65MN Spring Steel Oakeshott Type XIIa Knightly Two Handed Longsword
SOLD OUT
Amazing Value on this one time offer - Fully Functional Hand Forged and Hand Sharpened 65MN Spring Steel Blade with genuine leather grip and iron fittings (plus free bonus wood core faux-leather scabbard and belt suspension system). One time offer with a limited quantity available, once sold out this product will no longer be available.
Brought to you by the people behind Ryujin Swords is a lucky find - a small stack of really well made, high quality full tang medieval swords with iron fittings and genuine leather wrapped wood core handles that were made available to us just before the forge making them went out of business..
Based on the Oakeshott Type XIIa Knightly Cutting Sword, this replica is both historically plausible and fully functional, weighing just 2.8lbs with a point of balance 4.5" inches from the guard. The blade is as noted made from 65MN steel - a tough Chinese steel recently very popular for functional sword construction, and well tempered so it can flex and return to true.
Swords are full tang with a threaded pommel secured by hex nut so can be easily customized if so desired. Each sword also comes with a bonus wood core, faux leather lined scabbard, frog (belt suspension system) and period appropriate belt to provide the complete package at a fraction of its true value.
Nice and sharp and ready to cut straight out of the box, this closeout sale item makes a great early Christmas gift. The only downside, once they are sold out they are gone forever..
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Featured positive reviews:
This is my first European blade (primarily collector of Japanese blades), so I'm going to add a caveat in regards to my limited knowledge on what makes a good replica from that cultural era and base my review, in part, on my experience as a collector in general in terms of quality. First up, unboxing and unwrapping was a snap and it included handling gloves as a bonus. There was packing grease that had to be wiped off of the blade (though the blade had an insert over it to keep the grease from touching the inside of the scabbard), but I was pretty much expecting that. Next is the blade itself: I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't have that 'whippy' feel that seems to be a common complaint with longswords made from spring steel; and the blade itself is beautifully shaped. Inspection using reflected glare from a window shows the slight hammered imperfections one would expect if it was genuinely hand forged (but this IS a guess on my part). The edge wasn't as sharp as I had expected and felt uneven - some areas sharper than others; so a paper cutting test was out of the question and not being completely honed to a fine edge makes me wonder if this was to keep in historical authenticity or if it was a cost cutting choice by the forge. Given its heft, I have no doubt that it could still slice through commonly used targets in the 'backyard cutting' tradition despite its dull feel. Overall I was very pleasantly pleased by the blade itself except for one minor flaw that is barely noticeable - the fuller isn't quite completely centered with the central ridge line extending from the tip, but it's not readily apparent and not a major gripe. The cross-guard and pommel are very beautiful, hefty, and nicely 'brushed' although there was a minor and small rust spot on the pommel that was easily taken care of with maintenance tools used to keep my Japanese blades in pristine condition. The entire sword feels very solid with no audible or felt rattle that I have experienced handling other functional swords. The leather grip is nicely and evenly stitched on one side, although I was under the impression from the pics before I bought it that the grip was made from wounded cord instead of a very fitted panel wrap, but not really a gripe. So overall, the value is fantastic compared with what I paid for it; but it was on sale and having said that, probably wouldn't have paid full retailer's price given some minor defects that were mentioned; and unfortunately this review does not include results from an actual field test, but I'm familiar with high carbon blades and just from its feel alone I know it is fully capable to satisfy any 'backyard cutter'.
Our responseExcellent review - many of the defects you mention are actually common on actual medieval antiques. Often what would happen is that the best fit for functionality and durability did not line up perfectly with the cross-guard. It was the same with pommels, if you look at pictures of antique medieval swords they were often not perfectly aligned because how it ends up fitting best and how it was intended to fit 'perfectly' don't mesh in the real world - historically and with hand made items. With regards to the grip - it is how it should be and uses the same technique explained in our DIY section here - it's a lot more secure than a wound cord but makes it easier to grip and less slippery. All in all though, a genuine and honest review of a sword that really is a shame to see it about to disappear off the market forever..
