for an ANV impression, the sewn scabbard or the actual Enfield style scabbard?
Thanks,
---Ed

The sewn.
Rob McFarland