Perfect Union banner

Leather M1907 US WWI and WW2 style slings

4K views 28 replies 3 participants last post by  jimthompson502002 
#1 · (Edited)
Have been selling these around for a while, and it's become a sort of hobby in and of itself.

I do slings.

Have high quality replicas, right now primarily M1907 U.S. leather units.

Also have some very high quality repros of the Swiss K-31 leather sling. Those are $26.50 a pop one at time, but I can usually discount that some if you order with another strap.













There are lots more photos on flickr.com. Smart thing to do is establish an account and sign in. I have about 9300 shots there. San Diego AeroSpace Museum has a lot. The Colt photo collection under Ct. State Library is on flickr.com. Millions of shots. No spam. Once in, photos can be enlarged, captions read, searches done, and so on.

M1907's are all to regulation. There are two grades, premium is $34.00 each. All premiums have brass fittings and hooks. They are select, 12-ounce leather, drum-dyed, very supple and sturdy. They even smell good. All hooks/fittings on these are BRASS. There are NO blackened steel furniture setups on the premiums. Markings are WW2 JT&L 1942, ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL 1918, and UNMARKED. These can be conditione/neatsfooted much darker.

Some shots:











Again, signed in, there are about 100 shots of these that can be viewed in a quick search.

Standard leather M1907 slings offer much more variety. They're $30.00 each. They're about 10 ounce leather, albeit the Kerr 1917 and Singer 1942 versions are very close to 12 ounce quality. Have MILSCO 1944 in dyed/black fittings, undyed brass, plain blackened steel fittings. JT&L 1944 (black). RIA 1941 polished "white". Unmarked dyed cordovan brown with brass fittings. Kerr 1917 (all brass ftgs)... Rock Island 1918 (brass). Lots of versions of MILSCO (Milwaukee Saddle Company) 1942--brass, standard blackened steel hooked, dyed with black fittings, etc. Singer 1942 (black ftgs). Oddments of others.

Almost all can be oil blotch and light scratching/dye "fatigued" for $5.00 additional per sling. You can do this yourself, by the way, rather easily. I use neatsfoot, coffee grounds, diluted leather die, and so on. I pay all postage at these prices, unless expedited delivery is required.

















These were by FAR the most common and most practical strap used on rifles during World War II. In infantry outfits, in fact, there was seldom anything else almost until the end of World War II.

Walt Ehlers, M of H winner, remarked on that very detail during his last interview.



Things always change. PM's or e-mails will be responded to quickly.

Questions? Ask 'em.

Again: if you sign in, everything can be read, sized, searched for, and enjoyed. Otherwise, it's like looking at mysterious postage stamps.

https://www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=15631192@N04&page=&details=1

I even have a single white one right now!!

Yes, I am the guy who wrote and photographed THE ESSENTIAL M1 GARAND.

The web slings came out about midwar, but aren't often seen on front-line infantry photos. Hodges' Second Army had some by early '45, almost the very end, and boat crews used them on rifles.

These are all repros. Most authories don't recommend using original slings for actual rifle carry. They tend to break suddenly, which not only compromises the strap, but launches the rifle someplace gravity takes it.

It's happened to me TWICE.

In service, slings were issued at the unit level, and with what little evidence exists and can be read, the slings were most often OLDER than the rifles to which they were fitted when new.

Yes, a lot of WWI straps saw service in World War II.

Anyway, I sometimes have other things, too.

Used to have 50-60 rifles, and of course, this thing got started. Now, I'm retired and it's a hobby/sideline.

 
See less See more
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top