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New Repro M1923 Sling Available for Thompson & Other Small Arms


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A few months ago, I was approached by an individual who is a friend of a board member here about a new, reproduction M1923 Sling becoming available soon. (If that friend wishes to reveal himself, please feel free to do so in this thread.) The individual asked for my support of the product when it became released. My initial response was defensive, because I figured the sling would not be effectively marked as a reproduction, and I would not want to become involved in its promotion. His response was that the sling would be marked as a reproduction, and he sent me drawings showing how it would be marked. It was to be marked "S.M. Co. 1942," along with a new maker's mark close by the WWII mark that identified it as being made by his company. That sounded great to me. As most here know, I take a pretty hard line against "reproductionist" items that attempt to either fool collectors, or that could potentially become mistaken for original items in the Thompson market, and other firearm collecting genres. This one passes the “good repro” test. I am all for good reproduction items, if they can be easily distinguished from the originals. M1923 Slings are pretty uncommon, and so a well marked reproduction could fill a niche. The sample I received on Friday appears as well made as the original, and I anticipate it will be well received by the Thompson community, and other firearm collector communities.

 

To make it even more interesting to folks on this board, these are made in Bridgeport, CT by a company that made similar products during WWII. The individual who contacted me from the company had a grandfather who worked at Auto-Ordnance. So, there's kind of a Thompson connection. I’ve quoted him below, followed by the photo he provided…

 

“My Grandfather Ken Slattery used to work at Auto-Ordnance, and then became a guard at the plant in Bridgeport, CT during WWII, along with Bridgeport Brass and Remington. Here is a picture of him loading one of the trains in the plaid shirt at AOC during WWII.”

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3997.jpg

 

I also received the following details about the company that produces the slings:

 

“Hello David, I wanted to give you a little info on the M1923 sling that is made at RCI Starlite in Bridgeport CT.

 

RCI is primarily a manufacturer of high quality acrylic drums for the music industry, and lead singer mic stands. Our company has plastic fabrication, and a full machine shop with CNC millers, and a foundry that's setup for brass, bronze, aluminum, copper, etc. The shop has pattern makers, a wood shop, and last the sewing section that does leather & canvas.

 

RCI Starlite is an acrylic drum manufacturer, and relocated to the American Fabrics building in Bridgeport, CT. AFC made quite a bit of items for WWI-WWII. On the canvas items, they made the Thompson bags (Private Ryan) , the M1945 cargo bag, the Ammunition Bag, and the Axe Sheath. In 2006, when AFC was sold and getting a make over, the original owner led me to the vault down stairs that was a walk in that had a plethora of items the company made from the early 1900’s – 1995, when the company relocated to Miss. The Bridgeport plant still had manufacturing, but at a small rate. They had a lot of items they were contracted to make including quite a few different slings. There were 4 M-1923 slings that had the SM1942 on them. He didn't know any more info on them other than they had a machine stock of different sewing machines for the canvas items on floor 4 in building #2. We acquired these, and had them rebuilt. It has the end tip machine, and the specialty sewing stitch machines.

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3991.JPG

 

The original spec OD green we use is from an American company that makes it to the spec of .105-.115” thick with the same weave. The sewing machines are the originals making slings. The buckles molds were made to exact specs at RCI Starlite, and then sent to a local company to produce the quantity. Metal on the tips are also a local USA made component. The only original item we use is the sling cam keeper. The whole sling is all put together at RCI Starlite in the American Fabrics building using original machines.

 

Note: We found out later that the slings AFC made were for the Garand. We looked through many of the papers and US Military prints, and it seems that AFC provided components to the sling.”

 

Here are some photos provided to me from the archives of the American Fabrics Co.:

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3973%20(1).jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3977%20(1).jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3976%20(1).jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3982.JPG

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3981.JPG

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3983%20(1).jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_3984%20(1).jpg

 

So, I’m excited to introduce this sling to Thompson collectors. Here are some photos of the newly produced, reproduction M1923 Sling made by RCI Starlite in the American Fabrics Co. building in Bridgeport, CT. I apologize for the bad lighting, but I am away from home at the moment, so I'm taking these in the evening, with my cell phone, by the light from a ceiling fan. I hope to replace the photos with better ones when I get a chance, but I want to get this information out as soon as possible.

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_4857.jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_4858.jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_4859.jpg

 

In addition to the S.M. Co. 1942 reproduction markings, the slings are marked with "AFC" within a circle, followed by "American Fabrics, Made In USA RCI, Bridgeport, CT (Zip Code)" This marking is located about 2 1/2" from the repro WWII mark.

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_4860.jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_4861.jpg

 

These slings are being offered for $69.99 to Machinegunboards.com board members, discounted from the regular price of $79.99, and the list price of $149.99. I don't know the price of shipping, but perhaps someone who orders one will comment on that here. I do not have any direct involvement in the project, except for evaluation of the sample that was sent to me, and the sling's promotion through this post. I think you will really like this reproduction product that will benefit reenactors and collectors. I'm going to put mine on my WH M1 Thompson.

