French M1822 Cavalry of the Line Officers Sabre.

Just for the heck of it. It is a nice picture after all. Alphonse Marie Neuville - The French Cuirassiers - Franco Prussian War.jpg

So. The Officers Bancal.
This one came rather cheap because it had some issues. I am glad I have it though, because the Officers Bancals are quite hard to find and if found, go for serious money for some reason. So, issues and all, when it came my way I gladly bought it. Another reason I wanted it is that it is a first generation sabre. According to the poincons it was made in the period of March 2 1822 to March 8 1823. As early as they come.
On August 27 I posted the Troopers Bancal, sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/48792/1822-cavalry-troopers-sabre-bancal and on the 28th I was already shouting abuse at the human race in general and the frikking French in particular.
That is the Ulahn way. Poetic lines like ,, You moronic Klingenthal twit. I'll have your lungs for lunch'' are his entertainment during the long hours spend scratching away at old junk. Very hot and humid weather certainly did not help. Of course the only moron is the Ulahn himself. Normal people go to air conditioned saloons and drink lots of ice cold beer.
Luckily the sabre turned out very nice and even the black spotted scabbard in the end is quite good looking.





That scabbard took more work than expected.
Have a look at this:


Middle section cleaned up in the raw with 3M 80 grid.

A looong way to go yet..... The brown wooden stick with 3M around it is the main instrument I use.

As you can see this works quite well.

Almost black with old rust and with red rust and lots of pitting underneath it took about 10 days to clean up. The scabbard was made by Manceaux of Paris. It does not belong to the sabre, but fits very well. It is also 1" too long. It is a pity, but for the price I may not complain.
I had to shim the blade on both sides and under the ricasso, because the hilt had some play. I use copper shims bend double to be slightly thicker than the gap.



Copper is very pliable so it sets itself nicely in any opening when hammered in with an old screw driver as punch. The sabre rings like a bell again. A new leather washer was made too. It covers the shims nicely. I have seen copper and wood shims used on old sabres, repairs done during its service life, but I prefer copper. It holds longer.
Something more serious are the air pockets I found during polishing of the blade. Situated on and around the ricasso, these are signs the blade steel was not hammered through and through. Too many of those and the blade will snap during stress. I never found those on Troopers Klingenthal blades. I have two other Officers sabres done by Klingenthal who have this defect. Air pockets manifest themselves as a row of little pits. During polishing the row of little pits turn into a black line which can go quite deep. Better the leave it alone. It may be over reacting to call sabres with this defect unsound per se. This one had a long service life. The grip leather is worn through at spots. But for the cutters among us, I would send a sabre with these kind of faults back to the seller. There is potential for accidents.


The poincons and the air pockets. Those are the black lines.

All things equal, I am quite pleased with this sabre.  It handles well too, though I prefer the Troopers Bancal. This Officers sabre comes quite close to an M1822 LC in handling.


Glamour shot. It is good to see here that the scabbard is too long. Found the fitting sword knot at Ebay.


The hilt with the French lilly intact. The leather is good but worn through at places. The wiring is of a kind that was quite rare at the time, but became fashionable after 1870. The condition is quite good for the age.

The numbers.

Poincons:
B in laurel wrath and G under star ditto.
This stand for Jean George Bick - 23 Feb 1809 - 1 Aug. 1824 and
Guidonnet - Victor Joseph - 2 March 1822 - 8 March 1823. On the reverse the ricasso is marked with a 19 stamp.
Blade thickness: 11 mm at the ricasso - 7 mm at the POB - 6 mm half way - 3 mm at one inch from the tip.
Blade width is 29 mm.
Blade length is 92.5 cm which is the standard second tier length.
Weight is: 974 gram.
Sabre + scabbard weigh 1544 gram.
POB is at 15 cm from the guard.
The scabbard by Manceaux is stamped with 180 on the drag.

Notes.
Read everything Dave Kelly and Pinotte posted in this section.


Vive les Cantinieres!

Cheers.