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Post by mike9 on Jan 6, 2023 22:15:22 GMT
Who makes great modern sabers. I am looking for a functional sword like a VA or Gus trim of the Calvary saber world.
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Post by treeslicer on Jan 6, 2023 22:27:40 GMT
Who makes great modern sabers. I am looking for a functional sword like a VA or Gus trim of the Calvary saber world. That's "cavalry". I have it on good authority that only gladii and spathae were carried at Calvary. 
Really, unless you count LK Chen (a US M1860) and Windlass (a British 1796 LC) releases during the last year, nobody I know of. The issue is a lack of distal taper in most reproductions, compared to the originals, so they don't handle well. There's a lot of posts here at SBG on the subject.
You can find a lot of very good 19th. Century originals for $500 or under.
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hobieh3
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Post by hobieh3 on Jan 25, 2023 6:40:25 GMT
Christopher Walker Antiques has a large selection. If you are wanting a cutter, the cavalry trooper swords are your best bet. Generally more robust than officer's swords, plus they usually have no particular provenance if you wish to sharpen them. Italian 1860 is pretty stout. British 1885 is a beast. They both have the cut and thrust blades. For more curved, some of the Continental or South American blades might work.
He's in England and doesnt use PayPal, so it's bank transfers in Pounds for those of us in the states. He will combine shipping though
Matt Easton's stuff is usually very nice and very expensive, and generally has historical value. Occaisionally he has a beater for sale.
Repros:
I can vouch for the new Windlass 1796 LCS. Several others on this forum have liked the new LK Chen M1860 US "light", at least for it's performance if not it's historical accuracy*.
There also seem to be a lot of M1840 US "heavy" for reasonable prices on ebay. Heavy and Light are misnomers as they are not US Cavalry unit designations, but refer to the weight of the swords; the M1840 was known as "old wristbreaker"; the 1860 is a bit lighter.
*not saying the LK Chen has poor historical accuracy, I just haven't seen any side-by-side comparisons. I also understand that it is allegedly based on a different model (Silver?) rather than the far more common Ames.
Stay away from the newer Italian models; though they have the cool thumb rest protruding thru the guard, they switched to a pipe-back blade that is not nearly as durable.
Skallagrim has a review of the Zombie Tools D'Capitan Saber, which is interesting, or would be at about 75% of the price.
Whew, long post. If anybody knows how to disassemble an Italian M1860 HC Trooper's saber, let me know.
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