Saw a new longsword on Museum Replicas and was wanting more info or opinion from anybody here on it. It looks great for the small price of 195$

NEW LONG SWORD BY MUSEUM REPLICAS

[ Linked Image ]

Overall-48" Blade-38" long, 1 7/8" wide, 3/16" thick Wt-3 lbs

what do you think?

This is a brand new product from MRL and I wouldn't be surprised to find that it hasn't entered the hands of a lot of people in the community. It looks to be quite nice from the photos and the price is low. More than that, MRL has a generous return policy. I'll count this amongst the many MRL models that I'd love to see people buy and either lend to us as a review sample or write a review on themselves. I'd like to see more press on products at this price point.

Adam,

That strikes me as MRL's version of the sword IX.16 in the Royal Armouries in Leeds, UK(i.e. the sword that Del Tin labels as ther 2143). There are some obvious differences, especially in the guard, so a direct comparison might be unfair.

My experience with MRL swords (and I have to admit that they comprise the majority of my collection) is that the blades are not really stiff enough to be good thrusting swords. I noticed this especially on their Glassgow Bastard sword (I think that is what they called their replica of the sword XVa.2 from the Spotligth on Oakeshott type XV's), which is predominately a thrusting sword. The tangs on MRL swords are decent, and I have had no problem with them. Some MRL swords have peened tangs, while others use threads or, as in this case, a retention nut. My guess would be that the tang has been peened at the end of that nut, but I won't promise it, either. The scabbard with probably not fit the sword right (either too tight or too loose, most likely too loose), as MRL's scabbards just seem to be that way.

For the price, I would say that it is probably a good sword, and worth getting. My opinion, anyway.

-Grey

P.S. I don't know if you are interested in a particular period or not, but if you are, I would not recomend using the dates listed in their catalog as your sole source. Many of the dates that they indicate are not quite right, so you might want to double check that information if having your sword belong to a certain era is important.