CD87 p92 - SS tells us the rifle Kleins shipped to Hidell was a 91(T)roop (S)pecial carbine

[Albert Doyle]

The "veer" that you see is exactly what convinces me there's a fastener there. Clearly how he's holding the gun means that gravity isn't forcing the strap to curl up to the bottom of the barrel. If not gravity, then what?

The ring.

If you have a very good eye you can see the loop in the rope where it attaches to the ring in the enlarged photo. Since the Gil Jesus close-ups show there is no rope going past this loop attachment I just realized the extra bit of rope I thought was veering towards the side is actually the ring. And the end of that ring doesn't go into the bottom it goes towards the side. The extra bit that I thought was rope is actually stiff ring. I believe the reason the rope goes to the bottom first is because the stiff ring is holding it there. However the attachment point for that ring is on the side.

In fact, the strap twists to show itself more side-on to the camera at that point, and I see a dark spot in the middle of the strap at that very point, before it falls down and twists away due to gravity. The part of the "strap" that continues past the bottom of the barrel towards the side could just be the loose end of the strap after the fastener, like how a belt goes a bit past the last belt loop.

If you look at the Gil Jesus site there is no rope on that sling that goes past the ring. It loops around the ring on the sling side and stops.

You have a good eye Drew. You noticed the dark spot. I believe the dark spot is the end loop portion of the rope that loops through the ring. You are looking at it sideways so you can see the void. On the ring, since the sling attachment loop is usually opposite the attachment point on the mount you are seeing evidence of the ring being attached on a side mount. Look closely. Rope loop on one side, side mount attachment point on the other.

I'm gonna find that picture, but IIRC, the recovered homemade strap doesn't look much like the one in the backyard photo.

The best picture of the strap and its mounts on the recovered rifle is here:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6025[/ATTACH]

Clearly a leather strap with a leather pad and 2 side mounts on the rifle. The strap could easily have been changed in the 7 months between the photos and the shooting, but unless this particular gun came with both a front-side and a front-bottom mount, it's a different gun from the backyard photo.

Go to Gil Jesus' site. He shows a sharp photo of a Carcano with bottom mounts. This is very important because the barrel bottom mount goes laterally in relation to the rifle, which means if the ring on the rope sling was attached to it it would be in line with the rifle lengthwise. So you would be more likely to see an open ring in a view from the side in these photos.

Look at Gil's sling mount photos. His photo makes it look like the ring attaches directly to the metal fixture on the rifle. (Remember the ring belongs to the sling, not the rifle) Then look at his bottom mount example. You will see the ring would not attach that way and would be attached longitudinally to the rectangular bottom mount fixture Gil shows. Again, more evidence against the backyard photo showing a barrel bottom sling mount. All you would have to do is get a rope sling mount with an attachment ring and connect it to a Carcano bottom mount to see what I'm talking about. Then do the same with a side mount Carcano.