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07 31st, 2009| 
ARMS AND ARMOUR
Guns and Pistols
Old firearms arc popular collector’s items, and no olde oake beame type of pub or cafe worth its salt feels fully decorated without weapons on its walls, so good ones are expensive; nevertheless one sometimes comes across old guns and pistols in junk shops and these can be in pretty bad condition. It is usually possible to mend and clean these things and make them look very decorative; by spending money they can be restored to near perfection, and you can even fire them if you dare. For really careful restoration, try to find a picture of a gun like yours or a similar actual weapon in a museum, which you can copy.
As a first step make sure that any gun you buy is not loaded. It is not ridiculous to suggest that an old pistol which has been knocking about for years could be loaded, for it has happened, and even ancient gunpowder will explode violently. Gently insert a wooden rod or dowel into the muzzle and when it will go no further make a pencil mark. Withdraw the rod and lay it alongside the barrel with the pencil mark by the muzzle and the point at which the barrel is blocked can be exactly gauged. The powder must be carefully removed. If you have a shotgun
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the cleaning rod wch goes with will it wiprobably have a cap on the end which unscrews to reveal a screw tip. Screw this gently into the charge in the old gun and remove it like a cork. Failing a cleaning rod, an ordinary screw welded to a piece of stiff wire would do just as well. After this the barrel should be washed out with warm water and thoroughly dried.
Unless the gun is really terribly rusted, or contrariwise is in excellent condition, it is probably best to strip it down into its component parts, just as one would when cleaning a modern gun. Normally the lock is removed first by unscrewing it from the stock. First remove the screw which holds the cock (in the flintlock) or hammer (in the percussion lock) and slide off the part. Next unscrew the pivot of the pan cover and the pan cover spring screw and remove tile parts. ‘then unscrew the holding bolts or screws until the lock plates can be removed. (See Fig. i.)
Penetrating oil applied to the screws and left for a while will allow many a stubborn screw to be removed. Do use well-fitting screwdrivers, as if you spoil a screw ]lead by using a wrongly fitting screwdriver it may be impossible to get it out without drilling. The drilling out of screws is extremely tricky and may result in damage to the pistol, so don’t try it unless you must. Expert help may be necessary. One way to loosen obstinate screws is first to place a little lubricating oil round tile head of the screw, and then to touch the head of tine screw for a second or two with the tip of a red-hot poker. This meat causes expansion and contraction to loosen the screw and the oil will penetrate and help with the withdrawal.
Dispiiawlitt,9 a flitalock, arid reassembling (see Fig. r). In order to take the lock to pieces for cleaning or repair the four screws which hold the mainspring, the sear, the scar spring and the bridle, must be half loosened. Then take out the mainspring screw and remove the mainspring. There is a pill at the rear end of the mainspring which engages in the lock plate, and the other end of the mainspring which engages in the toe of the tumbler. Compress the mainspring and it will come away easily. A hand vice is a useful tool for this job. Once tile mainspring is off, the other screws may be removed and die other parts will come off quite easily. Having cleaned all parts with fine files and emery paper or powder, and got rid of all the rust, oil everything well, and cover with Vaseline. Then set about reassembling. lock plate to take the cock on the outside. The scar and the sear spring come next and then the bridle. The square lug on the scar spring fits a slot in the lock plate and holds the spring in position. Compress the mainspring and put it on the lock plate with the holding pin in position, and put the lower end of the spring back over the tumbler toe. Then secure the screw. Without a hand vice, depress the tumbler to the fired position so that the end of the mainspring will go over it. Then put the cock oil and pull it back to the half cocked position so that the tumbler toe comes and compresses the mainspring. The rest of the pieces are put back in the reverse order to removal, the pan cover spring and pan cover going on last.
The barrel of the gun comes off next. This has a metal extension called a tang which runs into the stock. The tang screws are removed, and any retaining bands or pins. Trigger guard, butt cap and ramrod pipes are usually screwed or pinned in place and must be removed with care. If a gun is in bad condition it is likely that the rusty screws and pins are stuck into the wooden stock parts, and too much beef will merely result in breaking off chunks of wood complete with the pins and screws. Gentle tapping and the judicious use of penetrating oil will help. But leave things where they are rather than risk breaking the stock. Expert gunsmiths make their own castings and spare parts, but for those without the necessary tools or ability, castings can be bought, which only need filing to fit. Normans of Framlingham in Suffolk specialise in these parts and have a comprehensive catalogue.
