Cheap Medieval Swords
(Under $250)

Most cheap medieval swords are, quite frankly, rather crappy..

The vast majority are overly heavy or too light, made from stainless steel or not properly tempered, have rat tail tangs or rattling, fall apart components - and no medieval knight worth his salt would even give them a second glance.

Indeed, probably even his squire would turn his nose up at them in disgust..

And the worst ones..? Well, they are downright dangerous..

But there are some exceptions. And if you know where to look, there are some real jewels in the junk - cheap medieval swords that are exceptional value for money. And - gasp - some are even historically plausible to boot..!

In this article, we will share with you the best bargains to be had. And of course, share a few examples of cheap medieval swords that you will want to stay as far away from as possible.

So without any further ado - let's get into it shall we..?

The Cheapest of Cheap Medieval Swords..

Medieval swords are second only to Japanese swords in terms of the variety available - but they tend to pivot at very different price points..

For example, you can often get pretty decent 'beater' style Japanese swords for well under $250 (actually, sometimes less than a third of that amount). But almost without exception, cheap medieval swords priced under $250 are almost entirely a total waste of your time and money.

Unless you don't care one iota about historical accuracy and are looking for something to hang on the wall - and leave it there - you are almost certainly going to be disappointed.

Conversely, the next jump in quality for Japanese swords starts somewhere between the $200 to $300 mark - while for cheap medieval swords, the entry level price point is typically $300+...

But our challenge here is UNDER $250!

One option is to buy rebated entry level re-enactment swords such as the Hanwei Practical Norman Sword reviewed below. While most swords under $250 are unsharpened by default and the thick rebated edges of these swords make them extremely hard to sharpen, if you persist and put in your own blood sweat and tears, the results can be impressive as you will see in the following review where a SBG member does just that.

But if hours grinding steel does not appeal to you and it's not steel on steel re-enactement swords you are after - every now and again you can actually find good quality cheap medieval swords out of the box ready to go for under $250.

Sure, they are as rare as hens teeth - and in all honesty, the search is largely a waste of time.

Only one sword maker, Deepeeka of India, at first glance offers some hope. MOST of their medieval swords are under $250, many significantly so. Indeed, some of them - while not historically accurate - are at least historically plausible, and fulfill the role of a decent looking decorative sword or something to take to a ren-faire without any problems.

But actually having some fun in the backyard cutting up water bottles and stuff with one? Very hit and miss..

So let's take at two swords from the same manufacturer - and see both ends of the spectrum..

At the end of the day, its is fairly slim pickings for cheap medieval swords under $250.

If you want to see if you get lucky, your best bet is to check out the selection of Deepeka swords at KoA, cross your fingers, and hope you get a sword more like the Spadona than the Charlemange:

Deepeeka Swords at Kult of Athena

But don't despair if you don't want to leave it up to chance. There are still some options!!

Windlass Steelcrafts!

And their retail arm, Museum Replicas Limited (MRL)

Windlass Steelcrafts of India have dominated the market for historically accurate/plausible cheap medieval swords since the 1970s and are still extremely popular.

Indeed one of my favorite swords of all time is the (now discontinued) Windlass European Sword - so much so that it used to be the sword pictured in the first generation SBG logo!

The primary reasons for their popularity is due both to their relatively low price but also the quality steel and tempering of the blades.

This is no surprise, Windlass Steelcrafts are the official sword making contractors to many of the world's military's (including the Gurkas and the USMC) and have for decades - their manufacture of medieval swords is simply a sideline business, but a profitable and robust one.

Probably the only real disadvantage to Windlass Steelcrafts is that they release and retire new swords so frequently that it can be hard to identify which new designs are winners and which ones are to be avoided. However, in recent years as the market has become more competitive, they have stepped up to the challenge and the number of good swords outweigh the bad, plus they have kept a handful of reliable models that they keep steadily in production..

Windlass Steelcrafts Reviews

Museum Replicas Limited

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And finally before we go, our friends at Ryujin Swords who usually specialize in battle ready and custom Katana recently started branching out into cheap medieval swords. And their first model is exactly $250 - and packs in the value!

So before you go, definitely check this one out..

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I hope this information on cheap medieval swords has been helpful. To return to Affordable Replicas of Medieval Swords from Cheap Medieval Swords, click here