upnorth

You sure they aren't marked from the Rock Island Arsenal (not armory)? It is still in existence and is a government owned weapons manufacturing arsenal. A friend of mine works there and it is the largest facility of its kind in the western world. Now for the bags I am no expert but I can tell you that I wanted a pair to mount on a saddle I am fixing up, (see the other thread in this forum about "trying to fix up this old saddle") and I looked and looked on ebay for near 8 months waiting for a decent pair to come along at a reasonalble price and I can tell you that all models of these bags go for a fair amount of money particularly if they are in good shape and original. In fact anything McClellan is pretty popular these days. I finally bought this pair and I had to give (I'm almost embarrased to say this) $225. They are in good shape though as you can see. I'd say they generally go for $100 - $250 depending on condition and the rarity (who made them & how many were made) the most expensive I saw went for $350 and were canvas, they were a real late model w/very few made. I'd say anything made at RIA might be a pretty big production run but you would have to look in some book to find out exactly what the marks on the bag you have mean and how many were produced. About repairing them its hard to tell what I would do without seeing them but if they are in a state of disrepair I would at least try to put them back to correct configuration. If they have well done period repairs that is OK but all boogered up no. If its just some sewing your talking about to repair the bags your friend has that doesn't sound like to much of a big deal. It would probably be worth it. For the ones I have I also found some McClellan parts to mount the bags, the brass pin and the "footman" loops the bags attach on to. I haven't yet, but intend to rig these up on a strap the way they would have been on a McClellan and make it so this strap can be mounted on my old saddle. TC

Bruce thank you kindly for the information that is precisely what I needed to know. I see on the Siegel website that there priced @ $5.55 per and I am assuming that is per sq. ft.? That doesn't sound like to bad of a price to me either. Jason yes I build guns and have a blacksmith shop, I see your from N.C., I learned a lot about both of those things from a fellow down your way, him & a fellow from Williamburg, VA. Thanks for the help & regards, TC ( -18 below here at the moment- at least the sun is out though!

Can't someone tell me where to get a sheepskin for lining????????? I guess I have got this project pretty far by myself so far maybe I will just keep looking and figure it out on my own. Thanks anyway,,,,, T. Clark Mountain, WI

I picked up this here saddle last summer. It was wasting away in an old barn and hadn't been stored properly, it had really been neglected for quite some time and was beginning to dry out, I don't think it would have lasted much longer if I hadn't talked the owner out of it and hauled it home. Now I don't know to much about old saddles and nothing about repairing them, but I really kind of thought it was a neat thing so I decided to try and fix it up some so I could ride it. There is no makers mark on it that I can find only the # 1411 on the keeper (which looks original but has never been used). It has a rawhide covered wood tree with a wood horn. The horn is 4-5/8" wide. The gullet is a full 7" and the bars are long & wide with a double twist. The stirrup leathers had 2 pins with a big safety pin arrangment for adjustment. The stirrups had been adjusted all the way up and the ends cut off. All of the hardware is solid brass. The stirrups are oak & wrapped in galvanized sheet. It is all roughout, everything including the cinch straps and strings were roughout. The leather on the seat is really heavy and a measured 1/4" thick. The whole thing is made out of this really heavy leather. It appeared to be all original except for the forward cinch straps which look to have been replaced a long time ago. Someone at one time also added some screws to the rigging which appears to be good and solid yet. I took it all apart and gave it a good cleaning and began to treat the leather. The sheepskin, stirrup leathers, forward cinch straps & strings were in need of replacement. The horn also had to be restitched which I did. After treating the leather it came back to life pretty well and I got some new latigo strings and forward cinch straps and also some stirrup leathers. It took me a while to figure out how to replace the stirrup leathers but I got them on there and also put some Blevins buckles on. I also put a twist on them and made a couple brass conchos (even engraved them some) for the ends as keepers. I took the skirts off and removed the sheepskin and carefully picked out all the stitches. This is where I could use some help---where can I find replacement sheepskin and is there anything I should know about putting it on? Would there be someone out there that would be willing to put the sheepskin on for me? If someone could tell me anything about this saddle like who might have made it or how old it is I would be interested in hearing it. I figure it is from the 30s' judging by some of the hardware that is on it. The stirrups have the old black iron square nut bolts. Anyhow thanks for listening,,,,,,,,TC