No 5 Mk 1 sling position

[RobD]

Hmm... the Boer Mauser carbine had the sling swivel and saddle ring on the left when issued, so as to avoid the bolt digging in to your back when on horseback.
But: when shooting, if you hold the carbine sloppily, the swivel tries to crack your cheekbone as the gun recoils. It still can hurt your cheek a bit even if you take great care on how you hold the carbine. [I'm speaking from experience here].
So almost all examples of the Boer Mauser carbine have the swivel reversed to the right hand side - an easy switch since it just means unscrewing 2 bolts and doing them up on the other side, and slipping off the barrel band and reversing that too. Now, the No. 5 swivel is not built the same way, the swivel being countersunk - but maybe the loop of the sling itself [if kept tight-ish] will bruise the shooter if it is on the left?
Just a thought.