I was looking for the pattern 1908 sword and came across this website;
http://www.militaryheritage.com/swords2.htm
But also came across one of my favorite sabers, the 1796 Light Cavalry Sabre.

Assuming the quality is good, those are some very reasonably priced swords. They claim they are hand forged and battle-ready but that is a widely used term. They don't mention if they are peened or have a threaded nut in the hilts.

Has anyone here bought any of these?
I am only interested in buying very well made, reasonably accurate historical recreations, that's why I'm a big fan of Albion. Do these stack up to my standards?


I hope these aren't cold steel swords...

AFAIK, Cold Steel and Military Heritage get much of their blades, at least, from the same source, probably Windlass. This is not a bad thing - by all accounts, Windlass produce excellent blades when working to spec (their own products suffer from a lack of historical research, more than anything).

The Royal Artillery Officer's Sword near the bottom of the page looks very much like something I unwittingly picked up a few years ago. The quality's kind of not bad for a wall-hanger, but I have no idea as to its construction: I certainly wouldn't risk putting it to the test. Not that it'd cut anything anyway, it's very much a blunt-edged piece. I was rather disappointed at the rather muddy quality of the detailing on the blade, but I guess that's part and parcel of the price range. On the other hand, as someone pointed out to me, the scabbard is of not unreasonable quality.

I tried to track down the origin of the sword in question and as far as I could tell it appeared to be one of the made-in-India replicas, though I can't verify that with any degree of certainty. If it's what I thought it was, the assertion seemed to be that it was one of the better examples of its type.

Sigh, that's not really very conclusive, is it? "It looks like a sword I own whose provenance is uncertain": make of that what you will. :D

I think it is cold steels sword.

Here is the military heritage photo
[ Linked Image ]

Here is a cold steel photo
[ Linked Image ]

If you can see a difference you have a better eye than me.

im not totally sure, but imho militaryheritage get their swords from weaponedge

The same swords are sold under the brand "Universal Swords" on Kult of Athena. From all the stories I've heard, I'd much rather deal with Ryan at KoA than the folks at MH.

Hey Christopher, I have read from several different comments on other forums that cold steel does a good job on that particular sword the 1796 Light Cavalry Sabre. I'd sight the sources if I could remember where they were, it gets a decent amount of praise.

So even if it is cold steel you might want to reconsider, plus you get it cheaper from this militaryheritage than from cold steel itself.

If your standards are Albion standards, then no, I doubt these swords will stack up. To my knowledge, there are no production companies making Albion quality replicas of 19th century military swords. To obtain such a replica you would probably have to go to a custom maker. The MH swords are made by either Weapon Edge or Universal Swords. Dave Kelly has done a number of reviews of Weapon Edge and Universal Swords products at the Sword Buyers Guide Forum.

Good Morning,

Well I had that sword. I have never seen another replica, and perhaps I had seen too many episodes of Sharpe's Rifles, so I had to buy it. I'm not an expert on this time period, but I understand that the original blades were shaped and ground on a wheel, while these are hammered out.

It was hard to sharpen, very blade heavy, and the scabbard rusted in my gun safe. Nothing else ever did!

You would never confuse it for an Albion. Had it been better made, I would have kept it. But it did look great displayed with an original shako.

Well worth the money, just don't expect too much.

Robert

According to this post from the SBG forum, they are separate companies:

Quote:

Dear Sirs, Once again I want to clarify the situation with universal swords that , WEI is not connected with universal swords . before Universal swords were used to sell there indian style swords in local indian markets now they have got our blue prints and mould from some ways and they are trying to compete us... just for 3-4 months now they had seen there capability and started manufacturing cheap quality viking and Roman swords which don't have perfect measurements from any manner... but We make custom swords for Military officers and we had received appreciation certificates from military for best quality swords. So now please dont compare Weapon Edge India with Universals.. Best Regards, Nitesh Chouhan C.E.O. WEAPONEDGEINDIA

I have many of these for re-enactment use doing light and heavy cav impressions. My unit below, 1st Royal Dragoons 1815, although I'm not in that one.

They take a bit of getting used to and are designed to cleave people, and certainly with the heavy there is not much finesse. You can give someone a jolly good poke with the tip, especially if you have done the hatchet conversion as per pre waterloo.

I have known them to last years or seconds. We hit edge to edge and you takes your pick and let the fates decide.

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and the brave boys in full effect. Think we will be up to about 15-18 by 2015 for the big one.

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I have their Hadik sabre, and for the price I am quite happy with it.
It is a large sword to start with; 85 cm from hilt to tip. However, the weight is about 1060g, not bad for such a large sword.
While fast in the cut, the mass distribution (lack of pommel) makes it unresponsive to small movements, and as such the sword is not well suited for light "fencing".
But the steel in the blade is certainly up for it.

I must admit that my experience with period sabres is too limited to say if this is the way a cavalry sabre is supposed to handle, but overall it is a beautifull, well made sword with a good scabbard for a great price.

I've owned a couple of these over the years and they're a decent buy for their price point. The blades lack the subtleties in their blade geometry you see in antique examples, but for the price they're okay.

These are indeed made by Universal swords. I think most of these early modern swords bare the similarity, as in made by almost the same company. Don't get me wrong, but some of the Cold Steel military swords does look like the ones made by either Deepeka or Universal Sword.

I found this video, here are Universal swords being made


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqU8ThjzIZA


URL does not work.