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The 4 holes on the short
strap are visible on the
rifles of the 2 Marines
on the lower left.
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Mahogany brown leather.
Short strap has 1/4 as many
holes as on the standard
M1907 slings |
Fits M1 Garands as
well as M1903's. |
These slings are installed
the same way as M1907's |
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| USMC Sling |
Blackened brass hooks,
no markings of any kind |
Brass rivets |
Sewn with black cord |
During the 1920's and 30's, some Marines can be seen with slings that differ from the typical M1907 model- the most obvious change is only having two pairs of adjustment holes in the short strap. Some collectors have surmised that these were initially made for Marines on the West Coast by a saddle maker.
The USMC approved formal specifications for the "Sling, Gun, Leather, for M-1903 Rifle" on Sept. 11, 1940. Thus, it appears that these may have been unofficially obtained for many years, with the Marine Corps ultimately soliciting bids and awarding at least two contracts in 1940 to make them an issue item. The total ordered in the extant contracts was 129,000 slings.
The spec sheet from 1940 lays out the criteria for the slings which deviates from the M1907 model in several ways: It was made from the same 7-9 ounce leather, but in a mahogany brown color rather than natural tan, the thread used for assembly was black instead of golden tan, and there were fewer adjustment holes, most notably in the short strap. Blackened brass hardware was used.
These are discernible in a few wartime photos, especially class photos from boot camp.
Originals exist and (horrors!) they are devoid of maker marks or dates.
Some info is in Alec Tulkoff's book "Grunt Gear" and there is a discussion and photos on a cmp forum article here.
What unit used these? Not sure- look closely in wartime photos. The short strap only has 4 sets of holes rather than 16 pairs.
What battles are they correct for? See above. Assumedly any.
When did they switch to regular M1907 slings? No idea.
Did the 506th use them? Probably not.
ATF Reproductions: As is the usual practice, we acquired an original, and copied it. This required new cutting dies for the holes, different thread and hunting down the correct color leather.
These are assembled in our shop, with American leather, and custom made hardware.
Fit: Same as M1907 slings. Just about any weapon with 1.25" sling loops. The strap lengths are also the same as M1907's.
Leather Notes:
- Shades vary: As is visible in the photo of the hooks (bottom row, second from left) there may be a slight difference in the shade of the straps and/ or keepers. This is because these are cut from multiple sides of leather, and those tend to vary a bit from one to the next. Use and oiling will mitigate any discernible shade difference.
- Creases/ wrinkles: Also, in addition to being dyed at the tannery, this leather was oiled and "distressed" so it may have some creases or wrinkles in it. If either of these characteristics is unacceptable...we can't change them.
Make regular M1907's like this! As soon as I finished the sample, it immediately occurred to me what the next question will be. Yes, the leather looks great on these slings and many people aren't fond of the fact that "natural" color of the standard M1907's takes a bit or work to turn it to a dark brown as used originals appear.
The problem is that we have a hell of a time keeping our in-house products stocked, and every one we add to the mix tends to cause delays in 10 other things. I'll leave this as a maybe.
Made in USA
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