Cossack saber: description and photo. Ancient cold steel

Saber - a common weapon in Russia in the 16-19 centuries. Each species has its own characteristics. Cossack saber replaced other types of such weapons. In the 19th century, it was the most frequent option in Russia and the Caucasus. A saber of this type was also called a Cossack saber. With the development of firearms and the abolition of armor from metal, almost all the soldiers of the imperial Russian army used the combat saber. In the conditions of combat, in which bullets could penetrate the iron armor of a warrior, the attack with the use of the Cossack saber became more than relevant. This was possible due to a number of characteristics and features of such a variety of cold weapons.

general characteristics

Cossack saber - this is a sharp-cutting weapon, which has a rather long blade. It was used in combat and served as an attribute of military garb. Today, this saber is a valuable antique cold steel weapon. It provides an opportunity to understand the tactics of fighting in those times.

The original Cossack checker consists of a blade and a hilt (hilt). The standard length of the blade is 1 m. It is single. But for combat used 2-blade weapon. The blade itself was slightly curved.

Ephesus does not have a cross. At its end the handle bifurcates. Can have a round tip.

It is the Cossack sword called the sword. In this case, it's the same thing. But the usual saber is not equivalent to a sword. In the first case, wounds were applied only to the cutting type, and in the second, the possibility of pricking and pruning was added. This is a feature of the Cossack weapon.

There are two main varieties of checkers of this time: Caucasian and Asian. They have some differences. Cossack sabers also differ in the year of release.

Wearing and using a checker

The Cossack saber did not have a guard, a pointed point. The curvature of the blade was minimal. All these factors conditioned her different balancing, in comparison with the usual saber.

The sword was kept in a sheath of wood. Because of the way it was used in combat, the saber was placed forward in the battle. Sheaths were usually covered with leather.

The saber was attached to the waist or shoulder brachium. For this purpose, one or two rings fixed on the convex side were used.

In dashing Cossack games, on the battlefield it was necessary not only to participate in the battle, but also to reflect at times sudden attacks. Therefore, in the sheath, she lay with the blade up.

Cossack saber at the same time easily snatched and did not require a change of hands. This is a handy weapon. According to the characteristics, the sword can be compared with a samurai katana. They have a similar blade shape, as well as application and wearing.

The origin of the checkers

The word "checker" is borrowed from the Circassian or Adighe language, where such weapons were called "sashkho" or "sashhue." In translation, it means "long knife".

Circassian models differed from Russians. They were shorter and lighter. The progenitor of the Cossack draft of the sample of 1881, 1904, 1909 is the weapon of 12-13 centuries. The researchers found it in the Circassian lands.

This type of saber was first adopted by the Terek and Kuban Cossacks. They have a checker as a traditional part of a military suit. Already from the Cossacks such weapons began to be used among the lower and higher army ranks.

As an authorized checker, it was used by the cavalry, the gendarmerie, the police, and also among the officers. And now dashing Cossack games, combat feats are always presented in combination with a sword. We can say that this is an attribute of the Cossacks.

Asian checker

For a long time the Cossacks used Turkish, Persian-style checkers for their weapons.

Until the middle of the 19th century, there were a lot of sabers of the Caucasian type. But the most popular, regulated checkers of Cossacks in 1834-1838 was the saber of the Asian model.

It had a single-edged steel blade of curved shape. The weapon had one wide dol. The fighting end was two-edged.

The total length of it reached 1 m, and the blade - 88 cm. Its width was 3.4 cm. The Asian-style checker of 1834-1838 had a curvature of 70/395 mm. Were such weapons about 1.4 kg.

Officer's saber of Asian design had ornaments on the hilt and scabbard. Such weapons were appropriated to the lower and higher army ranks of the Lower Nizhny Novgorod and Seversky Dragoon Regiments, as well as the sergeant-major of the plastonic battalions and local commands of the Kuban Cossacks.

Later, they were approved with military weapons in the Tver, Pereyaslav, Novorossiysk Dragoon Regiments.

Checkers of the Cossack sample of 1881

After the defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War (lasted in 1853-1856), there was an urgent need to carry out reforms in the army, beginning with the highest levels of government. This process was controlled by the head of the Military Ministry DA Milyutin. After his resignation in 1881, the army reform ceased.

The establishment of a single weapon was made in the same year. All other samples of cold weapons were abolished, and for the cavalry, dragoon and infantry troops introduced a single type of saber.

Very quickly the Cossack checker of 1881 became the most common piercing-cutting weapon in the Russian army. They were of two kinds: for lower ranks and for officers.

The geometry of the weapons made it possible to cause deep, severe injuries. This feature and became the reason for choosing this saber uniform pattern in the Russian army.

The checkerboard of the Cossack lower ranks (1881)

The soldier's checker had a total length of 102 cm. Its blade was standardized at 87 cm, and its width was 3.3 cm. The weight of the weapon was 800 g. The handle had a straight shape with a sharp bend at the end. It was made of wood and had deep inclined grooves. The hole temana for technological reasons was shifted down to the stop.

