US Army Indian Wars TRAPDOOR SPRINGFIELD WATERVLIET ARSENAL LEATHER RIFLE SLING

Description

*BRUCE CANFIELD COLLECTION WITH SIGNED LETTER OF AUTHENTICITY!
US Army troopers out on the Plains in the Indian Wars faced many dangers during their arduous campaigns. Those intrepid soldiers in "dirty shirt blue" protected settlers, miners, and railroad crews from "hostiles", forced renegade bands back onto the reservation, and stopped the illicit gun trade funneling weapons into the hands of native warriors. They carried the classic M-1873 "Trapdoor" Springfield rifle on a specially designed "single claw" leather sling produced by Watervliet Arsenal. This US Army Indian Wars TRAPDOOR SPRINGFIELD WATERVLIET ARSENAL LEATHER RIFLE SLING is in good condition, with some overall drying, darkening, crazing, stiffening, wrinkling, and age wear evident (ALL pictured). Otherwise, the sling is in fine shape, with no other damage to the tough dark brown leather construction, which still remains somewhat pliant. Most interestingly, it boasts the classic darkened brass "single claw" at one end, which carries the inspector initials "J.B." marked at the underside, sports the traditional sizing holes and leather adjustment slide, and is stamped at the sewn loop end with its maker, the famous "WATERVLIET / ARSENAL". The sling measures about 64" long (originally 68" but one must take into account the wrinkling and natural shrinking that the passage of over 125 years imparts), dates to the early 1880s, and is an exclusive item directly from the collection of Bruce Canfield, the noted authority on US military small arms of the post-Civil War era. It comes with a signed letter of authenticity guaranteeing its originality, and the fact that it's resided in Mr. Canfield's personal collection for the last 30 years. A fine example of a very rare, original US Army Indian Wars TRAPDOOR SPRINGFIELD WATERVLIET ARSENAL LEATHER RIFLE SLING. Now celebrating over 20 years on eBay. Bid with confidence and please view our other great military, aviation, and sporting classics, including a German WW2 MWC LUFTWAFFE PILOT B-UHR AUTOMATIC WRIST WATCH in MINT, unworn, new in the box condition, sporting a crisp 60 minute/12 hour (outer/inner) white numbers black dial, and featuring the classic big "onion" crown and sweeping seconds hand with hacking function.
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