Martini Henry socket bayonet

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I chanced upon this rather nice Martini Henry bayonet the other week at the Liverpool arms fair. The bayonet appears to be dated 1873, and I am told that the 'R' stands for refurbished. Althougfh it has Nepalese markings on it, both bayonet and scabbard are in lovely condition.

[Jerry B]

Very nice. I saw one of these yesterday without the scabbard in a local antiques center, with an Indian mark according to the label. I was tempted by it but I have no idea what they go for.

[Ben1596]

Nice bayonet, I have one without the scabbard in a not as good condition but still a good piece. All we need now is a martini Henry and we are sorted!

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Nice bayonet, I have one without the scabbard in a not as good condition but still a good piece. All we need now is a martini Henry and we are sorted!

All good things come to those who wait!

[Terrylee]

You have a very historic bayonet! There were basically two socket bayonets that fitted the Martini Henry Rifle. The first, which yours appears to be, was actually the Pattern 1853 with a 43 cm blade originally issued with the Enfield muzzle-loader rifle. This bayonet was later bushed to fit the Martini Henry. That would account for your 73 date. Later a Model 1876 Martini Henry socket bayonet with a 55 cm blade was newly made for the Martini Henry.

[Oldlad]

Hi, the E73 is not the year of manufacture, it is the Enfield inspectors identification number. Sadly I believe there are no records of which stamp belonged to who. I am sure they did not start to stamp the year of manufacture on these bayonets until the 1880s. Hope this helps
Oldlad.