I bought this sword on Friday from a vendor at the Ren Fair here. He told me it belonged to his friend who bought it from MRL about 20 years ago. He wasn't exactly sure who the maker was, though. He's pretty sure it was before they were bought by Windlass, so it might be a Del Tin blade, but there's no maker's mark anywhere that I can see. Overall it's 39 inches, blade is 32.5 inches.

So I was wondering if any of you recognize it from one of their old catalogs? If you do, could you tell me the name of the model, the maker (Del Tin, Windlass, etc.), and possibly point me to any reviews of it or your impressions?

Here are pics:
[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

Thanks in advance,
Alan

Is it a DelTin 2148? I'd want to have more info to be sure, but that's my best answer. W

Probably old, MRL version of what we now know as 2148.

Windlass made a very similar piece the 501000, however the pommel is not exactly the same, leading me to believe this is a Del Tin. Is it peened? Could you take closeup shorts of the ricasso and underside of the guard? Some older Del Tin markings are faint and Del Tin used a number of different markings, so what you might believe to be scratches could be a stamp.

Thanks for the replies so far. At first I thought this may have been a 2148, but after looking at it on the Del Tin site, the grip and guard are both different. The 2148 has risers that make an X shape, and the guard is flat on the sides. The risers on this sword's grip just wind around the handle. And the guard on this one ends in a pyramid shape.

Peter, thanks for pointing out that model. There happens to be one on ebay right now, so I got a good look at it, and this is definitely different. The guards are pretty much the same, but the blades and pommels are not. I took another look at the guard and blade, but still can't see anything that even remotely resembles a maker's mark. Also, I assume this sword has a threaded pommel, because there is no evidence of a peen. I took some shots of the guard and blade for you to look at, but I don't see anything that gives up any more info.

Pics:
[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

[ Linked Image ]

Thanks again,
Alan

I've taken a look at a lot of the pictures on this site, and in the weapons comparison section there is a sword labeled "MRL Norman sword" that looks very similar to what I got. Does anyone know about that model, such as model number, maker, etc? It looks like it's an older model, maybe a Del Tin blade on a hilt by another maker?

Also, I was told that MRL was also retailing for another maker at the same time as they were selling Del Tins. Does anyone know if that is true, and who the other maker was?

Thanks again,
Alan

Anyone, please? I'd really like to get more info on this sword. It looks and feels amazing in the hand, and I'm really interested in who the maker was.

Thanks,
Alan

I thought i remembered this piece, did a little bit of searching and found this, hope it helps.
It's the second sword down and called the Late Medieval Soldier's Sword.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040607081746/www...age_5.html

Thanks Joel, that's the one! So it looks like it's a Windlass, then. If anyone finds another one of these, I think it's a good buy. Dry handling, which is all that I've done so far, it feels quick and responsive. The balance is pretty good, with the PoB at about 4 inches from the guard. The guard on mine is a little loose, which I will fix with epoxy or JB weld. The previous owner put a nice edge on this one, so once I secure the guard I'll do some cutting with it.

Thanks again,
Alan