Was the carcano, CE 139, painted black?

[Jerry Freeman]

The sling was professionally installed...
Who did the job?

[Walt Cakebread]

The sling was professionally installed...
Who did the job?

I believe that the carrying strap  ( it's not a sling) was made for the carcano.   The liars have attempted to sell us the BS that Lee made that strap out of an old US Army air corps pistol belt.   That's utter BS!

But back to the two photos that definitely display two different rifles, one with a brown wooden stock and the other with the stock painted black.   I'm now wondering if the rifle found in the TSBD did not have the serial number C2766 ..... Yes, I know that  we've seen photos of a carcano barrel with that serial number stamped on it but was that the number that was on the TSBD rifle when it was found?   It's a very easy job to switch the barrels from one carcano to another.