Swedish m93 Finland?

[Tim Simmons]

This was going at a very reasonable price so I bought it. It did look rathe care worn and I could see some sharpening in the photos. Was not sure if the sharp edge had been done by a heartless collector to do "cutting tests"

When in my hand I have no reason to not believe this was done in the field as with other swords I have. You can see that the knuckle side of the blade has been sherpened near to the forte, the other side has been sharpened to the end of the fuller. Also the Swedish crown stamp has been pressed out by some press tool that has left an impression on both sides of the forte. I believe this may well have been used in the Finnish civil war either by the Svenska Brigarden or by the Finnish White mounted combatants. The White Finns aquired the Swedish m93 cavalry sword as well as swords from other counties. This model of sword could also have seen use in the North Russia Intervention. The scabbard blue has light surface rust that I cannot do much about without ruining the main blueing on the scabbard. What I have done is a cosmetic remedy using some stove black to make it a little more pleasing to the eye { i might look into re-blueing} Matching numbers which is a bonus some marks inside the brass bowl. Ham fisted sharpening devalues swords however I think field sharpening is fine if not adding value. A beast of a sword I am very happy with it. More than makes up for the lemon I purchased not long ago, helping to heal the wound of sillyness. Bit of a chib on the blade sadly.

[Tim Simmons]

Mannerhiem with Swedish m93 sword.

[Perl]

Swedish , from Regiment K4

[Perl]

K4 not KA4 regiment in sweden

[Rafngard]

Originally Posted by Tim Simmons

Mannerhiem with Swedish m93 sword.

I don't suppose you know where these photos were taken?

I'm pretty sure this third photo is Senate Square in Helsinki, with Helsinki Cathedral (Helsingin tuomiokirkko) in the background.

I suspect the other two are from Helsinki also, somewhere near senate square. I haven't spent that much time in Helsinki, but the locations do look familiar.

Have fun,
Leif

[Tim Simmons]

Thanks for the reply. The pics taken off the net so I had no idea where the locations were. Just exploring the history of where a Swedish sword would be used by mounted raiders in anger.

[Tim Simmons]

It seems that the 4 over K4 in this case is not the special forces K4 regiment founded in 1928 . This sword was issued to 4th squadren/company, Ingelstad Smaland Hussar adopting K4 designation 1822 {4th cavalry} dissbanded 1927. The removal of the swedish crown was usually done by Finns as they were not Swedes.

[Magey_McMage]

Hi Tim, I can post a couple photos of the 2 1893s I own later today. But IIRC, at least one or both of them have similar signs of sharpening. Yours is a blade/scabbard match unlike mine, I know a whole lot of Swedish stuff was/is kept around long after the general period of swordsmanship so I don't want to make any assertations on where the sharpening on mine came about. I believe the quality is similar as far as looking rather crude, albeit mine have sets in the blade & some notches as well.

They are fantastic swords though. Despite the length and people saying they are too heavy, I am significantly shorter than a Swedish cavalryman and I find it quite easy to move around at around 1100g on mine last time I checked. US m/1913 and British 1908/12 are heavier but they are backweighted for thrusting. Even then, I find the 1893 to be better feeling in the hand. If anything, a bit more blade presence or a stiffer foible would make them better and more like the cavalry pallasch of old but for the late-period/final-generation of cavalry swords, I find it the clear winner compared to the French 1896, m1913, 1889, and 1908/12 and tied with the Chilean 1890 (though that is a curved blade & variable in length but I am grading off the 33-34" model).

On one of the scabbards, someone put enough chunky preservative lubricant inside that anytime I draw the blade it needs to be wiped off first. But it also means the sword has centuries of storage until it starts to age. Those scabbards are no joke either. Even among troopers scabbards it feels like one could use it as a makeshift bludgeoning tool quite effectively.

I have a scabbard-less 1893 officers with a 92cm (iirc) blade. Unfortunately, like the 1899 and officer models of the 1889 artillery and others, the double fuller blade is lacking compared to the troopers. Not unusable, but comparable to a Swiss 1899 or a German officer 1889 with the same double fuller thrust-and-cut feeling. I blame a lack of distal taper for it feeling 'dead' in the hand. From what I remember it is pretty much a straight bar of ~25-28mm by 6-8mm steel. I wonder if any officers had private purchase swords that were more martial in quality?

[Tim Simmons]

Hi, please add anything to push disscusion further. I did sport fencing for some years under a European champion, it is a big sword but even unmounted you can swing it around quite easily. I think these pretty darn good and the fact that I may have one that was used makes me even more happy. I think i got it cheap when thinking of other swords. I know British ww1 cavalry officer used troops swords but with better scabbards and fittings.

[werecow]

Originally Posted by Magey_McMage

Despite the length and people saying they are too heavy, I am significantly shorter than a Swedish cavalryman and I find it quite easy to move around at around 1100g on mine last time I checked. US m/1913 and British 1908/12 are heavier but they are backweighted for thrusting. Even then, I find the 1893 to be better feeling in the hand.

Hah! I find mine to be the most unwieldable sword I own (not counting a long hooded katar, the wielding of which will forever remain an unfathomable mystery ). It is very long and much too forward weighted for me.

I actually use holding it out at arms length as a training device for my forearm and shoulder strength, and I can barely hold it like that for more than 60 seconds... but in fairness I have fairly thin wrists and double jointed thumbs (flexible but comes at the cost of grip strength), and my upper body strength is generally not great. Also definitely not a Swedish giant.

I've never wielded either the US or the British though, so perhaps it is a matter of perspective.

[Tim Simmons]

It is heavy yes, but like rapier or epee in fencing point action is not dificult and you can slash with it. I think training would enable combatants to get used to control. However it is a cavalry sword and for that purpose very good. The sharpening of the off knuckle section you could use that cavalry flick cut that has a name to person I believe.