Socket bayonet repairs Part 1

[Brian Wolfe]

Socket bayonet repair Part 1

Many years ago, what seems now to be a lifetime ago, I was an ardent collector of bayonets. With a collection that numbered just over 400 specimens from around the world and dating from the early plug bayonets to the
modern full autos gracing the battlefields of today. Like most bayonet collectors of the day there was little thought of the individual bayonet we were about to add to the collection actually fitting onto the rifle or musket they had been made for Sure, you could tell if one of the older socket bayonets was out of round provided it was a visual flaw. One handy trick to assure the socket is not out of round is to carry a range of coins of different diameters and when held up to the socket opening you can easily see if it is desperately out of round or in fairly good nick.

All this can change when you start to dabble in the world of muskets and rifles. Suddenly you find that there seems to be as many defective bayonets out there as there are good ones. What used to pass as a
good quality specimen for a bayonet collection can become a useless piece of metal. Considering today you can easily spend $150.00 and up for a bayonet that four decades ago was selling for within
the $40.00 range, this makes a non-fitting bayonet an expensive piece of metal.

Lately I have had some new additions to the firearms collection here at the “Home Office” and with them the need for bayonets. Oh happy day, an excuse to buy more military collectables!

At one of the resent gun show I happened upon a British made bayonet that was for use in India that would fit my British Land Pattern 1809, India Pattern Type 2, commonly known as the Brown Bess. The bayonet is the Model 1853 and made for the East India Company. It is interesting that this particular bayonet had a locking ring which is useless as the Brown Bess had no sights, just a post on the front of the barrel to assure
that the bayonet didn’t come off the rifle when being withdrawn from the body of an enemy. It has been surmised that this post could have served as a convenient substitute for an actual sight. I’ll post the bayonet for
discussion in the appropriate section.

I checked to see if the socket was out of round and it was slightly. This I used in my negotiation over the final price, noting my intended use and the work involved to repair the defect. It didn’t help much but I got a few dollars off the initial price.

Once home a quick test showed that the bayonet would easily fit the musket for the first half of the socket and thereafter was out of round. So, it was off to the shop to see what was available to get the socket back to its original shape.

What is needed in such cases is a mandrill of the correct diameter and length to force into the socket with the intention of taking out the out-of-round areas. My first thought was that I might need to visit our local machine shop to have a mandrill made of the correct size. The local shop is quite used to making odd devices and tools for my use but I wanted to see what might be at hand in the shop. I mention this as far too often we tend to
either rush out to spend money to have something done for us or simply give up on the project as being too complicated or bothersome to complete. Often a little resourcefulness can save a good deal of money.

In my shop is a medieval-looking press that was used at one time in the dental trade, possibly in the manufacture of dentures, going by the markings. I use it for small glue ups that are hard to get a clamp to work on. My grand-daughters think it is a wonderful device for cracking walnuts at Christmas, which it is. What I am interested in is the handle which turned out to be just what the “doctor ordered”. Being made of cast
iron the two sides were slightly different diameters which was good as both sides fit the first half of the socket well.

Before you start cover the sharp end of the bayonet with several layers of folded paper towel taped to the blade. Remember the purpose of a bayonet is to pierce the human body even through a layer of leather (your shoe for example). Also wear gloves to prevent pinching your fingers. I usually wait until this has happened to remind me to put my gloves on. Using a rubber hammer or, as I did a dense
plastic hammer weighted with lead shot, to drive the socket onto the mandrill, or handle in this case. If you must use a steel hammer be sure to protect the socket with a piece of soft wood such as pine. Gently drive the socket onto the mandrill only a little way then remove it. Use a piece of hard wood such as maple or in this case oak to do this as a steel pin will damage the socket.

Do not use heat, even though there may be a blow torch handy refrain from using it as it will at best discolour the steel and worse change the hardness of the steel. In the case of this bayonet I drove it on and removed it little by little until it fit the smaller handle then repeated this using the larger side until it fit the musket like it did when it was new. Don’t expect to do this in a few minutes. Getting the socket back to round could and, in this case did, take hours of work.

Before you actually try fitting the bayonet on your musket use emery cloth and remove any burrs or sharp edges left on the socket. Make sure it is extremely smooth to the touch. You do not need to ruin a good musket with heavy scratch marks after going to all of this work.

I do hope you will be encouraged to attempt restorations and repairs yourself as it can be a very satisfying and rewarding experience.

In Part 2 I’ll talk about repairs of a different sort to a “younger” type of socket bayonet.

Regards

Brian

The first two photos show some of the equipment and the press set on its side in order to utilize the handles as mandrills.

[Brian Wolfe]

The photo below on the left shows the socket driven fully onto the mandrill, this took hours and hours to achieve.

The photo on the right shows how I drove the socket off the mandrill. With care you can hold the socket and the wood driver in one hand while using the hammer with the other. The one thing you cannot do is hold the socket, driver and hammer while taking a photo so you'll have to imagine the hammer being held in my right hand.

The floor in front of this work bench is covered with a very dense rubber mat but I still covered the bayonet tip as my foot could easily have been between mat and blade if I lost my grip on the bayonet.

[Brian Wolfe]

I didn't mentioned that I reversed the socket on the mandrill at the end of the process to assure the diameter was consistant throughout and this is shown in the photo below to the left.

The right hand photo shows the bayonet mounted on the Brown Bess.

Thanks for taking the time to follow this long post and good luck with your own restorations. Be sure to share them with the other members here on GMIC.

Regards

Brian

[peter monahan]

I'm impressed!

I don't see the bayonet stud on your Bess barrel in the last photo. Is it just the shot, or my eyes, or is it actually missing?

[Brian Wolfe]

Hi Peter,

The Brown Bess usually had a rectangular stud on the top of the barrel where my specimen has a round post. This was used as a means to keep the bayonet on the musket though only one pattern that I know of, the one shown here, had a locking ring. Most Land Pattern sockets had only a Z sort of slot that allowed the bayonet to be turned there by preventitng the bayonet from being pulled off the barrel. I don't think the locking ring was developed until the 1853 Enfield Musket Rifle came into use. Though the Baker and Brunswick used a stud and locking device on their sword bayonets which predated the 1853.

I have read that these Brown Bess bayonet posts were also used as a crude sight and I suspect that was also the point of their placement on the top of the barrel. As you know the Brown Bess was used during a time when massed volley at close range was all the rage. It was a matter of leveling your musket and fire.

I will post this bayonet in the correct section later as the locking ring is not positioned in the same manner as every other socket bayonet I have encountered; it was one reason I decided to include it in the collection as my example of the Brown Bess bayonet.

Regards

Brian

[Mervyn Mitton]

Brian - a fascinating account of how to repair such an early bayonet - and a testimonial to your skill. I shall look forward to reading your post

on edged weapons.

The one thing I have learnt from your post - is something that I already practise - if it's damaged leave well alone. Mind you , if I had your

skills I might think differently.................. Mervyn

[Brian Wolfe]

Thanks Mervyn.

It give me a good feeling to put artifacts back into servicable condition.

Regards

Brian