A Czech forged sword is made where swords for reenactors, museums and film have been made for decades. Ransack Viking is a US company based in North Babylon, New York. Pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from New York. Engraving is done in the US after arrival. Saying that plainly matters, because a lot of the market is deliberately vague about where blades come from.
What comes out of those shops
Viking battle swords with lobed pommels and etched fullers, Damascus katanas around 40 inches overall with 27 inch blades, pattern welded Viking swords at 34 inches with a 1095 and 15N20 core, knightly arming swords, and barbed fantasy blades running to 42 inches. Steel is plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or Damascus of 1095 and 15N20, forge welded and acid etched, at 58 to 60 HRC. Grips are leather wrapped, cord wrapped and wood. Fittings are steel and brass.
Why central Europe
Because the trade never stopped there. Reenactment and living history are enormous across the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia, and that supported a generation of smiths making period correct kit for people who would notice if it was wrong. The visible result is in the details. A fuller that runs true and stops before the point. A guard seated to the blade shoulder. A pommel peened over the tang. The steel specification behind all of it is on the steel we use and how hard it is and the origin statement is on the country of origin page.
Inspection
Everything is opened and checked in New York before it ships, because a long shipment is hard on wood and on leather that was cut damp. The pattern welded blades are in the Damascus swords and the Japanese shapes in the katana and Japanese swords.
What to check when it arrives
Look at the top of the pommel for the peen, a small dome of steel over the tang. Check the guard sits tight against the blade shoulder with no visible gap. Sight down the blade for straightness. On a pattern welded piece, look at the spine and the tang, where real layers show through the thickness of the steel rather than only on the polished flat.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
