WANTED Baker Rifle sling

[Frod733]

Hello. I have a TRS Baker rifle kit I am working on. This may be a long shot, but does anyone know the look/dimensions/specs of a proper sling for this rifle? Been looking at British Muzzleloaders on Utube, which has great info on the Baker, but no mention of sling description. If anyone makes these, may I get a reference? Or, if anyone has specs, and can provide, I can make one. Thanks much. If you have pictures, that would be great.

 

[sportster73hp]

Can't guarantee this is the proper one, just what came with my Indian made baker

 

[Frod733]

Thanks

 

[Frod733]

BTW, just curious. Your Baker looks pretty good. WHich company did you buy from. Any comments on quality, fit, etc? Lots of debate on this. I am considering getting a Charleville musket, and was pondering an Indian made one.

 

[sportster73hp]

Middlesex village trading . Took four months and many phone calls before it was shipped.
The quality is great, good spark, usual over bright metal. My only complaint was the fact that it was a smoothbore. New to this sport at the time i didn’t know it wasn’t rifled. The bore measured .654 or .645 can’t remember and finding a good ball size didn’t happen . Used a .025 patch or thicker.
I was lazy on cleaning and the plating near touchhole and on the hammer has come off.
Dealer did a “proofing “ before it was shipped. I know this won’t pass as good in Europe . There have been many negative reviews on this dealer in the forum most likely deserved .

 

[John Spartan]

View attachment 161550View attachment 161551
Can't guarantee this is the proper one, just what came with my Indian made baker

I will claim zero expertise in British slings but it looks like the same as sold for the Brown Bess. Which might be correct or not. Dunno.

 

[Frod733]

Thanks. I know a number of folks have had these smoothbore bakers lined with a quality rifled barrel. Have you looked at BritishMuzzleloaders on youtube? He has a ton of info on Bakers.

 

[John Spartan]

Was just coming back to say that as I have watched several in the past. Baker rifle is my next purchase.
Anyway, back on topic, I do not see any white pipe clay slings on Bakers from the reenactors whose job it is to be historically accurate. Or in any other Baker vid which is what I suspected. Take a few moments and watch videos to get a glimpse of what kind of sling you’re looking for. I’m always learning something.

 

[Packrat]

I also have a Baker, from Loyalist, but I had Bobby Hoyt sleeve it for 54 caliber, bit on the heavy side, my sling is from a Enfield ? I think

 

[sportster73hp]

The white sling seems to be a parade type. Rob has a brown leather one on his Baker.
I did buy a Colerain barrel for mine. Some day i will eventually fit it to the stock. It fits good just need to add the breach plug, tenons . Sights and bayonet lug/bar .

 

[Artificer]

Hello. I have a TRS Baker rifle kit I am working on. This may be a long shot, but does anyone know the look/dimensions/specs of a proper sling for this rifle? Been looking at British Muzzleloaders on Utube, which has great info on the Baker, but no mention of sling description. If anyone makes these, may I get a reference? Or, if anyone has specs, and can provide, I can make one. Thanks much. If you have pictures, that would be great.

Hi Frod,

Your question piqued my interest as I've made different styles of Brown Bess slings and US slings up through the UnCivil War. However, I never had a bespoke work request for a Baker sling. At first, I thought it might be in the style of a Brown Bess sling, but it appears a bit different.

After looking around a bit, I found this one, that seems to have been an original. I must confess the end with the sewn on smaller piece of leather confused me a bit. Normally the leather lace on English Slings was a separate piece of leather and not sewn onto the end. I have no idea if the leather button is original or something added in the field or later on. The description gives lengths, BUT I'm not sure if I would go off this one sling alone.
https://www.ashokaarts.com/shop/rare-early-19th-century-baker-rifle-leather-sling-for-180015-pattern
Below are a couple of period paintings I find very interesting:

Here's a picture of a modern reenactor. You may notice his sling does not seem to have the length of the ones from the original drawings. It appears to not be long enough to actually sling the rifle on one's shoulder as do the ones in the paintings above. It also appears to have a "slide" or "loop" or "sliding loop" over the forward part of the mounted sling that has slipped down next to the buckle.

https://www.95thrifles.com/richard-moores-articles
OK some basic information on period British slings. The Tower issued what they called "plain tann'd" or "blacken'd" leather goods with British Military Land Service Arms. Now IF the Colonels of the Regiments wished to have "buff" slings to be whitened by pipe clay, then they had to pay for them out of the funds given to them by the government to equip and uniform their men OR they paid for the added expense out of their own pockets. Since the 95th seems to have stuck with "blacken'd" leather goods for their uniforms, I personally would not use a pipe clay whitened buff sling nor one made of white leather.

