First I hope that this is in the correct area. Second, I did a search and found nothing about this particualr item from MRL. In their Specials section they have what they are calling a German war hammer. I was wondering the following about it.

1. Any ideas about what time period this hammer would be representative of? Could it pass for use during the time period around 1350?

2. Does anyone own one of these? If so any comments on it's construction and feel would be great. First hand useage bashing on something would be even better!

I hope I get this linked properly, here goes:

http://www.museumreplicas.com/museumreplicas/detail.aspx?ID=750

I own one of these hammers. I bought it a year or so ago from MRL's special closeout insert in their catalogure for $69 ( a good deal I think). I believe that it is still "on sale" with MRL for that same price. I have seen it at Ren-Faires for $150 (NOT a good deal IMO.)

LOOKS: It is 21 1/4 inches long. The head is 5 inches long X 1 1/8 inch across. The hardwood handle was rather light in color but I put some linseed oil on it in several coats and it darkened up nicely. The steel is not highly polised nor very bright which is one reason why I ordered it. I have worn it twice to a faire and got favorable comments on its looks both times.

PERFORMANCE: I had to demolish some reinforced cemented masonry tile in my bathroom and started off using just this hammer. I bashed the **** out of it against that tile and the pointy end did a fairly good job for about 15 minutes of abuse. I then turned it over and bashed some more with the claw-hammer end and after about 15 hits ( hard one-handed hits) the top -most "claw" broke off. Judging by the look of the broken area, I guessed that it is some kind of cast or injection molded steel. Overall I would say that it held up quite well considering what it was made for and the abuse I put it through. The entire head bent back slightly but it held tightly against the wood, no doubt due to the shank and pins that run down the side of the wood handle. If it were made of forged steel surely it would have performed better but cost much more. (disclaimer: I am not forged that it is not forged , but it looked just like injected molded steel to me.) I glued the broken piece back on with epoxy and keep it just for a costume piece now.

I would buy it again for the $69 price because it is fairly rugged and I think it looks cool. Don't know anything about how authentic looking it is or for which time period. Hope this helps...

correction: should read: "( disclaimer: I am not sure that it is not forged, but..."

Travis, thank you for the reply. The information is exactly what I was looking for. Note to self, do not use to try and break apart a castle wall. Go for the gate with an axe. :D

If anyone else can chime in here it would be greatly appreciated.

Here's a previous brief discussion on it: http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=6354

Chad, Thank you very much for the link. Quite informative and gives me some things to consider.