Guns will be more or less rusty, either with ordinary brown rust or that black rust which seems to have eaten right into the metal and looks like black ink stains. When restoring or cleaning any kind of metal, the rule is not to overdo things. Gentle abrasives, gentle cleaners and gentle fingers give the best results. Patience is better than a power tool. Start by applying a mixture of oil and paraffin, or by soaking the metal parts in it. Patent rust removers arc fine if used with care. They should never be left on for a very long time, or they will etch the metal, and will probably dull it, although in this case can always be re- polished. Penetrating oil contains rust remover, so if you have been using this to remove screws, be sure to wipe it all off the metal before leaving the work for any length of time. Clean the inside of the barrel with a wire brush on a rod.
Coll revolver
Draht
ger prawim lock,
Having cleaned off all possible rust, polish die metal work with jeweller’s emery, which is considerably finer than ordinary emery paper and comes in various grades (see Abrasives). Start with a coarse grade and finish with fine grades and you can get a mirror finish. Don’t be too quick to resort to buffing wheels or harsh abrasives; you may make deep scratches or rub off marks or chasings which cannot be replaced. Barrels may have a brown colour which is due to deliberate rusting, so that the barrel would not rust further while the gun was in use. To re-brown a barrel it must first be polished mirror bright and then treated with many successive solutions of a certain acid formula. Gunsmiths guard these formulae closely, and most send their barrels to an acknowledged expert to have the job done. It costs several pounds and would probably not be worth your while, simply to restore a not very valuable piece of junk.
Blue barrels were originally coloured by a heat process. Blueing is equally an expert’s job which takes time and experience, although solutions can be bought which enable the amateur to blue barrels quite effectively.
Clean brass parts, trigger guards, ramrod pipes, butt caps, etc. with ordinary metal polish. If these are missing new ones can be bought (see above) and fitted by filing.
Having achieved the polish and colour you want, the next thing is to maintain it. Be very careful not to handle the metal parts of your gun. after its final polish, as sweaty
fingers leave a deposit which causes spots of rust. (This
applies to ametal work.) A piece of wood carefully
jammed in the muzzle will make a temporary handle while applying a final finish to the gun. Wipe over the metal parts with a very thin layer of oil; or if you don’t like this, try wiping with aduster which is impregnated with silicone—these can be bought for dusting furniture in any hardware store. Some people like to lacquer things on the principle that lacquering reduces cleaning to ‘iaminimum.Un- less lacquer is of extremely good quality, it will darken in time and altogether spoil the look of the job. (See Lacquer.)
The wooden stocks or butts are another matter, and often need a lot of repair. The stock may be completely split. Modern impact adhesives, such as Evo-stik, make a strong join very easy, but it is best to make sure that they do fit accurately, as with impact adhesives once the two faces of a
join are put together they must remain if a good join is to be made. If the stock is chipped or if there is a piece missing, you are going to have to find a piece of more or less matching wood to replace it. Clean the old stock first with fine steel wool and linseed oil. Rub away until the dirt and any old varnish has gone, then you will be able to see the graiui and colour of the wood. Finding the right piece of wood may be difficult. A friendly furniture restorer is about the most likely mail to help—you will only need a small piece anyway. Whittle the new wood to fit with a sharp knife and fine sandpaper. If you are an expert wood- carver and have die tools, making a matching piece should be no problem. Remember, having bonded new and old, that it may be necessary to bore small holes for the pins or screws to take the metal parts when the pistol is reassembled and this should be done with care. When the bond is set, rub the whole stock well with linseed before reassembling the gun.
Shallow dents in wooden gun stocks can sometimes be reduced by steaming. Soak a piece of thick cloth in hot water and put it over the dent and then hold a hot iron on the cloth and get up a good head of steam; this swells the wood and reduces the dents a little, but as the wood dries right out they will probably reappear to some degree.
Gunstocks arc often attacked by woodworm and if this has happened, treat the stock with all anti-woodworm dressing such as Rentokil. If the stock is badly honey- combed, inject syntheticresin into the holes with a hypodermic syringe or even soak it in a thin mix to stiffen the whole thing.
Burr walnut (see Woods) is most commonly used for gun stocks and is mainly imported. You would probably have to buy a new stock blank through the trade and shape it to fit, if a whole new stock is required.
