gunnut wrote on Apr 17^th, 2012 at 11:59pm:

Thanks, 5MadFarmers.

No problem.


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I sincerely appreciate the education.

We're all perpetual students on these.  The last real experts have been gone for half a century.


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The bayonet band does have a slit between the lug and the stacking swivel. Does that make it original to the model 1896?

Late 1898 band.  Yet another sign of an arsenal rebuild.  That also indicates a later one.  Timeframe?  "I don't know.  Just 'later'."  Might bump into a date for the introduction at some point but haven't looked hard yet.  Given the 1901 sight we kind of already knew it was later.