1791 Gunleather Premium Rifle Sling, by Thomas Christianson

The 1791 Gunleather Premium Rifle Sling is a nicer-than-average, leather, two-point rifle sling. It is expertly handcrafted in the USA of American heavy native steerhide with a slip-resistant suede backing. The workmanship is excellent, with outstanding cutting, stitching, and finishing work.

Full Disclosure: 1791 Gunleather is an affiliate advertiser of SurvivalBlog. SurvivalBlog will receive a small commission if you use our link to order.

The sling cost $54.99 at the time of this writing from 1791gunleather.com. That is surprisingly affordable for a high-quality, handcrafted, American-made product. SurvivalBlog readers who use the discount code “survival10”, will receive an additional 10% off their order.

If you own a nicer-than-average rifle, and want a nicer-than-average two-point sling to go along with it, this one would be a good choice.

Background

In February 2024, SurvivalBlog Senior Editor James Wesley, Rawles (JWR) received a message from 1791 Gunleather and passed it on to me. The message invited SurvivalBlog to review their products. I looked through 1791 Gunleather’s line of handcrafted leather holsters, gun belts, EDC tool organizers, mag carriers, speed loader carriers, handcuff cases, and other items. I finally decided that their premium rifle sling looked especially interesting. I asked if they could provide me with a sample for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree.

Not too many days later, a small box arrived at my doorstep.

First Impressions

The first thing about the sling to catch my eye was the quality of the workmanship. The heavy gauge leather is extremely well stitched, and is surprisingly supple for its thickness. The quality of the leather makes the sling more durable and attractive than the average leather rifle sling.

The sling widens at the shoulder, so that the weight of the rifle is distributed over a wider area, making shoulder carry more comfortable than would otherwise be the case. The sling then narrows down to the connection points, so that it fits standard 1-inch swivels.

The slip-resistant suede backing is also effective at helping the sling to actually stay on the shoulder rather than constantly sliding off.

Adjustable brass binding-barrel-and-screw hardware secures the ends of the sling after they pass through the swivel.

A tag that comes with the sling says, “Handcrafted one at a time.” Based on the high quality of the leather work, I believe this claim to be true.

Testing

Using a pair of Uncle Mike’s Quick Detachable Super Swivels that I had on hand, I attached the sling to the studs of a Ruger American Rifle Gen II in 6.5 Creedmoor that I was testing. I then used the sling to carry the rifle throughout the testing period. It made transporting the rifle much more convenient than would be the case without a sling. I often had other items in my hands as I was carrying the rifle up and down stairs, to the range, or to the cleaning table. It also matched the “gray splatter” finish of the Ruger stock exceptionally well.

There was one area in which the high quality of the sling became a slight inconvenience. That was bench rest shooting. The leather was a heavy enough gauge to impart a little spring to the rifle when the forearm and butt stock were resting on sandbags. This problem was easily remedied by removing the quick detach swivels from the sling studs during each range session.

When I was done testing the Ruger, I transferred the sling to a Benelli Nova shotgun that I was also testing. The sling worked just as well for carrying the shotgun as it had for carrying the rifle.

Next, I tested the sling on a Saiga 223. The existing front swivel on the Saiga was too tight for the thick leather of the premium sling. I added an adapter to the swivel, and was surprised how well the 1791 sling worked. I was expecting the leather to be stiff enough to get in the way when I moved the rifle from the slung position to the firing position, but that was not the case. The premium sling worked well, with the suede holding it on my shoulder much better than the nylon of the cheap sling that I had been using on that rifle.

Then I tested the sling on an 1893 Spanish Mauser. I had purchased this classic rifle from Elk Creek Company, using purchase credits that I had won through the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest back before I was hired as Field Gear Editor. It was interesting to reflect that the time that passed from the ratification of the Bill of Rights to the manufacture of the rifle was less than the time that passed from the manufacture of the rifle to the manufacture of the sling. But the sling fit perfectly in the swivels mounted on the old Mauser, and made it easy to carry.

Finally, I installed the sling on my Savage 110 Storm. It looks great on the rifle and carries it well. It is nice to have a great sling on my favorite rifle. At the completion of my testing, I was very satisfied with the performance of the 1791 sling as a 2-point sling.

Other Sling Types

In addition to the classic 2-point rifle sling that is used primarily for carrying a rifle, there have been a host of other sling types developed over the years.

Some slings, like the M1907, CW, or Ching-style slings, can also be used to help stabilize the rifle while shooting to improve accuracy. The 3-point sling and 1-point sling allow the shooter to drop the rifle and let it hang downward while still attached to the body.

By the way, Kyle Rittenhouse used a 1-point sling effectively while defending his life during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020. Unfortunately, most unedited video of the incident seems to have mysteriously disappeared from the Internet. After extensive searching, I finally found some at Reddit. I hope that this video does not also disappear by the time this article is published.

I am confident that many SurvivalBlog readers have a wealth of rifle sling knowledge that would be valuable to the wider SurvivalBlog community. I would like to challenge them to write about one or more of their favorites, and submit the resulting articles to the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. It would be a public service, and the prizes are great.

About 1791 Gunleather

1791 Outdoor Lifestyle Group is based in Miami, Florida. There are four generations of dedicated leather artisans who craft the wide variety of products offered by the group. The group owns 1791 Gunleather, 1791 Tactical, and 1791 EDC — among other brands.

The Group was incorporated in 2015 as “2nd Amendment 1791” in honor of the ratification of the Bill or Rights in 1791. They changed to their current name in 2022.

The lifetime warranty on their products covers any defects in material and craftsmanship under normal use for the lifetime of the product. The warranty does not cover normal wear and tear.

Firearm Sling History

The first firearm slings were probably just lengths of rope or cord tied around the barrel and butt stock of long guns to assist in carrying them.

Some say that firearm slings first came into wider use in the mid-1600s or so in order to allow grenadiers to carry their firearm while throwing grenades. Slings worked better with flintlocks than with earlier ignition technologies like matchlocks, and became increasingly common in European military use as flintlock use spread.

For some reason, slings did not seem especially popular in the Continental Army during the American War of Independence. The muskets that were imported from Europe to equip much of the Continental Army typically had sling swivels installed. But when the stocks of these rifles were repaired by American gunsmiths, the swivels were often dispensed with. The rifles produced domestically in the Colonies also generally did not incorporate sling swivels.

This negative attitude toward slings seems to have followed American settlers in their westward migration. Although military rifles manufactured in the east gradually came to incorporate sling swivels, rifles built for frontier use generally omitted them.

Conclusions

The 1791 Gunleather Premium Rifle Sling is a high-quality, American-made sling that looks great on a rifle and carries it well. If you have a nice rifle and would like a nice sling to go along with it, the 1791 sling would be a great choice.

Disclaimers

1791gunleather.com was kind enough to provide me with a sample of their Premium Rifle Sling for testing and evaluation. Ruger was kind enough to loan me a sample of their American Rifle Gen II for a previous review. Benelli was kind enough to loan me a sample of their Nova shotgun for another review that I am working on at the time of this writing. Elk Creek Company is owned and operated by James Wesley, Rawles, SurvivalBlog’s Senior Editor. Savage had previously loaned me a 110 Storm for review. I subsequently purchased that rifle. I tried not to allow the kindness of these vendors to interfere with my objectivity, and I believe that I have succeeded. I did not receive any other financial or other inducement to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.