Of course if you can get hold of several pistols all more or less alike, you can make up composite restorations using sound parts from each. What you will have at the finish is a fake, not a restoration, but if it is just for decoration, then it doesn’t really matter, and only an expert will be able to tell that it isn’t the genuine article!
The periodical Guns Review contains much interesting information about antique firearms.
Swords
Swords turn up in junk shops in odd lots with old hickory shafted golf clubs, broken walking sticks and elderly umbrellas, and are usually a relic of somebody’s great grandfather’s service in the cavalry. The services still use dress swords and ceremonial swords, and these, being expensive items, get handed on and do not appear in junk shops. Valuable old swords are real collector’s items and you are unlikely to be trying to restore one of these. However, any old sword can look quite fine once it has been cleaned and polished. Knives and daggers and bayonets come into the same category and are perhaps more common in junk shops. Very often the scabbard, particularly if it is an Oriental one, is as attractive as the weapon itself and warrants as much care as the blade.
As with the restoration and cleaning of any kind of metal object, care is needed. Too violent attempts at rust removal may remove interesting marks or engraving or inlay, and half the fun of cleaning up these things is in what may come to light underneath. A sword, like a gun, can be dismantled into its component parts, and if this can be done without breaking the weapon or damaging it, it is far better to take it apart for cleaning. Blades were often made somewhere other than the hilts or sheaths, and the whole assembled by sword-smiths before sale. Parts got broken and were replaced, and a sword or a dagger can be a composite bearing different makers’ marks and still be quite genuine. If you find a sheathed sword in a junk shop, take it carefully out of the sheath holding the whole thing pointed downward. Be especially careful with knives and daggers for an old scabbard can split as you take out the weapon which may still be razor sharp.
To take a sword apart (see Fig. 3) first check the button at the top of the hilt. The tang, or top end of the blade, passes right up through the Ht and the pommel at the top, and is then burred over the button to hold the whole thing together. File off the overlap and slide the blade from the hilt; but it may not come out that easily. Later swords may have a screw-iii button. Grip the blade in a vice, near the top, but make sure the vice is padded, or the sword well wrapped, so that it will not be marked by the vice. Using a piece of hard wood as a punch, tap the base of the pommel upwards away from the grip, working round and round it till it loosens and the hilt begins to slide off the blade; but do be careful not to damage anything. Best leave well alone if there is no movement at all. Penetrating oil may help, if you can get some to run between the tang of the blade and the hilt. If the sword has only a small pommel, tap the hilt round the shells, at the bottom. Once again, be very careful for it is terribly easy to break castings.
Now the blade and the hilt are separate and can be coped with on their merits. If the grip is wooden and covered with leather, it may be split, and you will have to carve yourself a new grip using the old one as a pattern. Beech and walnut are tile most common woods, but any wood could be used to remake a grip which is to be covered—after all the sword is not going to be used in battle. If the grip is leather-covered, and the leather is sound, give it a good dose of leather dressing. There are various proprietary dressings and the same one can be used on a leather sheath. Some dressings give a long-lasting finish, others need more frequent renewing (see Leather Dressings).
A new leather grip cover can be made quite easily by cutting out a piece from any suitable leather. Clean off all the old leather and make the grip smooth and clean. Then very carefully pare or bevel the edges of the new leather grip so that they fit round the handle without a ridge where the join conics. Soak the leather and put it on the grip, smoothing it to fit. Then bind it on to dry. Rubber bands may leave grooves in the leather, so some kind of wide tape or bandage just to hold it in position while it dries is better. When the leather is quite dry, remove the binding, and, very carefully, the leather piece which should by now be exactly the right shape and fit. Using an adhesive, such as Evo-stik which will not stain the leather, stick it firmly to the wooden grip. Very often lints are wholly or partly bound with brass wire. If this has to be replaced, two strands of brim piano wire or picture wire, twisted together, make a good job. The actual binding is not so easy as the ends of the wire have to be neatly tucked in.
