Original U.S. Springfield Trapdoor Model 1884 / 1888 Round Rod Bayonet - Never Installed - 36" Long
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Original Items: Very Few Available. The U.S. breech loading Springfield "trapdoor" rifle was introduced in 1873 in .45-70 caliber. Basically it was the rifle the U.S. Army used to open the West and Springfield trapdoor carbines were used by Custer's Cavalry at the massacre at The Little Big Horn. In 1884 the integral Round Rod Bayonet was introduced, which could double as a cleaning rod, a development that met with very limited success. It was finally replaced in 1892 with the .30-40 caliber Krag bolt action magazine rifle.
Model 1884 rifles saw service in the Spanish American War. The regular army was issued the new Krag rifles and the guard units received the trapdoor. There are a number of stereopticon pictures that show guard units armed with 1884 rifles.
The Model 1884 round rod bayonet rifle was Springfield's third attempt at a rod bayonet system on a trapdoor rifle. They had used the triangular rod system on the Model 1880 and some Model 1882 rifles. The Model 1884 RRB rifle utilized a different, but no more reliable mechanism for retaining the rod. Because the small locking "fingers" are not clearly visible, the gun has been nicknamed "flatlatch."
We have acquired a very small number of these round rod bayonets for Springfield trapdoor model 1884 and 1888 rifles, which were never cut down and threaded. They measure 36 inches long, while once threaded on the end and installed they should measure 32 1/2" inches. We assume these were produced at the very end of Trapdoor production as spares, and never got used. They then look to have been in long storage, probably bounded around to various warehouses, resulting in some surface oxidation and bending on some.
Just the thing you need for a Trapdoor rifle missing its round rod bayonet! Just needs to be cut down to the right length and threaded!
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