Russian Arms

The blade is steel, curved, single-edged, bearing one wide fuller or else one wide and one narrow fuller. The officers' sabres blades might come ornate or patterned.

The hilt comprises a grip and a guard. The grip is wood, covered in leather, cut with transverse grooves and bound in the grooves with twisted wire (in officers' sabres the wire could be silver. The grip's back is covered by a metal back- piece extending to the pommel, into which it is rounded. The guard is made up by a cross-guard with a double langet and the knuckle bow. The double langet is diamond-shaped (Fig. 3lA) or shaped into a straight faceted metal piece (Fig. 31B). The cross-guard quillon's tip above the grip is rounded and slightly curled down (Fig.31A) or shaped into a ball (Fig. 31B).

The (knuckle) bow leaves the cross-guard at a straight angle to reach the pommel. The metal parts of the officers' sabres hilts could be gilt brass.

The scabbards came in two kinds: a) wood, covered in leather, featuring a metal slit mount, covering nearly the entire scabbard surface and comprising a locket and a chape, fitted with two rings to take the belt suspension straps (Fig. 30A). The officers' sabres metal mount could be gilt brass; b) steel, fitted with two loose-ringed bands to take the belt suspension straps and a shoe. (Fig. 30B).

Overall length is about 1,000 mm, the blade length - about 070 mm, blade width - downwards of 41 mm, the blade curvature averaging 65/370 mm, mass - around l.8OO gr (enclosed in the wood scabbard); around 2,100 gr (in the steel scabbard).

The sabre was regulation weapon for hussars. Life Guard's Cossacks and dragoons of the Caucasian inspection till 1809, of lancers (Uhlans) - till 1812.

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