17th Century Plug Bayonet, Museum Quality
designed by John Barnett
In the early 1600's the matchlock musket was introduced, a great improvement on the arquebus, which was heavy and cumbersome to use.
Matchlock muskets employed an improved method of ignition through the use of a smouldering piece of cord or match gripped into the haws of an arm that could be dropped into the gunpowder pan of the musket through pressure on a trigger bar.
Such muskets were slow to re-load and very vunerable to adverse weather conditions and when a volley of shot had been fired the muskateer was very open to attack untill he had time to re-load his musket. To counter this the combination of pikemen and muskateers were employed on the battlefields of 17th century Europe and although muskateers carried a sword, a more immediate method of defence was needed.
Legend has it that one such muskateer in a time of extreme crisis had the innovation to thrust his dagger down the muzzle of his musket in order to create for himself a more effective means of defence. Whatever the case, it appears that by about the mid 17th century plug bayonets were being manufactured and issued to muskateers.
Such bayonets usually had a simple tapered wooden or bone hilt with a metal pommel cap and a short crosspiece. The blade was usually double-edged and tapered to a point although single edged and curved bladed plug bayonets are also to be found.
By the late 17th century the plug bayonet fell into disuse as new and improved ring bayonets were introduced that gave the user of the musket the ability to load and fire his musket with the bayonet still attached to the muzzle, a notable advantage in any battle situation.
All swords in the John Barnett collection have EN45 sprung steel blades and guard and pommel pieces are always in steel unless brass or bronze are specified,hand grips are ofoak wood over very broad strong tangs
The John Barnett collection are all museum quality pieces with their own distinct look and feel.
The plug bayonet measures approx 450mm sheathed,
the blade measures approx 280mm and 40mm at its widest point.
The hilt measures approx 150mm and the crossguard measures approx 100mm.
The plug bayonet weighs approx 0.413kg
Sorry, out of stock
