Karoliner w/1685 rapier

Become the owner of a piece of Swedish history - Karoliner w/1685 rapier!

A replica of the Swedish sword m/1685 used in the late 17th and 18th centuries throughout the Swedish great power.

The replica is made of high-quality steel. It comes with a leather covered wooden tub.

This Swedish M1685 sword is made with a blade forged from 1055 high carbon steel; it is mounted and securely brushed to a blackened steel bracket. The wooden grip was completed with an intricate and tight bond of coiled and braided brass wire. The sword is paired with a wooden core scabbard overlaid in black leather and finished with a blackened steel scabbard, medallion and hilt.

One of the earliest mass-produced weapons, the Swedish M1685 was a standardized sword with over 300,000 produced. The blades were of a cut-and-thrust design and the mounts were typically iron and painted black to protect against rust. An oval disc guard in combination with a two-bar knuckle bar provides good protection for the hand and an integrated thumb ring gives the sword better handling characteristics and better point control. These swords were made from 1685-1737 and were used for over a hundred years. In 1832 many of these swords were cut down and reused as hangers for naval use.

This sword was commonly used by the famous Swedish Carolean (Karoliner) army; a military force that was necessarily drilled and trained to a higher standard than most armies at the time due to Sweden's manpower shortage. To compete on the world stage with foreign European powers, the Swedes chose quality over quantity, complemented by aggressive battlefield tactics that emphasized a spirited offensive. To contend with the typically greater numbers of their enemies, a Carolean force would march to engage an enemy and would only fire volleys at close range. Their live-fire training ensured that a Carolan volley hit with more bite than most enemies and after a timed volley the Carolan infantry charged with swords, bayonets and pikes in a violent rush that swept most enemies from the field with the ferocity of the charge and the extensive use of dedicated melee weapons. Integral to the success of their battle-winning charges were swords like the M1685.