Besides price, does anyone know the difference between an Elite 2, 3, and 4 rifle as well as a King, Excaliber, and Xabre sabre? Thanks!

umm not sure maybe a size difference but then again I'm not sure why dont you ask the company?

The Elite 3&4 are a newer design than the Elite 2. They are larger and more squared at the top and bottom. The Elite 3 is a 36 inch rifle and the Elite 4 is a 39 inch rifle. I buy the Elite 3 for the high school color guard I teach and I am happy with them.

36" is best if your kids are just learning. But for some stupid reason, the judges like bigger equipment. So 39" is best if you plan on being competitive. Personally, if they all go around together, I'm happy.

In a general sense, rifles are all pretty much the same - except for the length. Their center of balance is fairly consistent, and even really cheap rifles are usually fine. But sabers are another story. Badly proportioned sabers spin really funky. Their center of balance may be close to (or in) the hilt, and that makes them impossible to spin. When you're buying a new saber model, you should always test it out first to make sure you like it. Rifles - not so much. Cheaper is usually better.

Personally, I like rifles better, but our guard has a huge sabre feature and so I was also put on sabre. Our high school is new and only has freshman and sophmores, but our guard had to tape 16 pennies underneath the hilt to balance the sabre correctly. Now they all spin fine but I was sort of appalled at the idea when our instructor said to tape pennies (of all things) onto our sabres lol.

^yeah. That's why I don't buy cheap sabers. But sometimes you've just got to go with what you can afford. Back in the day, we used to tape pennies to our rifle straps. It didn't change the center, but it made a loud noise when we caught. We were easily amused back then.

well we had originally bought spanish blades, but after one practice the instructor decided that we should go with the rubber ones instead to keep them from breaking. and the only ones that could be delivered before our competition just so happened to be the cheap ones lol. and ill have to try that taping the pennies to the rifles... the guard could have fun with that after the season for us ends tomorrow (championships).