New photo's of U.S.M.C. slings...

[Fred]

Steve, your pictures are really good and clear and that rifle...Man! How cool is THAT?! Could we all see some more photo's of the entire rifle?

[cplnorton]

lol, I thought I had showed that Garand so many times people were probably sick of seeing it.

But it was in the Fall 2013 Journal. It was brought back by a Squadron Commander on Iwo Jima. His name was Major Moore and he commanded the 45th Fighter Group and was the top Ace of the 7th Army Air Force. He had 12 kills I think and he was a P51 Mustang pilot. But long story short I have pics of him with it, video of him with it, a written statement. About as much documentation you can get for a bring back US rifle. The rifle even looks like it has Iwo Sand on the inside of it.

From the description of where the Major got it, and the dates of the skirmishes. It sounds like he picked it up in the Cushman Pocket area of the island in probably late March 1945. That also coincides with the serial as it has hits close to the 3rd Marine Division, and the 9th and 21st Regiments of the 3rd Division are the ones who hit the Cushman pocket area. He found the rifle among Marine casualties with a broken stock and took a couple rifles and assembled this one from those parts.

Also I didn't know till recently about the Marine sling. But I have pics of the rifle with the Major and it's the same sling that is on it now. And the Major says in the video he put the sling on it on Iwo. So it was something neat that I didn't know about when we wrote the article on it for the Journal.

I don't want to hijack your thread and I'm sure some are sick of hearing me talk about the rifle. But here are some quick pics.
















This is the Major with his Plane in 1945 on Iwo.



This was the cover of the journal. It was probably one of my biggest honors of my collecting experience getting it featured in the journal. Bob Seijas and Dave McClain both took so much time to help me and help me research everything. It was just a absolute honor to work with those Gentlemen on it. And I have to admit it's probably my favorite rifle.

[Fred]

Well I'm not tired of seeing it. Wow! Pretty darned neat! Thanks Steve! It's Way Cool!
I'm never concerned with anyones posting about anything on any of my threads Steve. Any and all posts are all part of any developing conversation and I welcome them!

[Fred]

Steve, I can see that one of the leather keepers on your sling is an original keeper for a Marine Corps sling. It's the one with both the sewing And the staple in it. Richard Turner says that type of arrangement was typical of U.S.M.C. slings because the saddle makers on the Marine Bases near the West Coast all used staples to hold the loops together during stitching and then just left the staples in after sewing the leather keeper together.

[Fred]

There is a fellow who contacted me first who had asked about buying one. I've promised him the first chance to choose which one he wants. I've sent him these photos yesterday and let him know that if he picks a particular one out, I'd gladly take more detailed photos of it to send him. I've not heard back from him yet as of today. There are a couple of other gentlemen who have told me that they'd like to buy some or all as well. I'll give them the next shot at any they're interested in.
Nobody has heard my prices for them yet, so who knows if any of the gentlemen will buy any or not. There's the minty one and then there are the other three, which are all supple, strong and sound but used.

[TDP0311]

Lucked into this sling on eBay a month ago! Fits nicely into the collection.

image.jpg

[Fred]

Yep, it looks nice! I think I bid on that one myself as well as the last one a few days ago. None others have appeared except those two. You got yours for a good price. I was shelling out money on something else at the time and so had to pass on it.
I dropped out of the bidding on the 2nd sling at $157.00 because really, just how many does a guy have to have anyway? I don't even have a rifle to put it on.