This India Pattern Brown Bess bayonet is marked (Osborn &) in one line. There is another word after the ampersand, but it is unreadable. The word is not Gunby, because it is too short. I think it is Co., but that is just a guess. It is also marked with an 8 under a crown. There is also an N stamped into the side of the ricasso. This type of bayonet was made both for Commonwealth use and export. I believe that the crown 8 marking indicates that this one was made for commonwealth use. This bayonet is of particular interest because of its modification. The socket has been crudely modified to fit a different musket. The modifications include shortening the socket and increasing the bore. To shorten the socket, it was simply sawn off to the new length. Increasing the bore was more involved. The socket has been hammered and stretched to its new size. This has left the socket with a myriad of small hammer marks, several stress marks, and even a few holes. This bayonet has a lot of character.
When this feature orginally ran, Dan Morrison pointed out the mortise slot configuration is unusual. It is cut for a top stud, but fixes below the barrel. This probably indicates that this modification was done at the end of the 19th century for a breech loading musket that no longer required a ramrod. This bayonet was likely in service for the entire 19th century!
The dimensions are as follows: Overall length 508 mm; Blade length 417; Blade width 29; Blade thickness 10; Socket length 91; Inside diameter 25; Outside diameter 29; Shank length 39.
