Samgin S. (2015). Nestandartnye sovetskie shashki obr. 1927 g. [Two 18th Century Sabers of the Balkan Origin from the Collection of Poltava Regional Museum]. Istoricheskoe oruzhievedenie [Weapons History Journal], № 2, pp. 102 — 108.
Abstract: A soviet cavalry sword of the 1927 year pattern was one of the last models of fighting long-bladed weapon, sharing the place with a polish saber of 1934 version and another soviet cavalry sword of 1940 year pattern designed for the combatant commanding stuff. The history of the weapon was not limited with Zlatoust and its service in the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army though. This cavalry sword was manufactured for 18 years (from 1928 to 1946), mostly at the plant in Zlatoust. During this time the construction of the cavalry sword wasn’t considerably changed, and today the most differences presume the materials (metals) being used for its manufacturing, decoration scheme of the pommel and marks of the manufacturing plant. Along with this cavalry sword, the Zlatoust plant produced its “non-standard” version, but in considerably small batches and on the special order. These cavalry swords generally preserving the same construction differed greatly in the decorative scheme and marks. The author systematizes the information on the cavalry swords, produced both on the official agreements for Litva in 1934 and Mongolia in 1937 for instance, and on the secret orders for the recipients that haven’t been ascertained yet. Besides, it is possible to ascribe several other types of the soviet cavalry swords to the group of “non-standard” weapon. These are pieces produced during the World War II (The Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union) at other plants in the Ordjonikidze city (today the city of Vladikavkaz), Gulay-Pole (Ukraine), Ziryanovo (Kazakhstan). The marks on the cavalry swords of the 1927 year pattern the producer of which is not known yet, are also shown in the article. The specimen group of cavalry swords made at the end of 1941 at the Tambov railway-carriage repair plant is of special interest. These cavalry swords were rejected as defective by the selection committee and annihilated. Not more than six samples of these cavalry swords have been preserved to nowadays in various museums and private collections. All these variants of the above mentioned cavalry sword are described and presented in the article. The author also pays attention to the materials, construction features, decoration of the guard, specific marks.
Keywords: shashka, cavalry sword, Vitis, Litva, Zlatoust, the Ordjonikidze railway-carriage repair plant, the Tambov railway-carriage repair plant.