Austrian 1869 Cavalry Saber
Jul 24, 2012 1:05:21 GMT
Post by Dave Kelly on Jul 24, 2012 1:05:21 GMT
Recently acquired an enlisted saber to go with the 1869 Officers saber I got 5 mos ago. It's a cheap side grab. The saber blade is seriously corroded in many spots. Hilt is stained, but appears to have no corrosion deep set. Gonna have to spend a lot of time cleaning and polishing to mask the blade damage.
The 1869s were the first Austrian standard unified swords for all cavalry type regiments of the line; both heavy and light cavalry. The enlisted blade is 35x1.36 inches. While that is surprisingly big for the period the blades are incredibly thin. This thinking harkens back to the older blades of the 1780s from which the British 1796s were copied.
The hilt /blade combination isn't particularly comfortable on the enlisted version. Nose heavy and the narrow grip doesn't lend itself to edge control.
The Officer Saber is 33.5x1.33 inches. It is a much more comfortable, sense of positive control saber.
Another oddity and dead giveaway for this particular saber is that the blade is only fullered on one side; the inside of the blade is FLAT.
( The seller of this saber actually had it listed as an 1850; the flat blade is a dead giveaway; besides which the 1850 has 8 holes in the guard plate and the '69 only 7.)
The 1869s were the first Austrian standard unified swords for all cavalry type regiments of the line; both heavy and light cavalry. The enlisted blade is 35x1.36 inches. While that is surprisingly big for the period the blades are incredibly thin. This thinking harkens back to the older blades of the 1780s from which the British 1796s were copied.
The hilt /blade combination isn't particularly comfortable on the enlisted version. Nose heavy and the narrow grip doesn't lend itself to edge control.
The Officer Saber is 33.5x1.33 inches. It is a much more comfortable, sense of positive control saber.
Another oddity and dead giveaway for this particular saber is that the blade is only fullered on one side; the inside of the blade is FLAT.
( The seller of this saber actually had it listed as an 1850; the flat blade is a dead giveaway; besides which the 1850 has 8 holes in the guard plate and the '69 only 7.)