More coming, but I don't want to lose this info, so I'll post it now.

Gus

 

[John Spartan]

Thanks @Artificer
I am pending a Baker purchase (probably the final gun I’ll ever buy) and was waiting to see what Pedersoli puts out - and the price! - in 2023 (reportedly) before I jump on TRS version. Your information above is saved.

 

[Artificer]

Did you order the front and rear sling swivels from TRS? If so, you will get the width of the sling from them. Just make sure the width of the sling is a bit smaller than the swivels.

ALSO, I don't know where to find an exact copy of the rectangular buckle, but once you have the width that will go through the sling swivels, you can check on rectangular solid brass loops. If that doesn't work for you and you can't make one for yourself, maybe if a buckle like the following would be in a size close to what you need and you pull the roller off of it before mounting it.

Brass Metal Heel Bar Buckle End Bar Roller Buckle Rectangle Single Pin Leather For Making Bags From Bobo85k, $12.18 | DHgate.Com

As to the length, I don't know what the distance will be between the sling swivels. Do you have that measurement now? Without knowing the measurement, I'm thinking one of the following 50" strap blanks in the appropriate width for the buckle would work. (Now I would check with a cloth or metal tape measure before ordering.) Oh, the thickness of these blanks is close to the original thickness of Tower issued slings, I don't think I would use thicker leather.

Lightweight Veg-Tan Cowhide Strip Natural

If however, you do want a thicker sling, these thicker straps are available:
https://tandyleather.com/collections/leather/products/heavyweight-natural-cowhide-leather-strips
It looks to me like the original slings only had the buckle on one end, a "slide" that went over the front two thicknesses of leather and a "tied" rear end.

Though the following is a pic of a brown bess sling, here's what the tied end should look like. On the left you see what it should look like from the outside of the sling an on the right shows the lace that would go against the stock.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

OK, now on British "plain tann'd" leather, they only blackened the smooth side of the leather. That meant NO dyeing of the sides or rough side of the leather, the latter which they oiled to keep them pliable.

Though the following is a waist belt instead of a sling, it shows how the leather would have been blackened. ALSO PLEASE notice the stitching for the buckle and how it is done parallel to the length. This was done because stitching across the width will cause the leather to crack in a belt or sling.

Well, that's about all I have right now. Please write if you have questions.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Thanks @Artificer
I am pending a Baker purchase (probably the final gun I’ll ever buy) and was waiting to see what Pedersoli puts out - and the price! - in 2023 (reportedly) before I jump on TRS version. Your information above is saved.

You are most welcome.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

AHA, though this is not a Baker Sling, this is basically what it should look like, only blackened of course.

This is what I meant when I wrote: "It looks to me like the original slings only had the buckle on one end, a "slide" that went over the front two thicknesses of leather and a "tied" rear end."

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Thanks @Artificer
I am pending a Baker purchase (probably the final gun I’ll ever buy) and was waiting to see what Pedersoli puts out - and the price! - in 2023 (reportedly) before I jump on TRS version. Your information above is saved.

John,

I'm writing this just to ensure you don't miss my new post directly above this one. OH, never mind, I see that you saw it.

Gus

 

[John Spartan]

Just need the rifle now!

 

[Artificer]

AHA, though this is not a Baker Sling, this is basically what it should look like, only blackened of course.

This is what I meant when I wrote: "It looks to me like the original slings only had the buckle on one end, a "slide" that went over the front two thicknesses of leather and a "tied" rear end."

View attachment 161996


Gus

Well, I guess I do have one more thought.

Having been a Reenactor in the Major's Coy of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment and since we originally used the "plain tann'd" or "blackened" slings, I made a bunch of them for our guys because of problems we found with using some of the existing repro slings.

Some of the repro slings when short enough to get a "tight sling" for doing the manual of arms, were too short to sling the muskets over the shoulder and way too short for slinging them across one's back, the latter they DID do when climbing scaling ladders, cliffs, etc. BTW. So I found some creative ways to lengthen the slings, but still keep them pretty much period correct.

Also, I was taught to use a "hasty sling" for offhand shooting in Marine Corps Boot Camp and found it can be real handy for offhand shooting.

To get more length in the sling and still basically conform to period norms of a tight sling, I would add length to the sling so the buckle tongue buckles as close to the rear tied portion of the sling as possible. I'm not sure, but I think one could do that with just the 50" strap I posted above. I would also make a second sliding loop to use on the front portion of the folded end of the sling. One loop near the front sling swivel and one back towards the buckle.

Just a thought, in case you are interested.

Gus

 

[sportster73hp]

Artificer thanks for the info. The one i have shown isn’t correct and I didn’t know.
I have a trs Baker Calvary carbine on order, would it be the same style?