TOPIC:

I just obtained this Westley Richards ZAR carbine and sling and am hoping for some information on markings on each.
Stamped on the stock of the carbine are from three or four letters, the last two being PD. The possible first two, I am told, could be WD. Below them is the number 13.
Any ideas on the meanings?

The sling is stamped "HEPBURN & GALE_ _ _." and dated 1901. Does anyone have information on the maker or presence of their slings in South Africa?
Thanks in advance.

Reference to your sling question.

Barrow Hepburn & Gale was founded in 1760 under the name of Hepburn and Sons by John Hepburn, after having moved to Bermondsey from Chesham and there opened a tannery. There are records of the Hepburn family working from Long Lane in Bermondsey throughout the 19th century, eventually coming to work with the Gales in both Deptford and Bermondsey. Samuel Barrow, originally working as a tanner himself, from 1848 set up his own company, Samuel Barrow and Brother, based in the Grange. In 1901 there was the merger of Hepburn and Gale with Ross and Co., another leather company from the 17th century, which possessed the rights to manufacture ministerial boxes for the government. Over time, the company became a larger supplier to the British Army – for items such as saddles and bayonet scabbards buckles, and webbing for straps, especially during WW1, but also in the Boer and Crimean Wars.

Through a series of mergers, Barrow Hepburn and Gale came to be "the largest leather concern in Bermondsey in the 20th century  with Hepburn and Gale merging with Ross and Co. in 1901. Ross and Co., another tanning company dating to the 18th century, possessed rights to manufacture ministerial boxes for the government – the famous dispatch boxes with which Barrow Hepburn and Gale would come to be associated.


Dave....

Old Sarge,
can you post photos?

I tried twice to post photos and the site indicated they went through, but for whatever reason, they didn't.
This is what comes up under each photo:
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Suggestions?

May need to resize them so less than 500 KB
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