Thanks Guys. Both Y'all brought out thinks I had thought of but it is good to here our own thoughts echoed by others. I will have to look more into that 9260 steel.

YEAH, I had considered the AK47 and WOULD like one, but I have two already in the 17-18 inch length and as I said just want something with a bit more reach. And Yeah they will I almost guarantee will be nothing more than "Wall Hangers" but they will be wall hangers that are capable of biting, HARD. And Iike I said I want a bit more reach. I PREFER the 21 inch length but the 24 had me intrigued. I DO have a 24 inch sword (Leaf spring steel) that is actually just ground from a leaf spring, but it has ONLY the heat treat and temper the original spring came with and I bought it in the Philippines WAY back in 1975, you know when Dinosaurs still roamed the earth. Needless to say it won't hold much of an edge, about like my Negrito Hunting Bolo.

Oh and Gary, I DON'T "Roll" like I used to. 47 pounds less mass than this time last year!

Randy,
Congrats on the weight loss!

Ray, My appreciation of Busse steel is largely because of my experiences with their edge holding ability vs durability. Any blade that can cut down a tree can slice through flesh.

I have no quarrel with Busse steel. After all, I do have a few. I have never touched a Busse AK47 so I don’t know its handling characteristics. The blade length is quite short though. My Busse HOGFSH, while an excellent piece of steel, is not as agile as my katana or Wakizashi. And doesn’t have the reach of either. Different missions, different blades.

In case Y'all haven't figured it out my reasons for wanting a Japanese style blade follows:

1. I like the way they look
2. I have wanted one for over 50 years and have had a few, wall hangers, not counting my real WWII Wakizashi or my Honshu.
3. I DO NOT like OWNING Wall Hangers in ANY kind of bladed instrument.
4. To use against "Bad Guy" in the event a gun can not be utilized (when we Vacation it will be going with us) and It is "Do or Die".
5. Look neat on display at home, that is why I want a larger and smaller blade.

I haven't even held a Busse AK47, but did own a Swamp Rat Rucki. That sword ... agh long knife .... urm ... thing was sort of useless for my needs. I don't image the 18.5" blade would have made much difference.

There is nothing wrong with just wanting something ... especially when its a good weapon!!!

I agree Gary. But the problem is SO many wants and so little stock of normally excepted items of exchange. Y'all need to pay more taxes so poor folks like Tom, Ray and I can get a raise.

I pay more than my share ... and it makes me sick. I keep thinking when I'm old enough to draw SS they're going to change the system to a "needs based" wherein those of us that saved / invested / sacrificed for our retirement wouldn't get social security but those who were lazy / foolish / didn't save anything will get social security. I've been paying social security taxes since 1984. They better pay out when I get to 62.

I was born after 1960 so I fall into the 67 year old "full benefit" scheme ...

If you were born in 1960 your full retirement age is 67

Remember, the earliest a person can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits will remain age 62.

If you start receiving retirement benefits at:

age 62, you will get 70 percent of the monthly benefit because you will be getting benefits for an additional 60 months.
age 65, you will get 86.7 percent of the monthly benefit because you will be getting benefits for an additional 24 months.

If you start receiving benefits as a spouse at your full retirement age, you will get 50 percent of the monthly benefit your spouse would receive if their benefits started at full retirement age. If you start receiving benefits at:

age 62, you will get 32.5 percent of the monthly benefit instead of 50 percent because you will be getting benefits for an additional 60 months.
age 65, you will get 41.7 percent of the monthly benefit instead of 50 percent because you will be getting benefits for an additional 24 months.

My wife is in the investment industry and she can't figure out what my benefit will be since I'm going to take "early retirement" (that is to say I will NOT be working into my 60's ... I will be retiring in my early 50s). As a result, even BIG NAME INVESTMENT CORPORATION software has a hard time calculating what my benefit will be. As a result, we've calculated the LOWEST possible benefit and then cut it half as part of our retirement planning.

There is nothing wrong with a wall hanger sword. Sort of a placeholder for when you get the real thing. I have a wall hanger Claymore to honor my Scottish ancestry but did not want to pay the price for a real good one. Also to honor my Scottish ancestry.

That is gold.

See what I did there?

Guess once again I have been remiss in my explanation. IF you are buying a sword for ONLY a wall hanger, I agree, they are nice, but then again there are levels of wall hangers. A more expensive one will show much better attention to detail and use better materials. I was talking about the Cheap overseas $5.00 real steel hand tempered... ones.