Swedish m93 Finland?

[Magey_McMage]

Hi Tim, I can post a couple photos of the 2 1893s I own later today. But IIRC, at least one or both of them have similar signs of sharpening. Yours is a blade/scabbard match unlike mine, I know a whole lot of Swedish stuff was/is kept around long after the general period of swordsmanship so I don't want to make any assertations on where the sharpening on mine came about. I believe the quality is similar as far as looking rather crude, albeit mine have sets in the blade & some notches as well.

They are fantastic swords though. Despite the length and people saying they are too heavy, I am significantly shorter than a Swedish cavalryman and I find it quite easy to move around at around 1100g on mine last time I checked. US m/1913 and British 1908/12 are heavier but they are backweighted for thrusting. Even then, I find the 1893 to be better feeling in the hand. If anything, a bit more blade presence or a stiffer foible would make them better and more like the cavalry pallasch of old but for the late-period/final-generation of cavalry swords, I find it the clear winner compared to the French 1896, m1913, 1889, and 1908/12 and tied with the Chilean 1890 (though that is a curved blade & variable in length but I am grading off the 33-34" model).

On one of the scabbards, someone put enough chunky preservative lubricant inside that anytime I draw the blade it needs to be wiped off first. But it also means the sword has centuries of storage until it starts to age. Those scabbards are no joke either. Even among troopers scabbards it feels like one could use it as a makeshift bludgeoning tool quite effectively.

I have a scabbard-less 1893 officers with a 92cm (iirc) blade. Unfortunately, like the 1899 and officer models of the 1889 artillery and others, the double fuller blade is lacking compared to the troopers. Not unusable, but comparable to a Swiss 1899 or a German officer 1889 with the same double fuller thrust-and-cut feeling. I blame a lack of distal taper for it feeling 'dead' in the hand. From what I remember it is pretty much a straight bar of ~25-28mm by 6-8mm steel. I wonder if any officers had private purchase swords that were more martial in quality?

[Tim Simmons]

Hi, please add anything to push disscusion further. I did sport fencing for some years under a European champion, it is a big sword but even unmounted you can swing it around quite easily. I think these pretty darn good and the fact that I may have one that was used makes me even more happy. I think i got it cheap when thinking of other swords. I know British ww1 cavalry officer used troops swords but with better scabbards and fittings.

[werecow]

Originally Posted by Magey_McMage

Despite the length and people saying they are too heavy, I am significantly shorter than a Swedish cavalryman and I find it quite easy to move around at around 1100g on mine last time I checked. US m/1913 and British 1908/12 are heavier but they are backweighted for thrusting. Even then, I find the 1893 to be better feeling in the hand.

Hah! I find mine to be the most unwieldable sword I own (not counting a long hooded katar, the wielding of which will forever remain an unfathomable mystery ). It is very long and much too forward weighted for me.

I actually use holding it out at arms length as a training device for my forearm and shoulder strength, and I can barely hold it like that for more than 60 seconds... but in fairness I have fairly thin wrists and double jointed thumbs (flexible but comes at the cost of grip strength), and my upper body strength is generally not great. Also definitely not a Swedish giant.

I've never wielded either the US or the British though, so perhaps it is a matter of perspective.

[Tim Simmons]

It is heavy yes, but like rapier or epee in fencing point action is not dificult and you can slash with it. I think training would enable combatants to get used to control. However it is a cavalry sword and for that purpose very good. The sharpening of the off knuckle section you could use that cavalry flick cut that has a name to person I believe.

[Victrix]

Here is a an officer’s version (pallash). http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...t=30434&page=2 See post #34. My great uncle (see photo) served with the Royal Norrlands Dragoner (dragoons) regiment numbered K4 (k for kavalleri). They were based in Umeå in the North of the country. They wore dove blue-grey uniforms with orange collar patches. These swords are only sharpened for war and mine isn’t. It may well be that the sword in the post was sharpened for the Finnish civil war. Can’t see why it was sharpened otherwise. The sword was not worn but suspended in a frog from the saddle of the horse.