Posted 12 years ago
mikewicks
(1 item)
Hi, we recently picked up this old sword and matching 'pig sticker'. It is interetsing because the bayonet is mounted to the side of the sword scabbard. I am trying to determine where the sword and bayonet are from, era etc. Markings on the blade are H B - 6 and the serial number 1520. Any help would be appreciated.
Apparently this is a Russian Cossack Sword /Sabre with attached bayonet, as described on ebay. On other sites these are said to be mostly faked by the Chinese. One person said these were never a real weapon but imaginary item produced by the Chinese for the international weapon collector market, another says these were real and produced by the Soviets during World War 2 for the Cossacks. Once again, do your homework and get expert opinions that you trust.
If this were real, it would be a Russian Model 1881 Dragoon Saber. Dragoons were mounted infantry, and I suppose that explains the bayonet mounts. As the model date implies, the sword was first issued by Tsarist Russia, although the Soviets also manufactured them. I doubt this would be issued to a Cossack unit. The Cossacks had their own style of sword without a knuckle guard, but I suppose they may have used these too. They are not a fantasy sword, they are well documented. As for the bayonet mounts on the scabbard, I’ve seen less of those, but I believe those were real as well.
Now for the bad news: As mrmajestic says, the Chinese have copied this sword extensively for sale to the unwary. The real swords I’ve seen have fullers extending almost to the hilt, which I don’t see here. Most of the real ones have a number of stampings, including an armory marking and date of manufacture. To my knowledge, HB-6 is not an armory marking, and although H and B are in the Cyrilic alphabet, I find it quite a coincidence that the only two letters on the sword are also in our Latin alphabet. In my opinion, this is one of the Chinese copies.
As always, I am happy to have some of our members who are more knowledgeable in this particular field correct me.