Russian Arms

The hilt comprises a grip with pommel and a guard. The grip is wood, covered in black patent leather), featuring transverse grooves, wherein it is bound with twisted wire.

The guard is formed by a narrow shell and a knuckle bow, sending a branch off it, bending down parallel to the knuckle bow to widen into the shell. At the blade's back side the shell narrows down into the cross-guard with its quillon tip slightly curved down and decorated with a floral pattern. The bow and the upper ferrule of the grip, evolving into a pommel are also patterned florally. All the hilt's metal parts are gilt.

The scabbard is leather, black, lacquered (patent leather) encased in a metal gilt mount, featuring a locket fitted with a frog button to secure it in the baldric's frog and a chape.

Overall length is about 930 mm, the blade's length is about 790 mm, the blade's width - downwards of 33 mm, the blade's curvature averages 42/340 mm, the mass is below 1,350 grin 1026 the sabre was adopted as regulation to be carried by the guard's infantry officers and (those of) the guard's foot artillery.

In 1830-1831 the infantry sabre was allowed to carry only on the marche in formation: to the Guard's General headquarters officers, those of the general HQ, engineers, officers on duty and adjutants.

In 1833 it came in to replace garrison artillery's generals and officers' swords, in 1835 those in the military topography depot. In 1049 it was made regulation to all the infantry and foot artillery generals on dress occasions; the equipage major generals with their equipage dress; general headquarters, en- gineer troops and military department generals - with respec- tive active service dress of those departments; all the in- fantry, foot artillery, general headquarters, military department, engineer troops officers and topographers. The sword was kept intact to the general-adjutants along with all the foot troops generals with the active service general's dress.

In 1855 it was replaced for nearly all of the above generals and officers categories with the infantry pattern 1855 sabre. It was, however, kept intact for active service (front line) officers in the infantry, garrison artillery, garrison engineers (for whom it was not laid down to be mounted while in formation), generals and officers of the military ministry, arsenals works and depots of the artillery and engineer departments, police chiefs, town chiefs, generals, officers on the pay-roll of the army, foot artillery and pioneer battalions.

In Idyl that sabre was allowed to carry off duty with town dress to all the generals and officers, whom the infantry pattern 1865 sabres had earlier been made regulation. In 1871 the sabre was kept intact only for the palace

grenadier company, where it had been regulation weapon throughout the entire period of the company's existence.