Jaeger Slings

[alacran]

In most books and commentaries in magazines about Jaeger rifles, a large percentage of them are shown with provisions for attaching a sling.
Seldom do you see one actually wearing one.
In Wolfe's book the only rifle shown with a sling is one that was built by Ron Scott.
I know the Leatherman makes a Jaeger sling. But it seems sort of generic to me. Are there any references to original Jaeger slings out there?
Is there someone making something that would have been used in the first half of the 18th century?
Any help would be appreciated.

[Mike Brooks]

I have a germanic fowling gun that still has it's original sling. Thin leather about 1 inch wide. Just simple  , no adjustments or buckles

[Ron Scott]

I have an original Jaeger ca 1740 with an original sling. It like the one documented by Lynton McKenzie is Linen. Kerry Beyers has the construction details and has made some for my customers. Her contact is
hornandfiber@gmail.com

[alacran]

Thank you Ron.

[fahnenschmied]

Somewhere I have some photos of slings of 18th century German rifles saved from Hermann Historica.  I cant find them at the moment, but most seem to have a leather button made by rolling up a thin strip and piercing it, having two or three adjustment holes on the upper end.  Lower end often was folded and laced on, in an intricate manner - more than two or four holes, with what looks like about a goatskin lace used on leathercraft projects.  Seemed like they wanted to avoid damaging the stock with any metal hardware.

[Scott Bumpus]

I’d sure like to see a pic of that sling Ron.  Or of the repo.

[Monty59]

I've been looking for a long time for original 18th jaeger rifle sling and how they look. Very seldom to see  here I have two pics I made years ago in a german museum and sorry for the bad quality of the pics. Leather was thin with a design on it and fastened it looked like rawhide straps to me. Then I saw an original from a kind of brocade fabric unfortunately I can't find the photo right now.

Monty

[alacran]

Fahnenschmied, I looked at your old posts and believe it was post 47 or 48 in which you showed a couple of leather slings. Also, a link on how to make one. At any rate there are paintings depicting slings on Jaegers. They are not intended to be used as a shooting support. They are intended for carrying the rifle. I have been in contact with Kerry Beyers, she sent a photo of one she had made.
I am still researching this and will prototype one out of hemp strap that I have, so I can determine the exact length and configuration that I want.
Needless to say, the military muskets the Germanics employed are more in the line of what the other European powers employed.
It seems that civilian slings had no metal buckles or such, in order to not harm the wood on their rifles. Plus, they were not intended for the rigors of war.

[James Rogers]

The pattern I use for my jaeger slings is off a circa 1760 German rifle. It has no metal hardware and is adjustable from both ends in the same manner. This rifle had swivels on both ends and I also alter the pattern to accommodate a stud on the butt end. The sling pictured in the link is the altered version but the last two pictures depict the construction of the original adjustment method on both ends of the original sling.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4209468402424760&id=571777226193914

[DavidC]

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what I'm seeing but is that last image posted by Monty showing a sling swivel through the bottom of the ramrod channel thereby making the ramrod entirely unusable?

[EC121]

Look again.  It is a wender.  The rod is on the other side.

[DavidC]

Ah, I see now. I mistook that bottom barrel as some odd reflection from a mirror case or something. Still seems like a rather small amount of wood to trust for the sling but then I'd guess that rifle wasn't really being carried by someone likely to need to use it in too rough a situation.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I suspect that the screw for the swivel goes right through the rifle to a nut or inlay on the other side.

[gunmaker]

Thrift store second hand belts ? Cheap, thin with natural patina.

[Ron Scott]

Here is a photo of the original Linen Sling

[Pukka Bundook]

Ones I have seen more often are woven linen and quite wide.  Quite tightly woven, and thin. 
I believe these sometimes have leather tabs at the ends where they attach.

You just beat me to it, Ron!

Where a sling swivel is fitted to the fore-end, there is often a lug attached to the barrel that the screw goes through, making the arrangement much stronger than if the screw merely went through the stock.