A Portuguese P1821 LC sabre variant by Reeves of Birmingham.
May 28, 2016 19:43:21 GMT
Post by Uhlan on May 28, 2016 19:43:21 GMT
This Portuguese LC trooper sabre was German designed and based on the British P1821 LC Officers sabre. Hence the relatively light blade of 32" long and the wire over shagreen grip. There are examples around though with a 34" blade.
This design was sold to the Americas and other countries. Portugal expressed interest too.
The sabre seems to have been a success. I have some sketchy information the line lasted from about 1850 to at least 1896 but as far as I know there is no information as to the numbers sold. Anyway, due to relative success, Reeves of Birmingham, England decided it wanted a piece of that export pie and also started selling their copy of the Solingen sabre. At some point this design was made in the Portuguese State Arsenal also.
The sabre I present here is a Reeves copy.
The sabre itself is of excellent built, no shortcuts were taken here. The scabbard though, there is where I found a tell tale sign of what I can only describe as what looks like cost cutting.
The scabbard wall, cq the steel plate it was made from, is only 0.7mm thick. Hence a collection of carriage dents near the drag.
Normally the scabbard wall is 1.5mm thick, be it French, German or British. It was the standard. 1.5mm thickness gave excellent protection for the sabre whilst not endangering the trooper or his horse and cost was deemed acceptable. Why Reeves chose for the 0.7mm is unknown. My scabbard might be a one off for all I know. Without the facts all is speculation.
It is rather obvious to see where the second ring mount once sat. The steel is lighter there. The ring mount was probably taken off around 1880, when other nations did this too. This dates this example to before 1880 or the date the Portuguese decided to remove the second ring mounts from all their older model sabre scabbards.
Mounting of the rings by Reeve's workers caused dents.
The sabre handles well. It is a light and lively little number, it being copied from an Officers model. With the balance pulled back to the grip in a quite un Prussian manner, this sabre is lightning fast and almost weightless.
That is directly the reason it does not pack much of a punch. It relies on fast cutting and slicing of the head and arms, a typical British doctrine for Cavalry warfare.
The state I got it in was quite terrible, with lots of pitting and rust. The vendor's pictures were not really displaying this, but then again I bought it for peanuts. I was able to clear most of the damage, though at one side of the spear point tip some pitting still remains.
The vendors pictures hide lots of crap.
I did a nice polish on it and the results speak for themselves.
Gave it the counter polish back.
The nice new spearpoint ridge shows somewhat better here and without the ravages of bad stewardship the sabre stands proud once again.
It is virtually pit free. The lines are back, nice and sharp. It is a really good looking little number now.
The elegant half basket got a glossy polish, just like the scabbard.
What bugged me most were the scrubbed away ridges on the spear point. I polished them back and now they are sharp and straight again. Better than I could show with the camera.
I like this little sabre a lot. Though it has a totally different character than my French M1829 Artillery sabre, both have some archetypal sabre traits that hearken back to the steppes. At least that is what I feel about them and that is what makes them my favourites for the moment. Must be some leftover Polish genes from my great, great, great grandfather.
Cheers.