The cleaning of metal hilts andblades must be care- fully done. Brass and silver hilts will probably conic up well with ordinary metal polishes and some elbow grease, but steel hilts will need rubbing with abrasive. Make up various pads and sticks to help with the rubbing down,
well
checking that the stick is wepadded with foam rubber under the emery paper; this makes it easier to get into difficult corners. Blades which have inlay should be treated very gently, as any rough treatment will bring it off. Soap and water and a soft cloth for drying are die best; certainly it is dangerous to use strong metal polishes or rust removing preparations. Clean plain blades and steel hilts with oil and paraffin mixture to remove loose rust, and then wash with strong detergent to get rid of all grease. Clean very greasy metal with carbon tetrachloride. Then wipe rust remover on the metal and remove it after a few minutes. You will get some idea of how much rust is going to shift, and can repeat the treatment until the metal is clean. The big danger is that rust remover, if left too long, will work unevenly and will start to etch the metal, and you will end up with a pitted surface. Oriental swords are very often meant to have a dull finish, and after a wipe over with rust remover, all they will need is a polish with a soft cloth, whereas Western steel is worked over with emery until it has a mirror finish. Don’t get fingerprints on to the polished metal or they will form rust spots in time. Rub the finished metal over with a light film of oil, or use a silicone-impregnated duster or silicone furniture polish, sparingly, on a soft cloth. Lacquer, if used, must be of high quality, or it will darken in time and have to be removed. Lacquer is really a lazy and not wholly satisfactory way of finishing polished metals (see Lacquer).
If metal parts of the hilt, quillons, shell guards etc., are broken or damaged, it may be possible to braze carefully shaped new parts into place, but this does seem to me to be a job for the expert as it requires special tools and a knowledge of technique.
If the top of the tang was filed off to free the blade, hammer out the tang a little so that there is something to burr over again on replacement. Be very careful, and hammer gently with the tang laid flat on a block. Reassemble hilt and blade and tap it into position tapping the pommel well home. Use a small mallet or a piece of wood, not a metal hammer. Burr over the top of the tang with a punch and file it smooth and neat.
If your sword or dagger has a metal scabbard, treat it in the same way as the blade, cleaning with great care if it has any engraving or inlay. If it is plain, wipe it with rust remover and rub with abrasive, and finish it with a silicone wipe.
Damaged leather scabbards take some mending. If the stitching has gone, it may be possible to restitch it, but often the holes have broken out and the leather is dry and dead anyway and won’t hold stitches. Just stick the edges together as neatly as you can with adhesive.
If the scabbard is broken, insert a strip of cardboard or veneer or plastic to support it. If leather is in good condition all it needs is a wipe with ordinary leather dressing. Sonic scabbards have been stained and polished or boned, these are best retouched and polished with ordinary leather polish.
Old pieces of armour, even complete suits picked up iii very bad condition, can be completely cleaned and done up. The methods used for cleaning sword blades, guns etc. arc suitable for armour. Museums use a phosphoric acid cleaner known as Deoxidise.
I know of someone who bought a terribly rusty old suit of armour for C20, without knowing anything about it, and cleaned and restored it and sold it for 0300. I suppose the basic cost of 4zo puts it outside the category of junk, but it is the kind of profit one likes to dream about.
Burnishing. Any cavalry mark will tell you that the only way to get swords, cuirasses, spurs, bits irons etc. chromium bright is to burnish diem. They are first cleaned with metal polish and then burnished. A burnisher is a leather pad with small steel rings like chain mail sewn to it, arid the object to be burnished is rubbed very hard with this pad. The metal will come to chromium brightness if you use enough elbow grease. The object is then greased very lightly, or lacquered to preserve the shine; but before doing this, small objects can be kept dry and bright in a bag of bran.
By the way, the shoulder pieces of a trooper’s dress uniform, which look like pieces of chain mail, are in fact ornamental burnishers.
Bits, irons and spurs are ornamental enough to become collectors’ items, and they should be burnished as described, or by being put into a canvas bag with a handful of ball-bearings and swung around for a bit. It is air old trick to burnish a curb chain by folding it inside a big duster or piece of cloth, and then, holding both ends tightly, to swing it about with a circular motion.
SWORDS—WATERLOO TO
THE PRESENT DAY
There was no, change in the pattern of swords used by the British Army during the long second period of the Napoleonic wars, which lasted from the reopening of hostilities, after the abortive Peace of Amibns, until the final departure of Napoleon to St. Helena. When the threat from imperial France had been finally removed, however, there was more time for those who meddle with these things to consider the minutiae of military uniform and equipment.
Round about i82o sundry new regulations were published relating to swords. Even the superb light cavalry sword, which had proved its value in action, was not left alone. The old argument was revived as to whether cutting or thrusting was the more important function of a cavalrysword; and because it was not yet appreciated that no sword can be designed which is really satisfactory for both, the weapon which eventually appeared was a compromise which was good at neither.
