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Most of these were captured and brought back from the Crimean War. They were carried by the sappers of infantry and gunner units of the Imperial Russian army and superceded by a type with a brass Roman-style grip in approximately 1840. This is the rarer of the two, and is dated 1830 on the crossguard, with various other issue marks at the forte. The hilt is of two-piece brass, comprising a grip and a crossguard. The blade is 49 cm long and 5.8 cm wide at the forte, while the overall length of the weapon is 66.5 cm. The scabbard, normally of brown leather wrapped on wood with brass mounts, is missing. There is some bruising from hard service wear on the front and back of the grip and the forward quillon has been bruised and somewhat distorted. The teeth are still sharp and there is a small patch of pitting at the base of the blade plus the odd patch of dark patina where I haven't managed to polish off all the old varnish and surface rust. Otherwise the blade retains its original shape. |