Vendors of replica military swords

Neither GGG, or MH sell sharps. Cold steel is getting them sharpened somewhere and Windlass either does them in house at Conyers, or some of their retailers use other services.

Both GGG and MH are buying from producers in India. GGG uses a couple of sources/shops (judging from his own ad copy) and MH uses www.weaponedge.com

There is a thread elsewhere that relates communication with the MH supplier. They indicate using an equvilant to 1040 steel, which is fine and tempering to a soft spring temper. How soft? the number given is less than 40RC. Now, before everyone scrunches up their mouse hand and shakes it at the screen, that is still plenty hard enough to cut flesh and bone. The manufacturer relates having used this methodology for decades and it is to reduce the numbers of broken swords.

Bear in mind that these offerings are aimed at the re-enactment and living history market more than the back yard cutting crowd. That doesn't mean they can't be sharpened and cut with but it's something to keep in mind.

For the American Civil War stuff, there are many, many sources aside from Windlass but a good number of items are probably still coming from the same workshops, on the same streets in India.
When/if you see a site selling a higher grade and economy grade of the same item, it really is a good indication of you will get what you pay for. Also a useful note when window shopping elsewhere.

I bought a replica sabre from the folks at www.blockaderunner.com and www.legendaryarms.com sells the same inventory (and a whole lot more). It is a fairly good rough approximation of the sword it copies and I did sharpen it for cutting. Jonathan has seen this one first hand. the scabbard is suprisingly well done and the sword blade itself is (of what I have seen related) typical of a thicker than historical grind in the nuances of distal taper and grinds towards the edge bevel.

So, just be aware that some India produced sabres are likely a little soft (mine is somewhat) and that a lot of sources do not offer sharpening services. There are a gazillion American Civil War Sutlers and I had bought from Blockade Runner based on their reputation and because they had a model I was interested in. I have not dealt with Legendary Arms but they are Yahoo shopping certified and do have what is probably the largest selection of 19th century American related swords. Folk like GGG and MH kind of fill in a lot of gaps.

Edited to add one more link of some folk that also sell some swords and a wide variety of knives. I have dealt with them and they are good people. They sell a lot more than just blades, which is how I was drawn to them.
www.crazycrow.com


Cheers

Hotspur; you'd be proud of me Jonathan, I actually knocked the rust off my neglected scabbard

Eeeaaasy big fella ;D

Another site I have looked at a couple of times is Loyalist Arms. they have had some mention here and even by Holluwood swordsman Luke LaFontaine. they appear on this list of merchants as well, which I share to show the tip of but one iceberg. If one looks at living history and re-enactment pages, many have such link lists (a whole other subject).
www.liming.org/revlist/merchant.html

I was heartily dissapointed in what I see them offering as a slotted hilt spardoon and other items look quite as bad, in the true representation of what they mean to. they are a prop company, first and foremost, so maybe I shouldn't judge to harshly. I do know I was saddend when looking at their spadroon effort and ACW sabre.

Cheers

Hotspur; I actually do need to do my annual Crazy Crow order (not blades)

Dixie Gunworks (www.dixiegunworks.com), a major supplier of blackpowder guns and accesories, also carries several replica military swords including some Confederate types. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is for most of the swords. A couple they specifically state have chrome-plated blades and are made in Spain. These are the sort of "sword-like objects" that are worn as part of a modern military officer's dress uniform. The others, however, appear to be more authentic. One that especially intrigues me is the British Pattern 1751 infantry hanger. A couple of customers who wrote reviews said they were made by Windlass and were happy with the quality, though I have no idea if they were interested in their functionality or not. All reviewers (4 total) gave that particular sword 5 out of 5. Anybody know anything about this replica?

is the reason the whole site went down!

Has anybody here ever ordered directly from WeaponEdge in India? If so, could you comment on your experience and the whole process?

I asked them for a quote (very good prices including shipping) but would like some feedback before sending my hard earned dollars so far away...

Thank you in advance.

It does seem like the easiest thing to do is order from the nearest distributor. For Montreal, that would be the Military Heritage site. The Stromlo site for Australia or now the U.S.
www.geocities.com/stromloswords@sbcglobal.net/Main

An odd link, in that it contains an email but I managed to get there somehow, it may even have been through Google. What is interesting there is that he mentions the steel being 1050 and not what was working out to the equivilant of 1040. AAlso that the whole line-up isn't listed but he could probably broker anything they have.

There are a couple/few sites in Europe and the UK as well but one recent myArmoury reviewer from Europe did order through Military Heritage and I know of at least one from England who had some years ago. It may have been a matter of who had what in stock.

The overview from myArmoury of the fancy sabre was promising in it relating pretty good distal characteristics. Some of the other blades are just a bit off from the historical perspective. There are several straight bladed swords now listed with a blade where the fuller should be running right up the blade and terminating just before the point. It seems unfortunate because the rest of the blade and mounts look very good. These would be the 1796 infantry officer, nco, drummer and new five ball spadroon. That last, a real pity because they get the rest of it so right.

Various other India produced M1840 nco swords also get this wrong. Better in some cases but still wrong. There were better grades of these swords in years past that did a better job of getting it right and I have to wonderf if the producers simply went with the wrong blade form out of convienence, or figured no one would mind or notice.

I know I was excited to see the five-ball spadroons go up (dark grip at MH and a white bone one at one UK retailer) but then noted they carried the same anachronistic blade that will prevent me from buying one. If they were to remedy that one fault and more accurately reproduce the blade form, they would probably have a sale to me.

I do still like the looks of some other swords they offer very much and may yet buy something from the line, somewhere down the road. As it is, I am still pursuing originals while prices are still not unreasonable at times. I known I have forgone reproductions over the past couple of years because of the bargain antiques I have come across. The only real downfall I see from this primary source is that they are not sharp, which may make the Cold Steel and Windlass offerings more attractive to some.

Cheers

Hotspur; OTOH, I had recently stumbled on a couple of period parts swords that may demand my attention.

Hotspur and Sebastian: thanks a bunch for the responses!

The model I want is the wes-1002 on the catalogue of WeaponEdge.com. At Military Heritage it is sold for 299$ canadian dollars, excluding delivery and tax, which I find expensive for me, for the moment. WeaponEdge gave me a (much) better price including shipping...I asked them for a confirmation on the quote, just to make sure...

Sebastian: I'll let you know how this goes...

What do you think of that model, historically speaking and in general, Hotspur?

Here's a link to pictures of (or should be) an original:

www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_chassabe.html

(Hotspur: you're right about the scabbard and the squareness of the hilt...but I still like their repro short of having to buy an authentic)

Weapon Edge gave me an unbeatable price on that one -a bit more than half the MH canadian price including delivery!- but won't confirm the courier used or if there will be a tracking number...is something fishy or am I paranoid? I mean, should I trust that company? Could'nt they just keep the money after transfer and not send anything? After all, it's not like I'm going to sue an Indian Company for such a small amount...

Hmmm...am I taking the plunge and risking losing my money transfer for the sake of getting a good deal and informing other sabre collectors in the case of a good issue to this transaction? Juggling with the idea here...

Let me know what you think please...