Original Item: Only One Available. Here we have a very good example of the rare brass hilted bayonet for the U.S. Civil War "Plymouth" Navy Percussion Rifle. 10,000 of these rifles were made by Eli Whitney’s manufactory, Whitney-ville, based on an 1861 contract to the U.S. Navy. Five sample rifles were delivered in October 1862 and regular deliveries started in February 1863, with 5,300 delivered that year and the remaining 4,695 in 1864. Collins was contracted to produce an equal number of bayonets to go with the rifles.

The 22 ½” single-edged blade has a slight curve and a thick, flat spine that ends in a 140mm double-edged spear point. The blade is in good condition, with only a mild tarnish on both sides of the blade. The hilt is marked with serial number 253 next to the channel. It has never been sharpened, and still has a clear makers mark on the ricasso:

COLLINS & CO
HARTFORD
CONN.

Comes more than ready for further research and display.

Specifications:
Blade Length: 22 1/2"
Blade Style: Single Edge Yataghan w/ Fuller
Overall length: 27 3/8“
Crossguard: 3 1/2”

The Whitneyville "Plymouth" Navy Rifle was the brainchild of John A. Dahlgren, who began testing the idea of a .69 caliber rifle for the U.S. Navy on the 1858 voyage of the USS Plymouth, hence one of the several names applied to this rifle. Dahlgren wanted a large-caliber short rifle for shipboard use and used the French carabine-a-tige as a model. He wanted a heavy barrel to compensate for its recoil and originally had the idea of fitting it with a Bowie-knife style bayonet that would be useful has a hand-held weapon and for other shipboard tasks. A few of these were made, but it was decided that a longer Saber bayonet would be more practical.

As produced by Whitney for the Navy on a July 1861 contract, the rifle was lighter than Dahlgren envisioned and utilized a saber bayonet supplied by Collins, but mounted a 34-inch .69 caliber rifled barrel secured by two bands, with a long French style rear sight graduated to 1,000 yards.