Production Sword Review: Official "Braveheart" Sword
The Officially-Licensed Movie Sword made by Marto of Spain

Article by David K. Wilson. Photographs by Adrian Ko.

There are several swords on the market that are variously labeled as "The Wallace Sword", "Wallace Claymore", "Early Claymore", "Sword of William Wallace", etc, etc, etc. It seems just about everyone is making and/or selling a version of this sword - from the CAS Iberia version, made in Spain by Gladius, to the various Indian and Phillipine made versions, to Del Tin's version. But only one maker can claim that it produces the Officially Licensed Braveheart (c) sword - and that is Marto of Spain, under license from Paramount Pictures.

Marto is well-known for their line of very ornate stainless-steel decorative swords ( "wall hangers"). These are not swords meant to withstand use, either in cutting, staged combat, or real combat. They tend to be overly ornate (many of their pieces are downright gaudy, in my opinion) overly heavy, and poorly balanced - but since these are not intended for actual use, these points are not necessarily relevant.

So how does the Official Braveheart sword stack up? Better than the norm - it's fairly well-balanced and it's weight is not too excessive for a sword of this size. And it's not as ornate as many of Marto's other offerings - indeed, it looks much like the workhorse Mel Gibson swung around in the film, differing only in the high polish of it's 420 Stainless blade and a slight modification of the ends of the cross-guard. The blade has no noticeable distal taper.

The leather, on the grip and ricasso, is a medium-brown suede - gorgeous to look at, until you've handled it a couple times and the suede gets matted and darkened from sweat and other natural oils in your hands. The pommel is fig-shaped as is the one from the film. The quillons are interesting, ending in tri-lobated terminals - I am at a loss to explain these, as I don't think they occur on the movie sword (I've looked at a couple stills, and it just doesn't look like it to me). I guess they are there to represent an embryonic stage to the quatrefoil terminals found on the (true, much later) Great Highland Claymore.

There are still a few things I have not checked out on this sword yet; for instance, I am not sure what the grip itself is made of -- I believe it's actually some kind of metal, rather than wood, as tapping on it produces a hollow, metallic sound. I am not sure about the tang or how it's attached - although most Marto products feature a rat-tail tang with a screwed-on pommel. If this is the case, the pommel has been secured quite well, as it's near impossible to unscrew with my bear hands (or am I a weakling?). I did not attempt to find the center of percussion (the optimum striking point or sweet spot) nor did I check the harmonic balance (the measure of shock transfered back to the hand upon impact). Also for obvious reasons, flex, edge-retention, and blade perfromance were not tested - as previously observed, this is not a "using" sword, it's a display piece only. One vendor claims a temper of 48-50 Rc. This would be all fine and dandy, except that the steel - 420 stainless - is not proper for a using sword, especially in the lengths we're discussing here. I am certain that this sword can be edged (after a lot of work - the edge geometry is not very conducive to sharpening), but what would be the point?

And so, what we have here is an attractive, well-assembled display piece that can stand up to some casual swinging around, if not actual use. That is, if you can find it - it's a very difficult piece to locate. I was able to find two internet retailers who sell it (and one doesn't even list it on his website), and of course the Noble Collection, purveyors of all things Marto. Price ranges from $255 to $295, depending on vendor.

Weight.................. 5 3/4 lbs
Blade length............ 41 1/2 in.
Overall length.......... 52 1/2 in.
Point of Balance........ 6 1/4 in.
Center of Percussion.... Not tested
Harmonic balance........ Not tested.

Editor's Note

"Why are you guys so down on stainless steel?" Sure sounds like it doesn't it? The reason being that stainless steel was not used in authentic swords of yesteryear's battlefield. Rather, it came only about in this century.

A steel blade is ideally heat treated to achieve a balance between hardness (for edge retention and cutting power) and toughness (for impact absorption and shock tolerance).

Decorative swords from Spain or Taiwan typically are made with plastic hilts (the brittle plastic either breaks or cannot properly absorb shock nor dampen vibrations), improperly shaped tangs (which too can break, and which do not properly counterbalance a sword.)

Stainless steel in itself contains a high percentage of chromium which gives the steel its "stainless" properties. It also acts as a grain refiner. In its high quantities in AISI 420 and 440 stainless steels, however, the chromium actually weakens the grain boundaries. You don't notice this structual weakness in short blade lengths (e.g. knives) but in swords (anything exceeding 18 inches) the problem begins - stainless steel swords made by replica companies simply cannot withstand battlefield stresses.

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