Original Item: Only One Available. This is a true very good Condition 16” WWI M1905 Springfield rifle bayonet made by Rock Island Arsenal, complete with an original M1906 Leather-Covered Scabbard. It is dated 1906, being made during the pre-WWI period for the M1903 Springfield rifle. It is still in the original issued configuration, with a bright steel 16 inch blade, blued handle and cross guard, and wooden grip scales.

Upon U.S. entry into WWI in 1917, the specification was changed to a fully blued bayonet, and bright bayonets on hand were blued to match. Many of these were also reissued for use in WWII, and were parkerized and even cut down, but this one was not. It is still in the original production configuration.

The blade ricasso is marked with SA for the Springfield Armory in Springfield Mass, the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until its closing in 1968. Below this is the Ordnance flaming bomb and date of manufacture 1906. The other side of the ricasso is marked with U.S. above serial number 79032. The blade is in very good lightly used condition, showing no sharpening of the edge or any use. There is a bit of surface oxidation staining, but no major rust. The handle and cross guard are a nice aged blue, and the original wooden grip smooth scales are in very good condition.

The scabbard included is an original WWI issue M1906 Type II scabbard, which is VERY hard to find. Most were discarded or converted to use standard belt hooks. The design was based partly on the Springfield-Krag bayonet scabbard, with a somewhat hard to use belt clip. It is very faintly marked on the reverse and we are unable to make out any markings.

The retaining hooks are still intact, so the bayonet locks securely into the scabbard. The scabbard overall is quite clean with the leather still supple, though it looks to have suffered splitting and some leather loss at the tip. The securing washer on the hanger is worn, but the hanger swivels quite loose.
A great example of the 16” WWI M1905 Springfield rifle bayonet by SA, complete with rare early issue scabbard! Ready to display or fit on your Springfield 1903 Rifle.

Specifications:
Blade Length: 16"
Blade Style: Single Edged with Fuller
Overall length: 20 1/2“
Crossguard: 3 1/2”
Scabbard Length: 17"

The M1905 bayonet was produced from 1906 to 1922 by Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal. The blade and handle frame were forged as a single piece with a wide, square-shaped fuller, and the crossguard was pinned to this assembly through two holes with cone-shaped steel pins. The ribbed hand grips were made of walnut wood and attached to the handle with a screw. The screw also held the catch mechanism, manipulated with a button under the crossguard, that was used to fix the bayonet to the rifle's bayonet lug. In mid-1941, it was decided to restart production of the M1905 bayonet.

To simplify production, these later bayonets had handles with black or dark red ribbed grips, made of phenol formaldehyde resin, the earliest type of synthetic plastic. Production was scheduled to begin in January 1942, but the first bayonets were not delivered until April, with quantity deliveries not beginning until the summer of 1942. Despite initial setbacks, the M1905 bayonet was manufactured in sufficient numbers to keep up with the widespread introduction of the new M1 Garand rifle in 1942. By the end of 1942, all six manufacturers had changed the shape of their fullers to a narrower, round-bottomed shape. The later version of the M1905 bayonet with plastic grips is sometimes referred to as the "M1942" by collectors and historians, but this designation was never used by the Army