What type of sling would go on a P-14?

P14 sling

Either Leather or common canvas Enfield sling I believe Lou. One of the repro leather jobs you see around on eBAY etc. would look nice and would be correct for Long-Lee, P14, Ross etc.

Cheers
Geoff
 
I wonder if there's some confusion regarding the Pattern 14 sling and the Pattern 14 rifle. I don't believe they were designed for each-other although seeing as how the Pattern 14 sling was moved to rear echelon service because of the tendency of leather to rot in the trenches and replaced with canvas web slings I would expect to see it on a rear echelon rifle.

Here's a P14 in the hands of a Latvian in the 1920s. They were supplied to Latvia in 1919 by the Allied powers and the Latvians used it to defeat Bermondt-Avalov and the "West Russian" (German) army. Looks like a web sling.

LatvianwithP14.jpg
 
I've seen a WW2 British training video where the troop had a web sling on his P-14. I think the leather slings would have been struck from service long before the rifles would have been.
 
Most likely sling found on a WW1 era P14 would have been a P1908 web sling, though a good many P1914 leather slings were also used in rear-echelon service.

The web sling is/was a better sling as it didn't rot like the leather one did in the trenches.

Sadly, you will probably have to settle for a ww2 era P37 web sling, which is basically identical to the P1908 web sling. WW1 dated P1908 slings are rare and expensive when found these days. I think all that changed between the two slings, if I recall, is that more materials were authorized for use on P37 slings, such as copper-washed steel fittings, steel rivets, etc. while on a P1908, only brass was used.
 
Actually, the M17 was often issued with the Kerr No-Bukl sling. The standard sling for the P-14 was the standard P-08 web sling. The P-14 leather sling was originally intended only for training and home service, along with the rest of the P-14 leather gear. By 1916, many front line units were using the P-14 leather gear and slings due to P-08 web shortages. The web was always the preferred material after 1908.
 
And I thought that'd be a simple question, with a simple answer :)

Thanks folks, I'll see what I have tha best matches in my web slings.

Cheers!

Lou
 
I have a photo of my great uncle (XII Manitoba Dragoons) taken during his training in Debert, NS (circa 1941). He's carrying a P14 fitted with a P37 web sling.
 
The Latvian in the picture is not using his sling anyway, so what does it matter what it is made of.
It even looks too tightly done up to even use as a carrying sling.
 
H4831 said:
The Latvian in the picture is not using his sling anyway, so what does it matter what it is made of.
It even looks too tightly done up to even use as a carrying sling.
Click to expand...

This is a very strange comment. I would suggest increasing your dosage or vastly, vastly, decreasing it.
 
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