[John Facundus]

Greetings. I am lately interested in swords from the Early 1800's, specifically the swords carried by the different mounted troops of the Napoleonic wars. I am very new to this time period, enjoying all the Bernard Cornwell, Sharpes series books, etc... Please give me your thoughts on the higher quality , functional reproduction makers. I have multiple Albion swords and use them for cutting exercises, I am looking for a similar quality level. Any help is appreciated. I have read most of the reviews so any new info would be great, thanks in advance. JF

[Gottfried P. Doerler]

As far as i know:

- ColdSteel has the 1796 light cavalry saber and something they call 1830 Napoleon, (strange, but the pattern actually was carried through the napoleonic wars, i just don`t know the real designation now.)

- WeaponsEdge have imho the completest collection of napoleonic sabers, like the 1796 heavy cavalry saber, AN XIII cuirassers swords.....chasseurs de cheval..... however, i`ve never dealt with them and don`t know about their quality.

- Nielo-Sword have some central european sabers of the time, like the austrian 1798 light dragoons broadsword... they are fairly cheap, i don`t know about quality.

[Glen A Cleeton]

The correct description for the Cold Steel 1830 would be a French light cavalry trooper ANXI, or 1802-1803 (eleventh year of the first republic following the French revolution). Napoleon's first empire would surely have seen use of those but labeling it a Napoleon 1830 (more than a decade after NApoleon's demise) is kind of typical Lynn Thompson speak for categorizing swords.

There have been some older reviews and comments of these from both the Military Heritage/Weapon Edge end and the Cold Steel 1830. The real advantage with the Cold Steel swords is that they arrive sharp and someone looking to use the sword for cutting will benefit from going that route unless handy with hand and or power tools. For US consumption, the Cold Steel swords are probably the best bet unless someone has the Weapon Edge variety of swords in stock. There is the Mameluke/scimitar sword as well from Cold Steel with iirc a return of the tulwar.

If just interested in a sabre in general of the early 19th century, there are a few others out there such as the Windlass American Revolution Saber Item #: 500872 which has found some favor from the back yard cutters. Moving up in weight for the production market would be some of the later period French patterns.

The sabres you are relating in interest are some of those swords that are either more on the expendable level of cost with a huge gap to the better thought out customs. Going custom might be a real option unless time is of essence, or the considerations of beating up a precious. To be honest about the modern production swords, I went with a later period foot officer type for general use. While I have my cutting niche filled, I would easily suggest looking at buying an early 20th century German/Prussiana rtillery sword which was derived from the English 1796 and the Prussian 1811. They are plentiful and sound with a composite grip and should be quite durable. Ironically, the French ANXI is still carried by some(as is also the French 1822) and a company you might want to touch base with is

http://www.chevalierdauvergne.com/

Cheers

GC

[Elling Polden]

Weapon edge seems to sell the same weapons as http://www.militaryheritage.com/
I own a Hadik sabre from there, which I am quite happy with.

[Tom L.]

For nice clear pictures of the swords offered by military heritage, check out a french dealer site called Armae. They have nice, large clear photos that may help in making your choice in the repro sabre route.

[John Facundus]

Thanks to all for your suggestions and help.