[John Facundus]

Hello, I am looking for a usable high quality replica of napoleonic sabres up to civil war era sabres. I have seen the miserable failures of some of the cold steel products first hand and have personally sent back one of their 1917 pattern cutlass'( The Cold Steel cutlass cracked in 3 places on the spine striking a heavy CARDBOARD tube first swing...and yes it was a clean edge on strike .) I have a number of Albion swords and an Angus Trim, and a Tinker sword. I consider these high quality and am wondering...does any one know of a similar quality in the later era swords? I am very interested in a 1796 pattern sabre to start. I appreciate your advice and expertise on this subject. Thanks,JF

[Glen A Cleeton]

Hi John

I can think of perhaps three or four proprietary sources producing the British 1796 or Blucher 1811 and none of them is going to be bulletproof. Another real eye opener is comparing original swords of the 18th and 19th century to some of the premier medieval reproductions or originals. It was fairly summed up by a friend a couple of weeks ago when handling my 18th and19th century sabres and remarking that they were quite toy-like compared to his pride and joy Albion XIIa and viking swords. What I had out that day were all less than two pounds in weight and handle not unlike big knives for those more used to brawny medieval stuff.

For French modeled swords and if you can pony up the cost, there is http://www.chevalierdauvergne.com/ These are not the India produced sabres we see at Military Heritage that are coming from www.weaponedge.com

Another potential alternative is the early 20th century mounted artillery swords that have a kind of 1796 look to them but are fairly modern and sound swords. They seem to be averaging around five hundred dollars at dealers and auction. It would be easy enough for me to justify buying one for back yard cutting but opinion is going to vary on that. They are plentiful and not something like a national treasure, or hard to replace.

Someone noted on a couple of venues today that Atlanta Cutlery is listing some more 19th century reproduction sabres and you have folk like www.legendaryarms.com and numerous American Civil War Sutlers selling very much the same lines. The real crux of the issue for you though might be that none of them are going to be as bashable as a well made medieval reproduction. Blades are narrower, tangs remarkably slight (even in period pieces). They simply aren't made to chop trees down or baseball a lot of water bottles. FWIW, prices at Legendary Arms are up and some of the same swords are still priced less at other sutlers like Fall Creek and Blockade Runner.

There are several threads here regarding original 1796 sabres and the reproductions. Folk have generally liked the Cold Steel line, including the cutlasss, for what they are. What they are not is quite accurate to the originals at time. Some, like a hussar sabre from Military Heritage, actually looked pretty darn good and seemed to measure up as far as blade properties went. What it was not was a sharp and Cold Steel or Atlanta Cutlery may be your best bet if you want a delivered sharp.

Cheers

GC

[John Facundus]

Thank you for your thoughts, Respectfully, JF