MG34 sling validation

Post by **Pug42** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:44 am

Hi - got an MG34/42 sling as part of a job lot and as it is virtually unused the markings are very clear. However I'm puzzled by the fact that the metal fittings are painted black as I thought this was something the Germans didn't do, and I've only seen unpainted ones up to now.

It has a WaA 040 stamped into the leather, maker mark erg and a 43, presumably the date. The buckle has WaA892 just visible on the curved shaft, the top of the chicken hasn't registered due to the curvature.

Going to try and put pics in...

Any comments? Is this genuine?

Post by **JBaum** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:49 am

The square depression around the 3 letter manufacturer code and the date numbers remind me of the reproduction leather holsters being sold now. I've never seen a square depression around a stamp except for those holsters. The stampers I've seen were all tapered with no surrounding material left around the numbers or letters. The buckle looks correct, but I haven't seen one that was painted either.

I'd guess it to be a genuine buckle on a nicely reproduced sling.

Post by **Pug42** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:06 am

Thanks for your comments - kind of the reverse of what I was thinking (genuine leather and repro buckle!). I don't know much about it's history except the guy I bought it from had had it for a few years. He had a whole bunch of stuff, most of it genuine, some repro or post war but easily identified as such, that he was clearing out to fund his (get this!) Kettenkrad restoration... this is the only item I have doubts about. If it is a good repro (don't necessarily want to call it a fake) then it was done some time ago.

Is there anything else I can look at/show a pic of to help decide? I have a pic of the padded bits here...

Any thoughts on value??

Post by **TOM R** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:34 pm

i got a cloth split sling supposed to be a repro and it has a waffen on the buckle also

ak47dennis · Post by **ak47dennis** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:40 pm

I have a well worn original sling purchased out of Austria and my buckles are painted like yours, if you look at all the k98 ammo pouches coming from Russia they painted all the metal hardware and retaining rivets on them !! If you wire wheel off the paint you can easily tell if they are real or repro, (mostly all the repo slings I have seen have blued hardware)

IMA pulls that trick,

1. Application of fake in-house stamp
2. Then they slop black paint over top?

Post some pictures of the Karbiner that will tell the whole story.

CRA · Post by **CRA** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:30 pm

Post some pics of the metel fitting on the other end

clintonlover · Post by **clintonlover** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:51 pm

Looks like a legit sling with enhanced stamps. Does the leather have any patina, odor?

Post by **Pug42** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 5:24 am

Hi - I inevitably post in what is the wee small hours of the morning for you guys! I had another look at it when I got home last night. The erg stamp does not in fact have a rectangular 'box' around it - it appears to be an optical illusion in the photograph - one edge is a scratch or indent but it isn't 'square' to the stamp itself, and the other edge has nothing at all except the way the light catches the tiny 'pebbling' or grain in the leather. However.... the 43 stamp definitely has a square edge! Confusing or what?

I looked up erg - can't recall the name now but they were credited as manufacturers of drivebelts....!

My best guess at the moment is the sling is 'probably' genuine, with a postwar lick of paint on the metalware. My reasoning is that why would somebody go to the trouble of doing such a good repro/fake on such a low value item?

I'll take a shot of the hook at the other end of the weekend and post Monday (I'm at work - naughty!) From memory it may actually be blued/phosphated black rather than painted so it may be the sling has been put together from a selection of non-matching parts, possibly postwar....

Hey... how much can we talk about a sling? Maybe I should just get a life....

smoggle · Post by **smoggle** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 3:53 am

Pug42 wrote:Hi -
My best guess at the moment is the sling is 'probably' genuine, with a postwar lick of paint on the metalware. My reasoning is that why would somebody go to the trouble of doing such a good repro/fake on such a low value item?

:

If it is a low dollar item it is most likely a fake. Original slings, in the Colonies here, go for almost $100, sometimes more depending on condition. A stamp can be made reasonably cheap. Especially if you can make many impressions with it. Guys take an unmarked Garand stock and put a GHS stamp in the wood and a $20 stock goes for more than $200. A person who knows their stocks can generally tell by other features if it is real or not.

Does it hold your gun? Good. Are you happy with it? Good. Don't worry then if it is original or not. I am not sure I would want a 60 year old piece of leather holding up a $3000 semi or a $15000+ full auto. Have an Amish man make it and it will good as gold.

Post by **Pug42** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:45 am

I'm not 'worried' about the sling, just curious really

Here's a pic of the other end, or karabiner, that someone asked for... and then that really will have to be it won't it!

I don't doubt people will fake anything... but hey, as you say, it holds the gun up!!

Thanks for your help guys...

ak47dennis · Post by **ak47dennis** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:30 am

Based on the Karbiner I would say its not a repro.

Post by **Damien Horn** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 8:03 am

Hi,
Just in case any of you come across a similar strap on your travels, this strap is 100% original. It is in near mint condition and the black paint on the metal fittings is also original from 1943. The reason it is so good is that it came from one of the Portuguese contract guns and has lived its life in the transit box in some army store in Portugal all of its life. Those of us who remember the first batch arriving in the UK will have seen almost bleach blond leather straps coming out of the transit box's. There are not too many like this floating around today and David obviously got it from someone who broke up a transit box set years ago. I have now acquired the strap and fitted it to one of my gun, it is in super condtion and I am pleased to have got it.
D.

Post by **Pug42** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:02 am

Thanks Damien - what you say makes perfect sense to me as when I got the strap it was part of a job lot that included a near perfect transit chest, the aluminium patronenkasten mentioned in another thread and a barrel carrier... oh and a gun with matching '78' serial to receiver and barrel jacket but an un-numbered top cover. My guess is the original top cover had the Portuguese crest stamped in plus the special Rheinmetall markings that give away the fact it was one of the 1,000 exported in 1943, and the owner replaced it with an unmarked example... so it all kind of adds up.

The seller never mentioned about them being original to the box, but it explains why the strap and can are in such fine condition.

The gun was deactivated in 1989 which ties in datewise with the Porto guns coming on the market, right?

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MG34 sling validation

MG34 sling validation

100% the real deal.