This new axe ($125) is a welcome addition to the market and hopefully the first of a series of new polearms from MRL. How about a new 16th c. halberd, Windlass?

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Nice Sean. Sure it won't be long before one these graces your collection.......hhmmm......(that's if you haven't already gone and done it) :D


Cheers,

Bill

Look very Pollaxe like except for the absence of a rondel handguard, and with a Bec de Corbin instead of a hammer.

Yeah, at 5'6" it's definitely a poleaxe. I'm pretty sure I've seen the type somewhere. I'll break out my books tonight and see if I can pin down a date range. I'd guess it's ca. 1500, so just inside my kill zone. :D I'm currently trying to find an MRL Swiss Axe (please contact me if you have one you want to sell) because it compares favorably (visually, at least) to originals and because I've actually handled one. If this new piece handles as well-and I suspect that it does-it would be great fun to play with. I wish it had a spike at the base, though. I found that to be on of the most interesting features of the Swiss Axe.

ive heard about those swiss axes mrl used to sell, and now they look sweeter than a tooth. If tis helps any, i think you can buy one from here .. LINK

I saw the new pole axe few days ago and something about it bugs me but I cannot put my finger on it yet. Looks very.........fragile. It will be nice to see how it is assembled.

Alexi

I bought a MRL bec de corbin a couple years ago. It handled nicely enough, but the very first time it was used (a friend of mine swung at a melon and hit the stump supporting it) the haft practically blew up. Splinters went everywhere, and the langets completely warped and bent out of shape. The only reason the head didn't fly off was the langets. This was it's very first strike, and it wasn't even a really heavy duty strike, either. I've heard of similar stories with MRL polearms, and since then I've been very weary of buying more. Everyone I've seen in person appears to still have the exact same kind of wood, though who knows if some were just flukes or not.

Hey Bill,

I have two of the MRL Bec's and have used them against a MT breastplate and early great helm with great success (just ask Chris Last!). The only damage that I noted was a blown rivet and a very slight tear to the langet at the "corner" where it laps over the top of the haft (and that after multiple blows to both!)

MRL seems to be coming back around to their name (Museum Replicas - not fantasy replicas) and starting to offer better quality reproductions again (still won't meet their initial stuff made by Del Tin and Arms and Armor). But, again, at the price point they are selling, you can't expect the quality you get from Albion, Arms and Armor, or even Lutel.

Oakeshott dates a similar weapon to ca. 1520, and identifies it as German.

IF anybody buy's one of these please post pictures and tell about it !

BTW, we these guys to come together with museum replicas and make some high quality stuff. Note, even the logo has a guy holding a polearm!

http://int.zwilling.com/