Reference # 306


Remington Rolling Block Rifle Bayonet

Feathered Grips - Type 1

Information about this bayonet

This bayonet is not marked in any manner but it is listed for sale in Ames' 1882 catalog and believed to be made by Ames.  The feathered or scaled brass hilt is 124 mm long.  There is a forward swept round finial on the bottom of the guard and no finial on top of the muzzle ring.  The press stud spring is 51 mm long and 7.4 mm wide. The press stud assembly is typical Collins style construction. There is no blade rivet in the  center of the cross guard.  The muzzle ring is flush with the hilt flat and the inside diameter is 18.2 mm.  

The lug slot's top edges are straight and unchamfered and there is a 81 mm guide slot that runs to the middle of the muzzle ring.  The slightly curved blade is 500 mm long and has heavy unstopped fullers.

Information from other sources

Albert N. Hardin, The American Bayonet 1776 – 1964, #126, has this bayonet listed as unknown.  The all-brass hilt, with a poorly defined eagle's-feather design on the grips, ia 4 13/16 inches (122 mm) long.  The bore is .719 inch (18.3 mm) in diameter.  The lower guard terminates in a forward-curving disk finial which lacks sharp definition.  The stud groove runs to the lower surface of the bore and does not flare at its juncture with the stud groove.  The latter is deep and heavy.  The pommel is of the standard bird's-head pattern.  The almost straight straight blade has a deep unstopped fuller.  The blade is 20 inches (508 mm) long, 1 1/16 inches (27.0 mm) wide and 5/16 inch (7.9 mm) thick.

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Jerry L. Janzen, Bayonets of the Remington Cartridge Period, pg. 130,  refers to these bayonets as "Ames Export Remington Bayonets".  Later Janzen states, "An interesting phenomenon surfaced when numerous specimens of these bayonets were examined.  The handle castings, release springs and blades exhibit major differences.  The specimens also reflect significant differences in quality of workmanship.  This could mean that this pattern was not a proprietary Ames' product and may have been a design specified by Schuyler, Hartley & Graham (a large arms dealer based in New York) and for use by all sub contractors.  The author's research did not yield the answer, though Ames (and other firms) produced thousands of Remington .43 caliber bayonets for Schuyler, Hartley & Graham in the 1879 to 1890 time frame."  Janzen also states "Numerous alternatives exist including the possibility that Ames purchased (or produced and sold) brass handles as a manufacturing component."  Janzen shows four variations of the bayonet in Figures 126  & 127.

Speculation and questions

Multiple hilt and blade types for a single type of rifle is pretty common within this work.  Look at the Colt Lightning with three bayonet variations for a few hundred rifles produced.  The Remington Rolling Block Rifle was produced in huge numbers and dozens of variations were exported all over the world for a very long period.   The number of variations in the bayonet does not convince me that there are multiple vendors making the same style of hilt.  I will continue to list this as an Ames product until more information is found.  

How many variations are there?

Example Reference # 1753

Note!  All measurements are in millimeters


Muzzle Ring Diameter --------- 18.2

Overall Length ----------------- 624

Hilt Length -------------------- 124

Blade Length ------------------ 500

Blade Width ------------------- 27.4

Blade Thickness --------------- 7.4



Press Stud Spring Length ----- 51

Guide Slot Length ------------- 81

Lug to Stop Length ----------- 16.3

Lug Slot Width --------------- 5.8

Lug Width -------------------- 10.3

Lug Thickness ---------------- 5.1 


This example is unmarked on the bayonet and has a lightly curved bright blade with deep unstopped fullers.  The press stud spring is 51 mm long and 7.4 mm wide.  The all steel scabbard with round frog stud is stamped with the number 7 on the upper surface of the throat piece.