This is a VERY GOOD+ condition example of what is technically the US Model 1827 Socket Bayonet as marked and used by PS Justic for one of his contract rifle muskets made during the American Civil War. The Model 1827 socket bayonet was an improved version of the earlier Model 1822, which was the improved Model 1816 socket bayonet. While all three of these bayonets look very similar and often not distinguishable without the use of calipers, to the US Ordnance Department they were all separate bayonet patterns. The Model 1822 was an attempt to make the Model 1816 bayonet more standardized in terms of dimensions and in its ability to interchange on US Model 1816 and Model 1822 muskets. The Model 1827 is identifiable by the increased diameter of the neck (or shank) of the bayonet, which was done in an effort to increase the strength of the blade to socket junction. Those bayonets that conform to the Model 1822 pattern but with a neck diameter of more than .450” are officially Model 1827 bayonets. This bayonet has that larger neck diameter which means it is officially a Model 1827. 

This bayonet was probably a contractor produced example that was made during the years of 1827-1831. The years from 1821-1831 were the National Armory Brown period, during which time both muskets and their socket bayonets were finished with a rich lacquer brown instead of being polished to “National Armory Bright”. The face of the blade is clearly marked US without a forger’s mark or initials, which would be typical of many of the contractor made bayonets. The obverse shank of the bayonet is stamped upside down with a P over 46. This is the mark that indicates the bayonet was at one time mated with a PS Justice produced .69 caliber rifle musket. The “P” prefix serial number found on the bayonet would have matched the P serial number found on the musket. The #46 suggests the gun was a fairly early production Justice musket.

The arms produced by the P.S. Justice firm of Philadelphia have always been very intriguing to the collectors of Civil War long arms. The P.S. Justice company had its genesis as Justice & Steinmann, a Philadelphia sporting goods and hardware retailer. In 1842, Justice & Steinmann became customers of the Henry family company known as Bolton Gun Works (later J. Henry & Sons) and began retailing Henry produced rifles and shotguns in two Philadelphia retail locations. It is likely that the Justice company also offered guns by other makers as well, and it appears that prior to the American Civil War, Justice was not in the business of manufacturing firearms. The Justice firm was one of J. Henry & Sons largest clients and purchased not only completed arms, but component parts as well. The majority of these parts were likely sold to other gun makers, but Justice may have assembled some arms from these parts in the last couple of years immediately preceding the opening of hostilities between the North and the South. It is interesting to note that the Justice firm was listed as a manufacturer of “railroad car springs” in the 1860 Philadelphia Directory, and while census data from 1860 suggests that they manufactured 2,500 guns between June 1, 1859 and June 1, 1860, author & researcher George Moller notes that the company was not considered a “manufacturer” by the US Secretary of the Interior, but only as an “assembler”. 

In 1861, the firm officially changed their name to P.S. Justice, dropping the name of Steinmann who had died in 1845.  Justice was definitely a shrewd businessman, who saw an opportunity to make money and managed to secure a number of US arms contracts in the early days of the Civil War. Within days of war being declared, Justice contacted his largest supplier, J. Henry & Sons, in an attempt to purchase as many arms as possible for resale to the US government and various state and local militias. He also undertook a campaign of letter writing to state and federal officials, offering to manufacture various patterns of long arms for use by the troops that were volunteering to put down the “rebellion”. In these letters he made some outrageous claims as to his manufacturing capability, suggesting that he could produce “…1,000 stands per week and increase it to double if it is possible before the autumn closes,” as well as claiming to be making “…extensive arrangements to manufacture the ‘Enfield’ pattern Rifle both short and long pattern”. Justice further claimed that that he was “…now engaged in making [a] superior Army Rifle, with either the ordinary [socket] or the sabre (sic) bayonet…”.  Justice never did “arrange to manufacture” Enfield pattern arms but did manage to import some 3,000 “long” (Pattern 1853) and 1,000 “short” (Pattern 1856/58/60) Enfields, which he subsequently sold to the US government. He also approached the Frankford Arsenal, offering in August of 1861 to deliver some 4,000 .69 rifled muskets “…similar in style to the sample deposited with you at $20.00 each.” The US Ordnance Department agreed that the acquisition of such arms would be in their best interests, and they agreed to contract with Justice for the production of 4,000 .69 rifled muskets at the proposed price of $20.00 each. These were the guns that would eventually become known to modern collectors as the “PS Justice Muskets”. Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Armsdesignates these as "Type I", “Type II” and “Type III” variants, but author  and researcher George Moller re-designates them simply as “Type I” and “Type II” in his seminal work American Military Shoulder Arms Volume III. The “Type I” arms were manufactured with iron furniture and were generally made from obsolete, condemned and otherwise used parts, with some new components (especially stocks) sprinkled in among the guns. The “Type II” guns were brass mounted and can be further classified by at least four types of barrel configurations and three types of lock configurations. While many of these guns did utilize at least some surplus or used parts, the Type II guns were often mostly of newly made parts with re-used barrels being the most commonly encountered repurposed portion of the musket. A total of 2,174 .69 caliber rifled muskets were delivered to the US government by Justice, with the majority appearing to be the “Type II” brass mounted variant, and the balance being iron mounted. The arms were delivered between September 14, 1861, and February 25, 1862. Moller notes that between 1,000 and 1,800 of the brass mounted, Type II Justice muskets were produced and procured under this Federal contract. As noted, the guns varied in the parts used to construct them, and even their finish varied from variant to variant, with some having browned barrels and others bright, and some locks being bright, and others blued. One common feature of all the guns was that the wood used for the stock was often poorly seasoned. 

