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Originally Posted by Jim McDougall
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In any case, while the 17th were in India, they of course would have been armed with the M1796, and that sabre indeed remained in service in India long after the introduction of the M1821/29 and was much favored by native regiments. In fact, these sabres remained so popular in India they were still being produced privately for the native regiments as late as end of the 19th century...
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...and beyond. I gather the Indian Army was offered the 1908 style straight thrusting 'sabre' and turned it down, only accepting essentially a 1796 with a beefed up ricasso area and a three bar guard (Mine fits a 1796lc scabbard up to about 3 in. from actual seating and it's hard to tell the difference). They were sadly forced to take the fairly useless 1908s just before ww1. I wonder if any of the '96s made it to Europe like ancestral Gurkha khukuris. The 'Mountain sabre' was popular in the Mountains of northern India including the Khyber pass and Afghanistan where they actually saw service. Mine feels a lot better balanced and handy than a 1796LC.
The Italian Mountain divisions in WW1 also had a very 1796-ish sword. They, and the Austrians opposing did amazing things in impossible places in the Alps.
The 1796 lives on.