 

Here is the special link for the sling at the promotional price of $69.99 for board members:

 

 

http://www.starlitedrums.com/products/M1923-Sling-American-Made-RCI-Starlite-AFC-940.html?cPath=274

 

Thanks In Advance!

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

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David,

The photo of grandfather Ken Slattery is from the book TOMMY, written by Frederic A. Willis. That particular picture (page 91) was taken from Bill Menosky's excellent book about the Auto-Ordnance Corporation in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I know because I provided the picture to Bill for use in his book. I see three men in plaid shirts. Which one is Ken Slattery? Any chance the names of the other 3 employees in the picture are know? Or what time period the picture was taken?

 

Thanks for sharing!

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Every time I try to post something I get kicked off and have to sign in again. Grrrr. Anyway I ordered one of these slings. Shipping was $16.99 to Indiana. On the order blank it said " limited quantity available ". If anyone is interested.

 

Charlie

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Hello this is a message for TD my grandfather is center on floor with gloves on. My uncle Ken Slattery Jr (retired NASA) and my mother pointed the photo out when paging through Bills book. They said that they saw similar pictures of Ken Sr. in a family scrap book when they cleaning out my grandfathers house in the 90s when shortly after he passed away in 1996. The photos of the scrap book are with my other uncle (Mike) who i have asked to locate for me. best Romano

Edited by romano
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The least expensive $18 shipping is kinda steep, but I couldn't help ordering one of these. Glad to see it's being made, and wish every success for the maker/seller.

 

The only nit I'd like to pick is about color. The WWII SM Co. originals I've seen invariably used OD #3 canvas rather than the later, darker OD #7, and OD stitching.

Edited by TSMGguy
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Right, extremely complex and difficult to rig. Unpopular with troops, but correct as alternate standard with any WWII TSMG. 1942 is the latest date I've seen on an original. Steel buckles were correct for WWII M1923 slings.

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The least expensive $18 shipping is kinda steep, but I couldn't help ordering one of these. Glad to see it's being made, and wish every success for the maker/seller.

 

The only nit I'd like to pick is about color. The WWII SM Co. originals I've seen invariably used OD #3 canvas rather than the later, darker OD #7, and OD stitching.

I don't believe I've ever seen any web gear from a WWII contractor named SM Co. Could you post some examples?

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The AFC M1923 Sling reproduction is darker in the pictures and is lighter in real life and a lighter shade of OD7. we wanted to come out with this one and then we would possibly make the other OD3 colored ones later on. From the begining they were all brass buckles. the steel buckles are the rarest to come by. I have 3 original SmCo 1945 OD7 with square ends and round ends that are brass and the sling has the MRT stamp. the stitching suffered compared to the OD3 units which are nicely done. Having the material made to this thickness is very expensive as well as making it to the original weave and last having an american company make it. Most of the web material that is out there is .069-.079 thick which is too thin

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romano,

 

Great effort, thanks! Am excited that my new sling is due to arrive on Monday, October 16th. That was fast shipping indeed!

 

The MRT stamp was not applied by the original WWII manufacturer. It stands for Mildew Resistant Treatment and was applied during later inspection and repack. A WWII slide buckle should not have the hump on it; this feature is strictly post war.

Edited by TSMGguy
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romano,

 

Great effort, thanks! Am excited that my new sling is due to arrive on Monday, October 16th. That was fast shipping indeed!

 

The MRT stamp was not applied by the original WWII manufacturer. It stands for Mildew Resistant Treatment and was applied during later inspection and repack. A WWII slide buckle should not have the hump on it; this feature is strictly post war.

Thank you very much for the info. sir. yes the original Cam keeper were flat and had an Anchor on them. i wanted to keep the sling somewhat made with original parts etc. most to all of the OD # 3 slings have the flat first generation cam keeper. the od 7 version had a mix of the early cam lock and the later (with hump) I really wanted to use an original part on the sling and choose the cam keeper. very costly item to make. My main thing was to make it here in the United sates using American companies and american materials. there are a lot of repro guys and these are just ordered like food from a chineese menu. I really dont plan on making alot of them. its a special item on a limited production run. there are limited quantities on these. You gentleman on this group are the experts and I welcome your thoughts. I was trusted with a project from a member that passed away Gordon H who made the Viola cases. he trusted us with all the manufacturing specs and details and will be tooling up for these soon. i will keep you posted on sir. thank you best Romano

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Here are some comparison photos of the new sling reproduced by RCI Starlite, and an original S.M. Co. M1923 Sling from 1942. Thanks to Ron Brock for bringing his original sling along with him on our Knob Creek road trip from Tennessee to Kentucky and Ohio over the past 2 days...

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_6856.jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_6858.jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_6863.jpg

 

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/dalbert/M1923Sling/IMG_6867.jpg

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

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Received my new sling on Thursday and it looks and is exactly as claimed.. Really heavy duty. Don't know if it will ever make it to the Thompson. My West Hurley is a repo. so I thought a repo sling would be ok.

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