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Post by Dave Kelly on Apr 8, 2017 14:15:22 GMT
KoA has a new saber out. Its marketed as an infantry model, at 31.5 inches of blade. It does have some interesting aesthetic qualities, with the fold-out guard and the nice 1796-esque blade. Stats look reasonable as well - 7.1 mm to 2.6 mm. Weight is a bit high at 2.4 pounds but eh, can't have everything. Cost is on the steep side being slightly North of $250 - similar range as we saw with some of their other new WEI/Universal stock. This is a very retro sabre. The comment that this is very '96ish is appropriate. The 32x1.35in blade IS in the '96 range. The forward thickness could have been shaved a bit more. The PoB should/could have been brought back to something close to 7in. Austro-Hungarian sabres are old fashioned cutting swords. They also favor a bit more nose percussive weight than the Franco-Italian weapons. The grip is systemically shortened. Hand is not fully supported; uses more arm to cut. Quality wise it Universal has a better finish than the Austrian. Sword looks more like a proto-1861 Infantry saber than a cavalry sword.
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Uhlan
Member
Posts: 3,121
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Post by Uhlan on Apr 8, 2017 16:17:17 GMT
Could you be more specific? Maybe I can help. The links work on Palemoon, Firefox and Chromium. Others who presumably are on I.E. seem to have no complaints. This link does not work either? theduran.com/all-articles/Nah, it's all good. My computer started having issues displaying other sites as well. System restart fixed it. Prior to that it was giving the usual "server timed out" error Thx for the info, as always. Maybe try Bleachbit for Windows (?). You'll be surprised how much unused garbage ( little Java Scripts ) from the internet a computer collects these days. I am on Linux so should have less of those, but the first time I used Bleachbit it junked 1500+ MB! All that stuff clogs up the system so it all gets slow and unresponsive. Set it to automatically wipe at start up and be amazed. It is (virus) free and it takes about 3 seconds. You tell it where to go. We have it in the repositories, so it is all checked and safe. Dave: With the originals way overpiced this is the only way to go. I mean: GBP 1400 ex 21% cost and shipping at auction? come on! I'll bet it is the next Princess. I support your notion that it is better made than an original. It looks really tight and well worked out. Universal is upping their ante. Swedish sabres can suffer from the same indifference to pride in workmanship. I am cleaning my M1864 and it is quite bad in that regard.
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Post by Dave Kelly on Apr 8, 2017 17:28:19 GMT
Dave: With the originals way overpiced this is the only way to go. I mean: GBP 1400 ex 21% cost and shipping at auction? come on! I'll bet it is the next Princess. I support your notion that it is better made than an original. It looks really tight and well worked out. Universal is upping their ante. Swedish sabres can suffer from the same indifference to pride in workmanship. I am cleaning my M1864 and it is quite bad in that regard. Popularizing Austrian swords is a gamble. They don't have same brand appeal with a global audience. The Hadik did well; but WEI swapped out a french hussar blade instead of the original. The British Coffin Handle has a 35in polish blade, which WEI managed to give some grace to. I won't be the first one buying this; not for lack of quality in the outcome, more like, "but it's Austrian..." Giveme time to pay taxes and I'll do the French Royal Household Gendarmerie Pallasche. ;)
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Post by Afoo on Apr 8, 2017 19:54:21 GMT
Dave: With the originals way overpiced this is the only way to go. I mean: GBP 1400 ex 21% cost and shipping at auction? come on! I'll bet it is the next Princess. I support your notion that it is better made than an original. It looks really tight and well worked out. Universal is upping their ante. Swedish sabres can suffer from the same indifference to pride in workmanship. I am cleaning my M1864 and it is quite bad in that regard. Popularizing Austrian swords is a gamble. They don't have same brand appeal with a global audience. The Hadik did well; but WEI swapped out a french hussar blade instead of the original. The British Coffin Handle has a 35in polish blade, which WEI managed to give some grace to. I won't be the first one buying this; not for lack of quality in the outcome, more like, "but it's Austrian..." Giveme time to pay taxes and I'll do the French Royal Household Gendarmerie Pallasche. ;) Now thats something I look forwards to :D I would have gone for it, cept KoA has jacked up their shipping to Canada - comes up to $80 when it really should be around $40. For the same all-in price, I would rather get this from a local seller (in fact, there is a good chance I will) :D Thats the problem with the Universal stuff of late. They are priced at the point where they start to compete with the antique market, at least in the Canadian market. Makes it hard to justify, especially for people who are just starting out like myself and bfoo - we are looking to expand the collection and broadening our experiences, rather than filling in specific niche holes in our collection. On that note, if you buy it and decide not to keep it, I'd be interested in buying it off of you, assuming you don't pull a KoA and double up the shipping rates :P
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Post by bfoo2 on Apr 13, 2017 19:09:31 GMT
Yeah. I look forward to the day when WEI/Universal get themselves a Canadian distributor ...actually I don't look forward to that day, because I'll be broke shortly afterward
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Post by Dave Kelly on Apr 23, 2017 11:52:10 GMT
You will see mostly broken links for the threads until you join the forum.
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