The sheath did not have a bayonet attachment. He was not foreseen for Cossack carbines. However, some regiments were issued at that time with scabbards with a closed bayonet shoe. By 1889 in all the lower ranks were given checkers of the Asian type. This exemplary instrument is referred to as the Cossack checker, the original of 1881.

Checker Officer 1881

In 1881 the General Staff of the Military Department issued Circular 217. It gave a detailed description of the officer's checkers. According to this document, the blade and the hilt of weapons were described in detail. To the smallest details of their constituent parts.

The blade consisted of the combat end, the middle part, the heel and the lower thickened rib (otokh) and the upper blade. That part of the blade, which is intended for cutting, is called a fairy, and to repel punches - forte.

The center of the blade is located at a distance of 0.25 arshin, if measured from the point. In the same place, the dolines on the blade end.

The hilt consists of a nut, a head, a handle, its rear and front ring, an arch and a leather ring.

The handle is made of a tree called bakout. Sometimes other breeds were used for these purposes.

Antique cold steel of 1881 sample has a cross-section in the middle part in the form of a tetrahedron, whose corners are rounded. In the ends it has an oval shape. The back of the handle is slightly thicker than the front.

Materials

The blade of the presented version of the weapon was a "doll" of steel. A variety of materials were used to make the hilt. The rear ring was made of copper with gilding. This element was oval in shape. At the top was a slot for the bow. The front ring is also copper, gilded.

The nut located inside the hilt can be steel, copper or iron. It is screwed on the tail of the blade very tightly.

Copper head with gilding. It has the appearance of a corolla. From the same material, the bow is made.

The ring, crocheted between the hilt and the back section of the heel, is made of leather. Cossack weapons of those times were made of the listed materials for both soldiers and officers.

Difference between a soldier's and officer's checkers of the sample of 1881

As for the lowest ranks, and for the higher ranks, almost the same type of cold steel was used. The blade was not anything different. The difference was in the technology of fastening the handle.

The sleeve, located on the top, and the handle were attached to the shank of the blade by three rivets. Therefore, two vaults were cut from the top of the wooden frame to its middle. They were beaten together with the tip. Through them, an average rivet was made.

In the officer's checkers, due to the change in design, the hole of the templar was higher than the soldier's version of the saber. It was on the middle line of the handle.

However, the Cossack saber of the lowest ranks was characterized by simplicity of fasteners. Over time, the officer's cold steel began to be manufactured using the same technology.

Checker of the lowest ranks of the sample in 1904

The checkerboard of the lower Cossacks was similar to the previous model. However, there were some differences. Characteristic in such weapons was the application of abbreviations by etching. They were located on the inside of the blade and looked like this: "KKV" (Kuban Cossack Host), "TKV" (Terek Cossack Host). On the other side of the blade were also the letters "ZOF", which was deciphered as the Zlatoust Weapons Factory. Also here was the year of issue of the checkers. This became a feature of the Cossack saber model of 1904.

Sheath was wooden, covered with leather. The battle checker was drowned in them to the head of the handle thanks to the bell at the top of the wooden case.

The weapons of the lower ranks of the sample in 1904 weighed 1 kg. Its overall length is 92 cm, and the blade - 74 cm. The blade width was 3.5 cm.

This saber was adopted in the Caucasian Cossack troops for soldiers. Later, it was slightly improved. But the general appearance remained practically unchanged.

Checker officer's model of 1909

The circular of the General Staff No. 51 of 22.03.1909 introduced amendments to the regulations for the description of officer checkers. In its former form, the golden cold weapon of the highest army ranks and sabers with the Order of St. Anna's 4th degree. To them was added only decoration on the booth and the back ring.

Officers' sabers of the 1909 model did not differ from the previous type of weapons in the blade area, except for the location on the outside of the blade of the Emperor's name. On the other hand was a coat of arms.

The rear ring was decorated with laurel branches, as well as the convex name of the Emperor. Also there were decorative curbs. The head of the handle had a decoration in the form of a vignette.

Later, other samples were developed, but in the post-war years (after the Second World War) such weapons were abolished. The checker became a ceremonial attribute of the army, as well as an integral weapon of the Cossacks.

Today these are reward sabers. Get it is considered very honorable for military ranks. You can wear a checker only with permission, like any similar product. After all, this is a formidable military weapon.

Considering such cold weapons as the Cossack saber, one can deeply penetrate the military organization of the past. In its way, it was a formidable tool on the battlefield. With the regulation of precisely this weapon, reforms and reforms in the Russian imperial army began. It was distributed everywhere and was available to both ordinary soldiers and officers. Today, it is an inalienable attribute of the Cossacks, which acts as a reward weapon, as a symbol of military honor and valor.