| Slings and Things......... Reproduction Leather Goods for the Reenactor & Collector |
| Among collectors and living historians, there is a need for well made, correct to the period leather accesories. This site, a work in progress, is geared toward providing those items to the people that have a need for gear to complete that impression or collection. For the time being, I will concentrate on the historical period leading up to and including World War One. My main focus at present is the Imperial German reenactor with side trips into other impressions as well. I want to provide items not available elsewhere and at what I hope are reasonable prices. I hope you will find something here that you can use. T.P. Hern |
| Imperial German Frog for the Sg98/05 |
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| A well made (even if I do say so myself!) reproduction of the German frog for the classic "Butcher Blade" bayonet of WW1. Constructed of natural leather with the flesh (rough) side out just as were the originals. Although issued in an undyed state, the frog can be died black at special request to conform to wartime regulations for an additional $3.00. Price - $25.00 |
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| Early War, Single Strap Carrier for Entrenching Tool |
| Every German soldier carried an implement with him when dressed for battle - the most common was the entrenching tool. The pre-war carrier had a single belt loop for attachment to the belt, later wartime versions were made with two. It is made of high quality, heavy natural colored leather with the smooth (hair) side out and is sewn with heavy linen thread and reinforced with copper rivets of the correct style. It is an important item to complete the early war impression. It can be dyed black for use in 1915 or later dated events at the cost of $3.00. Price - $40.00 |
| Austro-Hungarian M95 Rifle sling |
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| Austro-Hungarian M95 Sling - Top View |
| Austro- Hungarian M95 sling - side view |
| Attachment detail, front band, Austro-Hungarian M95 sling. |
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| Detail of M95 sling showing standing (fixed) loop to the left and buckle on right. |
| So what's a nice sling like you doing in a place like this? ;^} As I said, this sight is primarily about the equipment of Imperial German in WW1, but that doesn't mean that her allies should be ignored. An original M95 sling is next to impossible to find and when it is, the price is outrageously high! Too expensive for the reenactor or shooter to use anyway. When they do show up, the average guy says "what is that?" and shakes his head, not too sure if the statement can be believed, especially at the high asking price. So, I decided to reproduce this sling for those of us who like to see the proper sling on our guns and for those that use the sling in the living history hobby. The M95 sling is 1 and 1/2 inches wide and 40 inches long. It is made of heavy (10 - 12 oz.) leather and is available in russet (natural) or dark brown leather. It is as exact a reproduction as I can make it and is entirely hand sewn, just as is the original in my collection. Attachment is by the buckle arrangement to the swivel on the barrel band as seen above and adjustment is done by sliding the tight fitting standing loop up or down the sling. As an incidental note, you may have wondered over the years why Austrian rifles and carbines and those influenced by Austrian arms makers (Czechoslovakia in particular) have the large, oversized rear sling swivel measuring internally 1 and 1/2 X 3/4 inches. Well, it is because of the thikness of this sling where the buckle attaches to the sling itself. Without the extra height of that swivel, the sling could never fit through. There you are, one of life's great mysteries solved! Who said the World Wide Web isn't educational. Price - $35.00 |
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| A True Rarity - the Austro-Hungarian M14 |
| Well, here's something you don't see everyday. This is a Mexican M1912 rifle as used by Austria-Hungary during WW1 and called by them "Repetier Gewehr M14". It is a Mod. 98 type Mauser, similar to the Gew98 used by Germany with the exception of the tangential rear sight and longer handguard and was ordered by Mexico from Steyr in Austria when they had difficulties and delays setting up their own arms manufacturing facilities in Mexico City. The order was for 75,000 rifles in 7mm caliber and for one reason or another, only 7,500 had been delivered by the beginning of WW1, with the balance of the order (67,500) sitting in storage at Steyr. With sudden increase in the numbers of men in service and the almost immediate horrendous losses of equipment, the Austro-Hungarian military gladly accepted these rifles into service along with identical rifles being made for Chile and Columbia in South America. They also accepted German Gew88's (M13 to Austria) as aid from Germany and used captured weapons such as the Russian Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant and the Italian M1891 Carcano, but this is getting off the track. How do we identify the M14 from the standard M1912? There are a very few reported specimens - even fewer that have Austrian acceptance stamps. The only certain way to tell is by the oversized rear sling swivel described under the "M95 Sling" section above. The M1912 used a detachable sling swivel as used by Germany on the Gew98 and, of course, this would not work with the Austrian style sling, so a new swivel was added to the sling swivel plate on the Mexican rifle, allowing the M95 sling to fit. The above picture shows an original M95 sling attached to a Mexican M1912 so modified to the Austrian M14 type. |
| As a reenactor in both the Civil War and WW1 hobbies, I want to do a good job for you and supply items you need. All construction is done with quality leather and waxed lenin thread, hand sewn where called for by the original item. If you have comments and/or questions, please contact me at the below email addresses. Thanks for viewing my site. T.P. Hern 4th Va. Infantry, Stonewall Brigade IR92, 1st Braunsweig |
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| Photography by John Gebhardt |
| "The Rifle Sling Homepage" great information with more added all of the time....... |