Strange long rapier

[werecow]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

I did realize this was pretty much a standard cavalry blade mid 19thc and resembles those on the M1840 US sabers (many blades were Solingen made). Whatever the case, this 'assembly' (like the psuedo espada ancha I posted) could not have been made for actual use. The M1840 was termed by the men 'the old wristbreaker' because of the long, heavy blade which required unique dexterity to handle properly, and typically there was insufficient training to achieve that.

I don't want to derail this thread too much, and I doubt frankensword was intended for use, but doesn't the M1840 have a hatchet point rather than a spearpoint?
It has Bleckmann, Solingen markings at the base of the blade, but nothing else. The blade is 3.3cm across at the base and 90cm long as measured from the cross to the point. It's also got a lot of distal taper (from 9mm at the base to 3.5mm at the end of the fuller and then down to 2mm near the tip), though it still balances at 19cm from the grip. But of course, the hilt is much lighter than that of some cavalry sabers. I was actually surprised at how light it felt (for the size) when I first held it. Not as terrible as it looks, at least.

Originally Posted by ulfberth

That is a 17th c blade !

That is interesting! I am curious about that decorated bit of ricasso with the two circular indentations. I've never seen that before. Does it have any sort of significance?

[Hotspur]

Originally Posted by werecow

That is interesting! I am curious about that decorated bit of ricasso with the two circular indentations. I've never seen that before. Does it have any sort of significance?

A dagger I am working on has circles, within circles and the large one has six circles around that!
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29211

I presume it to be an Italian blade. If it is a Makers trademark, I'd love to know.

Cheers
GC