Sorry, I might not have been clear on what I intended.

I would say that my Carbine was probably original when in service with the RNWMP. It was probably sold as surplus, and the civilian owner(s) (or Bubba's Grandfather) then cut the forestock down, and removed the studs for the leather sight cover.

The holes were probably then drilled in the butt stock and the forestock so that rawhide leather straps could be attached through them and the rifle carried that way.

I have seen other Canadianicon pieces modified like this, and in a way it makes sense. With towns few and far between on the Canadian frontier, and gunsmiths even more rare, it would have been fairly simple to drill a hole through the wood stock of a rifle. Leather was readily available, so a sling could be fashioned and the ends fastened after threading it through a hole.

The principal mode of transportation was the horse. Therefore, some kind of sling or attachment was used to carry the rifle on the horse, or on the rider. Riding horses of the period were generally not as well trained as they are today, and might even be referred to as a bit wild and "salty." To be caught without a weapon, (and particularly a rifle) on the plains could easily result in one's death, so the sling for carrying a rifle on a person's body was probably preferred for the civilian or native man of the day.
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