Whether Justice was a patriot trying to assist his country with essential arms and war materiel or simply an opportunist is still open to debate. What is obvious is that Justice took a cue from Eli Whitney Jr.’s company and minimized costs as much as possible in order to maximize profit. This meant that Justice’s firearms ended up with a reputation for being of poor quality and unsafe. There was at least some basis in fact for this reputation, as Justice was brought before the 37th Congress and the Holt-Owens Commission to answer for his “war profiteering” and for providing shoddy and substandard guns. One officer, 2nd Lt, William H. Harris who testified about the quality of the Justice rifled muskets issued to the 55th PA infantry noted that:

“This regiment is armed with rifle muskets, marked on the barrel, “P. S. Justice, Philadelphia”, and vary in caliber from .65 to .70. I find many of them unserviceable and irreparable, from the fact that the principal parts are defective. Many of them are made up of parts of muskets to which the stamp of condemnation has been affixed by an inspecting officer. None of the stocks have ever been approved by an officer, nor do they bear the initials of any inspector. They are made up of soft, unseasoned wood, and are defective in construction. . . . The sights are merely soldered on to the barrel, and come off with the gentlest handling. Imitative screw-heads are cut on their bases. The bayonets are made up of soft iron, and, of course, when once bent remain set.”

Col. (later to be General) Thomas D. Doubleday noted of the Justice arms that he had inspected:

“The arms which were manufactured at Philadelphia, Penn., are of the most worthless kind, and have every appearance of having been manufactured from old condemned muskets. Many of them burst; hammers break off; sights fall off when discharged; the barrels are very light, not one-twentieth of an inch thick, and the stocks are made of green wood which have shrunk so as to leave the bands and trimmings loose. The bayonets are of such frail texture that they bend like lead, and many of them break off when going through the bayonet exercise. You could hardly conceive of such a worthless lot of arms, totally unfit for service, and dangerous to those using them.”

While it is true that Justice utilized a variety of used, obsolete and sometimes condemned parts in the construction of his arms (similar to the Whitney “Good & Serviceable” series of small arms), he utilized parts of new construction in his arms as well. His greatest short fall appears to have been the use of wood for the stocks that was not sufficiently seasoned, which lead to shrinkage and multiple service issues, including locks that did not properly function and the rusting of iron parts. Justice produced a variety of patterns of his rifles and rifle muskets, which have been given a typology by collectors, based upon their features. In general, the differences found in the features, furniture and make-up of the guns was the result of Justice’s preference to utilize any parts currently on hand, rather than obtaining or manufacturing parts as supplies ran out.

The P.S. Justice serial numbered 1816-Pattern socket bayonet offered here is in about VERY GOOD+ condition. This very nice example of a bayonet from the National Armory Brown period retains some strong traces of its original browned finish. The metal retains about 10%+ of the original lacquer brown finish, which has mostly worn away faded, dulled, and thinned with age and use. The areas where the finish was worn or faded have developed a moderately oxidized brownish gray patina, leaving the metal with an evenly freckled and mottled brown and gray patina. The bayonet is full-length and has a crisp, undamaged socket. The blade is mostly smooth, except for some scattered areas of minor surface oxidation and minor surface roughness. The socket shows some scattered areas of oxidized freckling as well as some minor impact marks which are most obvious around the neck of the bayonet. The bayonet has a nominally 16” blade with the traditional prow-point. The blade measures 15 7/8” in length, with a 3” socket and an overall length of 18 7/8”. The muzzle diameter of the socket is nominally .825” with a 1.15” muzzle to stud distance. The oval shank measures nominally .51” x .57”, clearly large enough to qualify as a Model 1827 socket bayonet. 

Overall, this is a VERY GOOD+ example of a later production PS Justice Marked National Armory Brown era US Model 1827 Socket Bayonet  that retains some traces of its original browned finish. These bayonets are rather scarce, especially with any brown on them and with the PS Justice serial numbering. This bayonet would be a great addition to the display of your PS Justice musket that uses a repurposed US Model 1816/22/27 musket barrel. It would also be a good addition to any collection that has a number of the variant Civil War contract rifles and muskets made by various Pennsylvania makers like Justice, Henry, Krider, etc.

SOLD