The new sword was issued to regiments of Hussars and Light Dragoons in 1826. It had the same type of stirrup hilt as the old sword, but the blade was increased in length to thirty-four inches, and was both narrower and considerably less curved. The balance of the sword was quite altered as compared with its predecessor, and this, together with the straighter blade, resulted in a weapon which was far inferior for cutting. For thrusting it was more effective, though by no means satisfactory.
Units seem to have been in no hurry to acquire this new sword, for the 13th Hussars, at any rate, managed to retain the old one until 1829. In 1829 the hilt was changed from the stirrup pattern to a three-bar steel guard, which gave more protection to the hand.
In 1822 the sword of the heavy cavalry received some much needed attention. In contrast, however, to the ill-advised replacement of the efficient light cavalry sword, the only improvement made to the ineffective weapon of the heavy cavalry was the substitution of a sharp point for the original hatchet termination of the blade.
Also in or about :1822 a new sword was introduced for infantry officers. The hilt was a half-basket type of Gothic design, incorporating the Royal cypher, and the half of the guard worn next to the body was hinged to fall downwards, to avoid rubbing the clothing. The inside of the hilt was lined with black patent,leather, and there was a fishskin grip bound with brass wire. The hilts were made of brass, except those of the Rifle regiments, which were steel. The blade was the same length of thirty-two inches as the previous pattern, but it was slightly curved instead of being straight. In addition it was unfullered and had piping down .the back to strengthen it. In spite of the strengthening, however, the blade was weak; and the piping, in fact, prevented it cutting deep.
In 1834 the Highland regiments, which hitherto had worn the same infantry sword as the rest of the Army, were issued with a sword of their own. This had the traditional ‘Highland Basket’ hilt. The blade was the heavy broadsword type similar to that popular in the heavy cavalry in about 1750, (A sword with this type of.hilt is often wrongly called a claymore. The true claymore is a two-handed sword with no other protection than a pair of straight quillons.) The Highland Basket is, not, in point of fact, a very convenient hilt, in spite of the protection it gives. The hand is too confined for the sword to be used very effectively. for thrusting. On the other hand, it was originally designed for cutting;; the body being protected by either the dirk or the targe. Used thus it was a very fine weapon. In addition it was very decorative, and during the reign of the ‘First Gentleman in Europe’ this was frequently of greater importance than efficiency for battle. The hilt was lined with white buckskin and scarlet cloth edged with blue silk, and a crimson silk tassel was suspended from the pommel. Lowland regiments were still armed with the ordinary pattern of infantry sword.
In about 1848 a new sword was at last brought out for the heavy cavalry. It was a vast improvement on the old one. The blade was thirty-six inches long, slightly curved, and tapered to a sharp point. The hilt was steel, and the guard was the first example of the bowl-shell which is fitted to the latest pattern of cavalry sword. On the inside it was lined with leather, and there was a leather covering to the grip.
The new heavy cavalry sword had a very short life, for in 1853 a sword was approved for issue to all cavalry regiments, whether heavy- or light. This signalized official recognition that there was now no difference in the function of the two branches of the cavalry. It i6 unlikely, however, that many regiments, if any, received this sword before leaving for the Crimea; and the great cavalry actions of that war were probably fought with the older pattern swords.
It had at last been realized that all the qualities required for cutting - and thrusting could not be combined in one weapon. The 1853 pattern was primarily a thrusting weapon, and it was so stated in the regulations. At the same time the design allowed for cutting as a secondary function. The blade was straight and thirty-six inches in length. The guard consisted of three bars, of cast iron, and on the opposite side of the sword was a short quillon. ‘The slit for the sword knot was on top of the guard.
The ordinary infantry officer’s sword was improved in 1845. The hilt was unchanged, but the blade was heavier, fallered and without the piping on the back. It was . still slightly curved. Some ten years later there was another change. The blade became a little straighter, and the inner part of the guard was no longer hinged. The design on the guard incorporated the Royal cypher and, in Light Infantry and Rifle regiments, a bugle as well.
A peculiar type of ornamental sword was introduced into the Band and Drums of the infantry in about 1830- It had a short and very curved blade of the type known as Mameluke. The hilts varied in shape and design in accordance with regimental taste. The pommel nearly always figured an animal’s head. The lion was the most often seen, but sometimes a badge of the regiment was chosen. The 17th Regiment, for instance, had the Royal Tiger which had been granted to them as a badge in 1825. The 56th Regiment, which. had been associated with West Kent for many years, bore the Kentish horse. There was no guard other than quillons, and these were straight, curved or counter-curved; and sometimes with brass chains connecting the quillons and the pommel.
