British military practice sword

Jim McDougall · 1st August 2021, 11:36 PM

This is an extremely esoteric topic, and while this is not 'ethnographic' it is most likely 'miscellaneous'. While it is 'associated' with the 'use' of swords, it is not permitted in that venue for discussion as not officially a weapon, also it exceeds the 1900 year cut off for arms permitted to be discussed on the European forum.

As an item of interest, I hope it will be permitted here.
In about 1856, the British army began using old M1821 heavy cavalry swords with unfullered, rounded point blades mounted in them for practice.
By about 1869 there was a practice of selecting the worst 30 swords in the unit and these were rebated for practice. By about 1889 specific 'gymnasia' swords were created.

This example is described in "Swords of the British Army" (Robson, 1975) but no photo was available, presumably as these are remarkably rarely found.
Note the aluminum bowl with the M1908 cavalry sword grip. The blade is a thin, fencing foil type blade,
These are known (per Robson) as Practice Sword Gymnasia, Pattern 1911,
MK1,

I cannot recall the exact circumstances of acquiring this, probably about 45 years ago, but it was so weird, I could not resist.

1st August 2021, 11:36 PM	#1
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,768	British military practice sword This is an extremely esoteric topic, and while this is not 'ethnographic' it is most likely 'miscellaneous'. While it is 'associated' with the 'use' of swords, it is not permitted in that venue for discussion as not officially a weapon, also it exceeds the 1900 year cut off for arms permitted to be discussed on the European forum. As an item of interest, I hope it will be permitted here. In about 1856, the British army began using old M1821 heavy cavalry swords with unfullered, rounded point blades mounted in them for practice. By about 1869 there was a practice of selecting the worst 30 swords in the unit and these were rebated for practice. By about 1889 specific 'gymnasia' swords were created. This example is described in "Swords of the British Army" (Robson, 1975) but no photo was available, presumably as these are remarkably rarely found. Note the aluminum bowl with the M1908 cavalry sword grip. The blade is a thin, fencing foil type blade, These are known (per Robson) as Practice Sword Gymnasia, Pattern 1911, MK1, I cannot recall the exact circumstances of acquiring this, probably about 45 years ago, but it was so weird, I could not resist. Attached Images