Need Garand leather sling expert
Have a chance to buy a leather sling for a Garand that matches the receiver date of the gun.
On the sling is marked Milco 1944. Does anybody know if this is an original leather sling maker for the Garand?
On the sling is marked Milco 1944. Does anybody know if this is an original leather sling maker for the Garand?
0
-
Yes, that would be a righteous M1907 sling for a WWII M1 rifle. Be sure that it is not cracked (no cure for that), and that it has the 2 original sewn keepers.
Neal0 -
I have never seen any list of M1907 sling manufactures, although Boyt seems to be the most common maker of the WWII M1907 leather slings. There were dozens of contractors also producing them so Milco could well be one. Keep in mind that all WWII slings were brown and not the natural or light tan color common on todays newly made slings. The fact that the sling date matches the date of the rifle manufacture is an interesting coincidence, but dating sling and rifle was not a usual practice as even WWI M1907 slings were issued with M1903 and M1 rifles during WWII.
1944 is a tough date, if it were earlier you could tell by the blackend brass hardware if it were an original, but by 44 blackend steel was used. I am unaware of any use of parkerized steel on M1907 slings. Finding a decent example of an M1907 today is pretty tough and you can spend a lot of time at gunshows looking. Early WWII slings are even harder to locate because you are also competing with Springfield collectors. If the price is right on your sling I'd go ahead and make the purchase. Is this for the M1 rifle you located at the pawn shop some weeks ago?
Mark T. Christian0 -
Mark,
Yes, it is the same gun and sling I found at the pawn shop. It is still there and still overpriced. You guys said $1,100 was too much.
I know you are correct that finding an original leather sling in excellent condition is hard to find. I also know I should go ahead and bite the bullet and just buy this dang thing and worry about over- paying for it later. Wouldn't be the first time, but have not lost any sleep over those previous purchases, just the ones like this one.
This sling is black steel hardware. No cracks at all.
By the way Mark, very impressed with your memory. That post was over a month ago.
Shark0 -
Follow this link to a M1907 sling page. It shows a photo of a 1944 Milsco dated sling:
http://www.rifleslings.com/us_m1907_sling.htm
Neal0 -
By the way, I was at the Timonium, MD gun show this weekend, and saw several M1's in the condition you described---rebuilds with at least 97% repark finish remaining---and they were being offered by dealers in the $700-800 range. And, they weren't selling, as most of the folks knew that they were overpriced.
Original WWII slings aren't worth $400-500.
Neal0 -
Loan Shark, listen to what Neal is telling you, he knows the market. Don't jump head long into a purchase just because you know that the rifle is sitting there at the pawn shop. There is a reason why it is STILL there! Just hunt up another at a more realistic price. I was savaged yesterday by some guys for my value estimates on Colt pistols, well I damn sure know my M1 rifles and $1100 is far too much. Why throw away $500 when you just need to do some shopping? Look here, if you need any advice on Garands just e-mail me and I'll be happy to help you out...I've already got a few others doing the same thing so one more won't kill me! I've seen too many collectors over pay and can never get their money back out of the rifle. This often sours them and they leave, never to return. By the way, my memory only works that well with Garands, without the rifle I'd have never remembered you!
Mark T. Christian0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments