1907 Slings

[Viking Guy]

I've seen the 1907 leather slings with WWI and WWII dates as we all have, but I've never seen one dated 1945. Was production stopped in 1944 in favor of producing only the web sling?

Thanks, VG

[Art]

The short answer is that the M1907 sling continued in production and was issued in the U.S. military for many years, decades actually, after WWII as s supplemental item alongside the M1 and later slings.

In the early 1990s my LEO agency received several M14 rifles along with some M16A1s from the DoD. These weapons were all straight from arsenal overhaul. The M16s came with M1 slings and the M14s came with brand spanking new M1907 slings still in the factory packaging. The Marine Corps M40 Sniper rifle has only recently transitioned from the M1907 sling to a new model. I have two 1980s and 90s production M1907 slings. Current production slings I've seen don't have a date or manufacturer stamp on the leather, are MRT marked and are very light tan. Maybe they just stopped stamping a date on them in 1944.

I occasionally saw current production surplussed out U.S.G.I. M1907 slings in the factory packaging at gun shows up until about 20 years ago but haven't seen any surplus since then.

[Richard Turner/Turner Saddlery]

I've seen the 1907 leather slings with WWI and WWII dates as we all have, but I've never seen one dated 1945. Was production stopped in 1944 in favor of producing only the web sling?

Thanks, VG

I have been making slings and repairing leather accoutrements for 25 years and have never seen a M1907 Sling dated past 1944, as far as steel stamped. Seems most leather gear was ink stamped around 1951.

I had the opportunity back in 1992, to speak with a gentleman who worked for Boyt, before, during, and after WWII. He said they continued making the M1907 sling well into the late 1950s. He said from what he remembered, RIA didn't produce many slings after WWII, and the War Dept. relied mostly on civilian contractors, such as Boyt, Inger Kress, Hickock, Milwaukee Saddlery Co. (MILSCO), and others. He thought that it was also due to the use of web products, less cost to the Govt, and more could be turned out per hour. I know he has since passed on, since he was in his late eighties at that time. He was a wealth of information on everything Boyt made during WWII and Korea. I mainly picked his brain about production, methods of manufacture, and various machines and attachments. He helped me verify that several of the machines that I use, i.e. heavy creasers, fixed blade splitter, and harness stitchers most likely came from one of the arsenals, since several of these machines had high numbered data plates (for inventory) attached with brads. He said even Boyt, as large as they were did not have inventory plates or tags attached to their equipment.

Regards,
Richard

[Art]

Somewhat recent M1907 sling use by the Marines. The sling has the light color typical of 1970s and later manufacture.