"Blued barrels and shiny muskets" Topic

Maybe some of you who are also reenactors or collect Civil War firearms can help answer this question.

Sorry, the title should read "shiny bayonets" :)

Were the bayonets blades that came with muskets that had blued barrels also blued?

For example, searching the web for pictures of M1853 Enfield bayonets, it looks like the sockets were blued, like the rest of the rifle, but the bayonet blade itself was polished steel. Is this correct?

What about other rifles like the M1841, Fayetteville, etc.?

Thanks!

1841 had no bayonet when issued. It is an"aftermarket" thing. Guessing usually a sword bayonet, as in the manual illustrations, it was shiny. Have never read about any blued bayonets so far but don't claim real expertise.

I think blued metal would grab at the flesh instead of sliding through.
I could be wrong,
YMMV,
R.

So the phrase "A gleam of bayonets" is descriptive then?

The 1842 and 1861 Springfield bayonets were totally bright. The 1853 Enfield bayonets had a blued socket but bright blade.

Of course, without proper habitual cleaning all that bright metal turns to rust orange.

Were rifle barrels in the ACW blued or shiney normally? I picked up some Perry plastic ACW and tend to start work on them soon. :)

The Springfield was suppiled bright. The Enfield was supplied blued. In the field they may have stripped the blueing off to make all rifles look clean and uniform. I have an original Enfield bayonet and it has the blueing intact even today.

Avid, was the enfield bayonet blade blued too, or just the socket?

Only the socket… as far as I know. The blade itself shows use so… for all I know it could have been stripped or worn off. The blade still shows the manufactorer's marks but they have been worn down. The marks are near the bottom where the blade scraps against the brass collar of the scabbard. The elbow was not blued.

Awesome. Thanks for the confirmation.

The reenactor community debates this issue quite a bit. They are many examples. I second what the others have said. Prior to 1865 I have only seen sockets being blued and even that was not so common. Many times a commander would order it removed so men had something to polish and clean during down time. When it comes to muskets I highly recommend the following article…

link

The only documentation for removing the bluing from barrels and bayonet sockets is from Ordnance reports where Enfield rifles, and rifle-muskets were sent for recondition and/or repair after being picked up from the battlefield. In these cases, the bluing was often removed due to excessive corrosion and the entire barrel and bayonet returned to stores in a bright condition. HOWEVER, there are some instances where repaired weapons were reblued before reissue, so it's very much a date/place thing.

Even then, case-hardened locks would not be reblued, nor would bands so that you will find the occasional Enfield with a bright barrel and bayonet socket, but with a case hardened lack and blued bands. Go figure.

M1851 rifles were "browned" with a plum=brown finish, although models made by contractors, such as those made by in Wndsor, Vermont, had a traditional blue.

While on the subject, although the M1841 was originally designed as a rifle, with no provision for a bayonet, with the advent of the M1855 rifle existing stores of the M1841 were ordered to be refitted to take a bayonet. Not all received this treatment, but the majority did by the time the war broke out. Some were fitted with sword bayonets, but others were fitted with a long socket bayonet.

In all cases, whether US made or English, French, Belgian, or Prussian, blades on bayonets were polished bright. Sockets of most foreign made bayonets were either blued or browned, whereas virtually every American made bayonet had a bright socket as well as blade.

One final point: In almost every case, an examination of the returns for various regiments, especially Federal, will show them to have a primary arm. Thus, ALL models in a unit ought to have either bright or blued barrels, but not both. ALL bayonet blades ought to be bright.

respects,