What Manufacturer Makes a Historically Accurate Shamshir? -- myArmoury.com

Laura N.

My husband and I are new to sword and arms collecting. We have a Japanese Katana that was used in WWII and a targe. Preferably we would love an antique shamshir but are not sure that would be in our price range (no more than $1,000) so are looking for a manufacturer/swordmaker that makes a historically accurate and well made shamshir. We've heard that Windlass makes a decent quality but not entirely accurate Persian Shamshir but we were hoping for better quality and more historically accurate since we are willing to pay more than $200-300. Do you know where we can find one?

Arne G. · Posted: Sat 30 Nov, 2019 9:01 pm Post subject:

Would this meet your needs?
https://www.coldsteel.com/shamshir.html

David Wilson · Posted: Mon 02 Dec, 2019 3:03 pm Post subject:

Sadly, in your price range, you're most likely going to be limited to Cold Steel, Windlass, or Universal Swords. None of them is perfect. I've seen some glowing reviews of the Windlass, in terms of handling and performance, and it does seem to come closer in terms of weight and physical dimensions (especially hilt length) to the originals than the other swords I mentioned, the one caveat is that you must have it sharpened if you wish a working edge. I have an older CS shamshir, and while it is a perfectly nice sword with nice handling characteristics, it doesn't do full justice to the antiques or high-end customs I've handled.

Other possible options -- you could cruise eBay and hope for something decent. THIS IS RISKY (caps intentional) and I don't actually recommend it, unless you've got something very specific in mind and know what you're looking at.

Mikko Kuusirati · Posted: Mon 02 Dec, 2019 7:14 pm Post subject:

Hanwei makes one that, for some reason, seems to be only available in European online stores. I think it at least looks much better than the others mentioned, but it's also more expensive, the lowest price I could find being 327€ (that's about $360):

https://www.eknives.de/shamshir-persischer-saebel/a-163687/

One good place to look for antiques is Oriental-Arms. They're a reputable seller, have been around for quite some time, and also maintain a huge IMO invaluable online photographic catalog of present and past items.

Laura N. · Posted: Tue 03 Dec, 2019 7:15 am Post subject:

Thank you everyone! I'll have to look into that Hanwei. Yeah, I was guessing that our price range would exclude antiques but wasn't sure so thought I'd ask, but I was hoping that since we could afford up to $1,000 that a good mid-range manufacturer was making this design.

Tomek Kowmal Ciupinski · Industry Professional

Hello
Laura wrote - Persian Shamshir.
The gentlemen gave no example of such a weapon.
It is worth checking out.
Mikko gave the page Oriental-Arms.
You can do it here.

Mikko Kuusirati · Posted: Tue 03 Dec, 2019 11:22 am Post subject:

True, these swords with the bulbous "pommels" are in rather more of a Turkish than Persian style. Closely related, of course, but not quite the same thing.

David Wilson · Posted: Tue 03 Dec, 2019 3:09 pm Post subject:

David Lewis Smith · Posted: Wed 04 Dec, 2019 3:34 am Post subject:

Have you considered buying an antique?

The reason I ask: I own and have owned a good number of swords from the middle east and the reproductions I have handled do not seem to match up very well. They tend to be blade heavy, and 'clumsy' for lack of a better word. I have not handled the Hanwei, and until this thread did not know Hanwei produced one.

Ebay may be a good place to look for a historical example.