M1773 Dragonpallask
The M1773 dragonpallask is one large, heavy piece of weaponry! They even put lead in the button in order to make it heavy enough and with the scabbard on it weighs about the same as a musket! The blade is 99,1 cm long and the sword weighs in at almost 2 kg – without the scabbard that weight about the same as the sword. The popular name for this sword in Norway was “lyktepallask” – lantern heavy-sword – as is the basket rather looks like the basket covering an old lantern.
The M1773 must have been great for exercise, but even the Danes understood that it was virtually impossible to use this in a fight. They therefor cut down on the brass in the basket, shortened the blade and even removed the lead. This new and improved sword was way more usable.
Here is the original M1773 on top and the lighter M1789 on the bottom. Click the picture for lager size.