[Russsty]

O'kay, I'm a youngin (33) but been around guns all my life. I watcha lotta westerns some new mostly old spagetti westerns with Clint in them, and always a DUKE western is good. I have never seen one that uses the saddle ring on a lever action winchester, mostly in a scabbard...sooo are these things just for looks or is there some use for them? How do they work? Just run a piece of leather through it and hook it on a saddle horn? Wouldn't that flop around a lot? I've rode a horse or two in my life and even been dumped from a flushing covey of quail...you shoulda been there...Sometimes I wonder how I made it to 33.....

[Andrew Wyatt]

saddle rings are for putting a singlepoint sling on the weapon.

the singlepoint slings used back then are almost exactly like the ones used now. seriously.

[Skofnung]

I know that some cavalry riders (War of Northern Aggression era) used "saddle rings" to mount a "snap on" over the shoulder sling so that when the carbine ran dry they could just drop it and it would fall to the side and they could then draw their sidearm(s) and continue fighting. Kinda like the single point "tactical" slings that are so popular with the HSLD crowd today.

As for using the ring to tie the gun to the saddle, I don't know. I would prefer a rifle scabbard for this.

Regards

edited to add:
Drat! Mr. Wyatt beat me to it!

[45crittergitter]

Ain't a saddle ring what you use to marry a cowboy? :p

[Vern Humphrey]

The snap on is called a "carabiner" and is almost identical to the "snap link" or carabiner used in rock climbing. A cavalryman wore a wide leather belt diagonally across his chest (right shoulder to left hip.) The carabiner was threaded to the belt, with a chain and snap which was hooked to the ring on the carbine.

The carbine was carried hanging muzzle down on the left side (US Cavalry did not adopt saddle boots until about 1890.)

The saddle ring on the M1894 Winchester and similar civilian rifles was used with a thong, which slipped over the saddle horn.

Earlier, it was the practice to cut two slits in a piece of leather. The leather was "buttoned" to the saddle horn, and the rifle carried across the rider's thighs, with the leather folded over and buttoned again.