Garand Front sling question
- Thread starter Falcon5NZ
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armsmaster270
New member
Chris your Garand sling is the same as we had on our Garands when I went to Boot Camp in 64
Absolutely, yes. As I indicated, that sling is repro. I have seen many photos of web slings in use on the Cotentin peninsula in 1944, and I have seen photos of dug-up relics that were once the buckles and hooks from web slings from battlefields in Europe. So there is no question that web slings were in use- PTO and ETO
However, in regards to 'khaki', that is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. I have a WWI vintage cartridge belt that is the same color as the repro sling pictured above. But as for 'khaki'...never really existed like that, it was shades of OD green
and truth be told, even on the same pouch, jacket, or trousers, several shades of OD green could be seen, and some faded faster than others, while some were obviously different when new. There's an original Mills produced 1911 .45 magazine pouch that I have, where two shades of OD green can bee seen. The inside surface with the Mills stamps was not sun faded 
It's a much better example than my cartridge belt, as the mag pouch is pretty cherry while the belt was used heavily by my Pop in the '60s for holding ammo when he went to the range
As you can see...quite close to the color of my repro sling. "Khaki" is a subject collectors go nuts over and debate endlessly. Suffice to say that a wide swath of "Olive Drab Green" was used, some of which really does look like what is considered "Khaki", when you consider that the inside surface of the material was never sun faded. They did not get real choosy with fabric colors. The pistol belt is original WWII as well, and is probably fairly sun faded but not horribly as evidenced by the clear "US" stamp. But compare the outer surface of the pouch 'body' to the flap with the printing, and to the belt. Some belts were very green, some were close to tan, some pouches were darker, some light like this one, and there's two different colors to the pouch if you look closely
Compare to the very sun faded cartridge belt
Anyway, the sling on the right in my photo is definitely a reproduction and if you could see the buckle the nature of it would be evident
However, in regards to 'khaki', that is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. I have a WWI vintage cartridge belt that is the same color as the repro sling pictured above. But as for 'khaki'...never really existed like that, it was shades of OD green
and truth be told, even on the same pouch, jacket, or trousers, several shades of OD green could be seen, and some faded faster than others, while some were obviously different when new. There's an original Mills produced 1911 .45 magazine pouch that I have, where two shades of OD green can bee seen. The inside surface with the Mills stamps was not sun faded It's a much better example than my cartridge belt, as the mag pouch is pretty cherry while the belt was used heavily by my Pop in the '60s for holding ammo when he went to the rangeAs you can see...quite close to the color of my repro sling. "Khaki" is a subject collectors go nuts over and debate endlessly. Suffice to say that a wide swath of "Olive Drab Green" was used, some of which really does look like what is considered "Khaki", when you consider that the inside surface of the material was never sun faded. They did not get real choosy with fabric colors. The pistol belt is original WWII as well, and is probably fairly sun faded but not horribly as evidenced by the clear "US" stamp. But compare the outer surface of the pouch 'body' to the flap with the printing, and to the belt. Some belts were very green, some were close to tan, some pouches were darker, some light like this one, and there's two different colors to the pouch if you look closely
Compare to the very sun faded cartridge belt
Anyway, the sling on the right in my photo is definitely a reproduction and if you could see the buckle the nature of it would be evident
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I've been thinking about that, and I would have sworn we used stacking swivels, but we may have used the front sling swivels. I know we didn't use the slings.
I distinctly remember stacking the dern things, but you would think I could remember how we did it.
It's only been 40 years since.
Walter
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