India Pattern “Brown Bess” Socket Bayonet Marked: “PUGH” / “S. HILL” / inspection marks / SOLD

Description

India Pattern “Brown Bess” Socket Bayonet

Marked: “PUGH” / “S HILL” / inspection marks

 

This is an original India Pattern “Brown Bess” socket bayonet, a standard form used with the late 18th- and early 19th-century British flintlock muskets of the East India Company and the British Ordnance. The example shown measures approximately 20 inches in total length with a blade length of about 16 inches, featuring the classic triangular, tapered blade with shallow central fuller and T-shaped mortise socket for mounting to the musket barrel. The socket diameter is about 1 inch, compatible with the .75 caliber India Pattern musket.

 

The ricasso is clearly stamped “PUGH” and “S HILL”, identifying both a contracted maker and a retailer , typical of late-Georgian Ordnance-pattern production between 1795 and 1815. These markings are commonly associated with Birmingham makers supplying both the Board of Ordnance and the East India Company.

 

The example retains a bright steel finish showing smooth age patina.  The overall form follows the Type II/III India Pattern socket bayonet, standardized around 1801–1804.

 

The India Pattern bayonet was the mainstay of British and colonial forces during the Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812, and throughout the colonial campaigns in India. Thousands were later repurposed or exported, including examples that saw use in North America and other 19th-century conflicts.

 

Inventory Number: BAY 302