Trapdoor sling?

[Fred]

OK, This sling is 68" long. The brass hook has the thick prongs. The leather is fantastic and extremely supple and strong. Pretty close to issue condition I would say. Were these slings for the Krag and the Trapdoor one and the same? When this sling came on my 50-70 trapdoor, it's brass was encased with thick, green, waxy verdigrease. I carefully scraped this off with a flat piece of bamboo to avoid injuring the brass or the leather. The sling had apparantly been mounted on this rifle for a long time and was on it when the previous owner had obtained the rifle in the 1940's. It has ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL stamped into it as well as other stamps that I know nothing about.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling5.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling1.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling7.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling8.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling4.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling2.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Whitedog333/sling3.jpg

[Dick Hosmer]

Fred,

I'm no sling expert - the more I read the more confused I get. I do understand the basic progession of styles, and I can say that the sling in question (which is a beauty) IS too late for your M1870, but, once it gets into the heavy double-claw pattern, usage gets fuzzy between TD and Krag, let alone anything exotic like a Hotchkiss or Chaffee-Reese!

Apparently, to be used, a sling merely had to be serviceable. Many were even spliced.

Due to potential moisture retention issues (found some swivel rust a couple of years ago) I've dismounted all of my slings, anyhow.

[Fred]

Thanks Dick. I sure appreciate your feed back! Yes, the sling sure is a nice one ain't it? Well, I'll call it a Krag/Trapdoor sling then. That oughta cover it. I needed to correctly lable it before I sold it. If I still had a Krag rifle, I'd probably keep it. Also, since I'll probably be selling my 50/70, I figure that it wouldn't hurt the sale if I include the sling with the rifle it came on if that's the way that I decide to let it go. Thanks again Dick!