In 1854 a new and completely different sword was introduced for the Band and Drums. It had a blade which was longer but less curved than its predecessor and a brass half-basket hilt, incorporating the Royal cypher. Three years later the sword was changed again. Curved blade and half-basket hilt were alike discarded. The new weapon was short and straight in the blade; and the hilt had no guard other than trefoil-shaped quillons. There was a black leather scabbard with brass mounts. For Rifle regiments the hilt was steel, and for other regiments brass. A similar sword, but slightly lighter, was issued to buglers. The only other difference was the absence of a knob on top of the pommel. In 1895 the hilt was simplified and the bugler’s sword was made slightly the heavier weapon. In i goS these swords were abolished.
In 18 56 the sword replaced the musket as the weapon of the infantry Pioneers. The. blade was 22z inches in length, and the back edge was cut as a double-toothed saw. The hilt had a simple knuckle-bow guard. This was probably not the first time that Pioneers had used saw-backed swords, as some seem to have been armed with them in the I 840’s; but this earlier type was not, apparently, official, and may have been made under regimental arrangements.
In 1864 the bowl-shell guard, which had been fitted to the heavy cavalry sword of 1848, replaced the guard with cast-iron bars of the universal cavalry sword of 1853. It had been found that these bars often broke in action, and in any case gave little protection to the hand. The new guard was made of sheet steel and was pierced by four triangular apertures arranged in the shape of a cross. At the same time the blade was shortened by an inch to thirty-five inches, and was curved slightly, presumably to improve it for cutting.
In 1863 an improved pattern of Highland Basket hilt was approved for Scottish infantry regiments. It made no appreciable. difference, however, to the regimental broadsword as a fighting weapon. In fact, later swords of English manufacture were far inferior weapons. Eventually, in 18 7 8, it was decided that basket hilts would have to be removed on active service. The hilt which was consequently approved for wear with Service dress certainly allows the hand full freedom of movement, but the only protection provided is a pair of straight quillons. The basket and cross hilts are made readily interchangeable. The original scabbards had been of black leather with brass or copper-gilt mounts and a chape with trailer. The 1863 scabbard was steel, but the pattern approved later for wear with Service dress and Sam Browne belt was leather. In 1881 the Lowland regiments adopted the Highland pattern broadsword.
A peculiarity in the swords of Scottish regiments is the use of a separate type of hilt for mounted field officers. This is interchangeable with either the cross or basket hilts for dismounted duties, and is lined with buckskin and crimson cloth. The pattern varies with different regiments. In’ The Royal Scots, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, The King’s Own Scottish Borderers and The Gordon, Highlanders the hilt is covered with a design of thistles, and there is a space for the display of the regimental badge. The field officers of The Black Watch, The Seaforth Highlanders, *The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and The Highland Light Infantry have a differently shaped guard with a scroll design. This hilt was also worn by officers of the heavy cavalry from 1857 to 1896, and by officers of the Royal Engineers from -T-8$7 to -1902- Field officers of The Cameron Highlanders have a separate sword with a three-barred and unlined hilt, which is also worn by officers of the Royal Artillery. The Cameronians have the same sword as other Rifle regiments, though for some years the regimental badge was worn in place of the bugle.
In 188o a new sword was introduced for officers of infantry regiments nts; (other than Scottish). It had a straight blade and a half-basket brass hilt. In 1895 a new hilt was introduced, though the blade remained the same. The hilt was again the half-basket type, but of steel instead of brass. It incorporated a foliated design and the crowned Royal cypher. The following year there was a slight modification: the inside edge of the guard was turned down to safeguard the uniform from damage. The 1896 sword is the pattern worn by officers to-day, not only in the infantry, but in the Royal Engineers, the Royal Signals and other corps.
In 1882 another cavalry sword was produced which had only slight alterations as compared with its predecessor of 1864. The guard was a little smaller and the inner edge was turned down. The sword knot slit was moved from the front to the top of the guard, and the upper part of the guard was raised a little: above the pommel. There was no alteration in the shape and design of the blade, but there were two different lengths: 35-j and 33 inches.
The Egyptian war, which was in progress at this time, brought to light some unsuspected and unfortunate deficiencies in the swords and bayonets of the British Army. There were many reports of blades being broken or bent in action. The fault -was obviously in the quality of the steel; and there was legitimate criticism of the method of testing and inspection. Eventually a Committee was appointed to investigate the matter. Nothing very positive seems to have resulted from its deliberations; but the very fact of the investigation and the evidence which was called must have caused manufacturers to. improve their standards; for no further failure was apparently reported’. In the meantime Enfield was unable to meet the whole of the demand for swords and bayonets, and part of the order, therefore, was placed with German firms at the famous sword-manufacturing centre of Solingen.
The cavalry sword was again modified in 18 8 5. The curve of the blade was slightly increased and made an inch shorter than the 1882 pattern.. In addition, the top of the guard was made level with the pommel. In 18 go a heavier blade was introduced which, except for being thicker, was of the same shape and pattern.
However, in spite of these numerous minor modifications, the old argument as to the type of sword which should be used by cavalry broke out once more: stimulated probably by criticisms resulting from the recent campaigns. The argument was sufficiently intense for the matter to be brought to the notice of Parliament; and, as a result, a .number of experimental swords were made. The arguments were again reflected in the final solution. As in the case of the light cavalry sword of 182o, the cavalry sword of 1899 was suitable for neither cutting nor thrusting; though optimistically intended for both. The blade was reduced in length to 33 inches. The hilt was of the same design as previously, but a slightly enlarged and more bowl’shaped guard gave better protection to the hand. The cavalry regiments which went out to South Africa at the start of the Boer war were armed with either the 1885 or the 1890 pattern of sword; but the unfortunate units in the later reinforcements were issued with the heartily disliked 1899 model.
The obvious failure of the 1899 sword led, in 1903, to the appointment of a Committee to re-examine the problem and to make recommendations for a suitable type of sword for the cavalry. The Committee early decided that the sword must be primarily a thrusting weapon on the grounds that little injury was inflicted by a cut, and that a thrust was always far the more effective. Whereas experience with the light cavalry sword in the Peninsular campaign certainly did not support this conclusion, it was something that the Committee had made up its mind on the purpose which the sword was to serve. However, although numerous experimental swords .were made, all were rejected as unsuitable, and the proceedings of the Committee apparently came to an end.
In 1906 another Committee was appointed; and with such energy did it act that some months later a new sword was ready for trial. In the design of this new model the Committee drew on a wide field of experience. Swords to meet certain specifications were ordered from private firms, and trials were carried out with numerous existing types, both British and foreign.
The firms who were requested to make swords for experi- , ment were Messrs. Wilkinson and Messrs. Mole. It was stipulated that the blade must be 35 inches in length, and have a narrow chisel edge; that the weight should be 2 pounds 6 ounces; that the balance should be between 21 and 21 inches below the hilt; and that the grip should be shaped to ensure that the sword could only be held in the correct fashion.
The existing swords submitted for test were the pre-Boer war cavalry sword of the 18 go pattern; the unpopular model of 1899; a sword which had been adopted for the Household cavalry in x892, with a slightly curved blade 341 inches long and a guard of sheet steel; the French cavalry sword of 1854, which had a straight 381-inch blade and a four-bar brass guard; the French light cavalry sword of 1822, which was a cutting weapon with a curved blade and a three-bar brass guard; the existing sword of the Dutch cavalry; and the light thrusting sword of a Spanish bull-fighter. Apart from these, experimental blades were tried with existing hilts, and to existing blades were fitted grips of various shapes and materials.
The sword which was the outcome of these trials and experiments was the ‘Pattern i 906 Experimental’. This was issued to several units and proved very popular. It had a straight thrusting blade and the so-called ‘pistol’ grip. As a result of the success of this weapon a slightly modified version was approved by the King in igoS for general issue to the cavalry; and this was the last cavalry sword to be designed for the British Army. It was a worthy finish, for it is one of the finest swords ever to have been designed, and it was outstandingly successful in the field in the “First World War. With its straight narrow 35-inch blade it is essentially a thrusting weapon. The guard is of sheet steel, unpierced, and is shaped into a very large and rather ugly-looking bowl, which gives excellent protection to the hand. The pistol grip has been retained, and is so shaped that the hand naturally grasps it in the correct position. The sword is a delight to handle and is beautifully balanced.
