Hello Timo,
Thanks for chiming in!
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But since a shamshir isn't used for hand-stationary cuts but rather for slicing draw cuts from the shoulder, and isn't used like a jian or rapier, or arming sword with buckler, I don't think the location of the COP matters, and I'd expect either of two things: (a) the COP at about 8" from the tip, because that's common on a wide variety of sabres (especially Western, but also common on talwars and katanas and other Asian sabres), or (b) the COP to be just wherever, with no systematic placement
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For pre-Qajar shamshir, I thumbed through Manouchehr's "Arms and Armor from Iran" and the COP seems to center at about 11 inches (from sword tip) within a fairly narrow range of approx. +/- 1 inch (regardless of curvature and not correcting for differences in total sword length).
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the pendulum test (i.e., finding the position of the centre of oscillation (which is the same as the centre of percussion)) is probably the best way to find the location of the COP of a shamshir. I don't trust the waggle test of very curved blades.
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Yes, the waggle test with straight blades already needs skill/experience and strongly curved pieces will present a major obstacle to get reliable data from!
If a strongly curved blade has a medial ridge (or other features at the contact point which favour movement in a second dimension), is very thick or elastic, even the pendulum test might prove to be real challenge though.
Regards,
Kai