Other weapons from MRL?

[Nathan Dexter]

Ok, I've heared a ot about MRL having not-so-good swords, but what about there other weapons?

[Jaron Bernstein]

I have seen 2 MRL swords in person and didn't like them. I saw an MRL Towton break off at the cross and nearly miss someone during a test cutting. I did buy a nifty red shirt from them, though <img src="/forum/images/icons/grin.gif" alt="" />

[s_taillebois]

Their quality at times is quite good, and at others a bit shoddy. Consistancy seems to be their biggest problem.
Some MRL weapons do seem to be quite tough, although lacking a bit in the aesthetics arena. Breakage, hard to comment as so many variables.

[Shane Smith]

The wooden shafts on their polearms seem a bit brittle in my experience.

[Stacy Clifford]

I seem to recall at the 2003 International Gathering that Tim Sheetz had an MRL polearm whose head got rather bent out of shape.

[Nathan Dexter]

How about things like maces and axes?

[TimSheetz]

My family had three pole weapons there.

One was the Halberd/Voulge... It broke on teh shaft and was bent badly - the metal was too soft and the wood too thin.

One was the Bec De Corbin - it's shaft broke clean in half between the langets... it was poorly engineered I discovered after I disassembled it. It NEVER would have withstood any serious blow against anything.

One was the Swiss Pole Axe - my favorite and all it did was have the back spike/hook bend... again, the metal was too soft. It structurally was the most sound.

I am working on remounting the bec De Corbin in such a way to be like the shorter pole axe/hammer that is in Fiore's art. It will be difficult as the head was designed to sit atop a pole, not hane the pole fit into a socket of any type. I may just have to throw it away.

Gary G has their Crusader axe. Don't know how that has stood up to testing.

Peace,

Tim Sheetz

[Mike Cartier]

what only 3 polearms Tim? You must be getting soft in your old age to be leaving your house so under armed..

I had the MRL grosse messer and broke it (crappy tang)
I have the MRL Dusack (too heavy) and I have the MRL 13th century war sword (floppy like a wet noodle)

No more MRL for me unless i am in Atlanta and can go handle the weapons first.

I am very happy with my Paul Chen Practical Hand and half

[Allen Johnson]

I do have the Scottish Backsword (now discontinued) and it was actually a great buy but the Culloden Steel Baskethilt was ginormous and way too heavy.

[Brian Hunt]

Hey Tim,

if you can't find a way to make that bec du corban work for you, I would be interested in getting it as is and trying my hand at modifying and reshafting it rather than have it thrown away.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[Nathan Dexter]

Anyone have there maces?

[Jeffrey Hull]

I do not own one, but have seen one of their German Gothic Maces (or whatever it is called) take both use and abuse and hold up very well. The abuse made it lose some sort of brass doo-dad finial, but the ferrous body was well intact. It of course was an all-metal design, no wooden haft, so that helps take some beating as one deals out a beating.

[TimSheetz]

Hi Brian,

I wouldn't throw it away... but the problem with the head is this:

It is like a war hammer head with a small spear tip on top, but in stead of having an opening into which a shaft can fit, it has only a very shallow channel. You take the shaft, set the channel atop it. The Langlets are riveted to the sides of the head, and then it is also screwed into the shaft. SO THE ONLY THING HOLDING THE BEC DE CORBIN HEAD ON IS THE LANGLETS.

Who could ever think that this typs of design would work?

To really make it work, you would have to drill out a hole for the shaft.

Peace,

Tim

[Brian Hunt]

Hi Tim,

do you know someone with a drill press? If I was going to try and rehilt this, I would rig up a way to hold it steady on my drill press and then drill it out.

just a thought.

Brian Hunt
GFS

[Shane Smith]

I broke the haft of my MRL 15th century battle axe on light chopping into hardwood. My axe-head was held on by a transverse pin that was set through the head and handle and then peened and polished flush. It was basically invisible until I really put the carpenters eye on it. I punched out the pin and installed a good hickory handle. I fashioned a new pin to hold the assembly together. I replaced the ahistorical screws on the langets with carpet strip tacks. The look very much like rough-forged nails and are holding up fine after a geat deal of hardwood chopping.