M1895 German Cav Lance
Dec 1, 2013 1:33:56 GMT
Post by Dave Kelly on Dec 1, 2013 1:33:56 GMT
Not a formal review, but a capsule summary of the odyssey that got me an intact pre WWI German cavalry lance.
I think it all started with something Paul Ward wrote about Sarco being an old time distributor for the Deepeeka M1913 Patton. I didn't associate Sarco with swords. I took a look. They still have some relics; still offering them for $74.00.
While I was there I saw they were still advertizing a small clatch of these M1895 lances. I ordered one. Sarco insisted they could get it shipped via standard UPS from Easton PA to Petersburg for $25.00. The driver picked it up, but the terminal refused it as "oversized".
After a series of confused emails the ball was picked up by one of Sarco's veteran traffic managers, Liz Heisler. She relentlessly beat on UPS for 9 weeks getting down from the original $408.00 to $109.00.
It arrived last tuesday, 26 Nov. Opened the PCV pipe the following evening. It was pretty ugly. Half the shaft was stained and there were significant patches of rust bloom and crusting. Serious corrosion.
Bathed the shaft overnite in penetrating oil then started cleaning with Wenol and steel wool. Started to see some improvement after a couple hours. Once the shallow stuff cleared up I had to take on the rust bloom with my dremel. Got mostly clean metal, but the pocks weren't going to go away so the practical limit was reached at that point. So it looks pretty good. There are no holes or cracks so its all firm and sound.
The lance is 10.5 ft x 1.12 in. Lance head is 9 inches. There is a 4 inch butt cap on the rear end. The forward shaft is 6 ft long and the back is 3.5 ft. There is a 12 inch grip section. Holding the lance well back on the grip gives you not quite 7 feet of thrust for the lance. Explains why British accounts say the M1908 sword stood up well to the German lance as they had about equaly reach.
Last ordeal was mounting the lance above the rack display. This required reallocating 38 sabres and taking down 4 racks so as to install the display rests and put the lance up.
I'm pleased with the result. Well worth recovering this lance intact instead of having to do what so many have done to avoid the shipping cost: cutting the lance in two to meet the freight lengths.
Here are several historic photos of German units with the lance. Kaiser Wilhelm II decreed that the lance would be the primary weapon of ALL cavalry units.
Thanks for looking
Inorder to get a full view of the pics press the print preview button in the uppe right of the thread screen.
I think it all started with something Paul Ward wrote about Sarco being an old time distributor for the Deepeeka M1913 Patton. I didn't associate Sarco with swords. I took a look. They still have some relics; still offering them for $74.00.
While I was there I saw they were still advertizing a small clatch of these M1895 lances. I ordered one. Sarco insisted they could get it shipped via standard UPS from Easton PA to Petersburg for $25.00. The driver picked it up, but the terminal refused it as "oversized".
After a series of confused emails the ball was picked up by one of Sarco's veteran traffic managers, Liz Heisler. She relentlessly beat on UPS for 9 weeks getting down from the original $408.00 to $109.00.
It arrived last tuesday, 26 Nov. Opened the PCV pipe the following evening. It was pretty ugly. Half the shaft was stained and there were significant patches of rust bloom and crusting. Serious corrosion.
Bathed the shaft overnite in penetrating oil then started cleaning with Wenol and steel wool. Started to see some improvement after a couple hours. Once the shallow stuff cleared up I had to take on the rust bloom with my dremel. Got mostly clean metal, but the pocks weren't going to go away so the practical limit was reached at that point. So it looks pretty good. There are no holes or cracks so its all firm and sound.
The lance is 10.5 ft x 1.12 in. Lance head is 9 inches. There is a 4 inch butt cap on the rear end. The forward shaft is 6 ft long and the back is 3.5 ft. There is a 12 inch grip section. Holding the lance well back on the grip gives you not quite 7 feet of thrust for the lance. Explains why British accounts say the M1908 sword stood up well to the German lance as they had about equaly reach.
Last ordeal was mounting the lance above the rack display. This required reallocating 38 sabres and taking down 4 racks so as to install the display rests and put the lance up.
I'm pleased with the result. Well worth recovering this lance intact instead of having to do what so many have done to avoid the shipping cost: cutting the lance in two to meet the freight lengths.
Here are several historic photos of German units with the lance. Kaiser Wilhelm II decreed that the lance would be the primary weapon of ALL cavalry units.
Thanks for looking
Inorder to get a full view of the pics press the print preview button in the uppe right of the thread screen.
