Okay, I've been trying to research 601 slings. So if what I'm seeing in old threads here they were not the nylon seat belt sling correct? Canvas type like what was used on the M14 and M1 Garand but not exactly?

I was gonna grab a seat belt sling, but now it looks like that's wrong.

Are originals obtainable? If not (or at least if not affordably) what's the next best option?

I think my clone will be decent but it's not 100% so if accurate is not easily obtainable, I'm looking for close!

Nylon came later.  A good ole cotton garand sling would be correct IMHO.

The 601 slings are very unique.  They are not easily obtainable and also very, very expensive.  There are not many around.  Your best bet would be to get a regular m1 cotton sling and cut off the H keeper, or just run it as-is.  As we often see this sling on early rifles anyway.

Mtomoso - Before you edited thinking there might not be such a thing, I wrote this:

There is definitely such a thing, and it is well documented, and ive had a couple.  The fabric weave is unique, the stitching at the clip unique(small box shape vs later large rectangle shape), The (when new) wax covered end cut at clip and when used the frayed end cut and also the lack of an H keeper is unique.

If I get some time I can post photos, however they are already out there.

To start, the 1st contract for the nylon "seatbelt" sling was 1969 per Bill Ricca.
As for 601 slings. They were provided by Colt, Colt wanted to be the sole provider of the 601 and sold them as a package to include the lightweight cleaning rod, energa sight, sling, bayonet, and waffle mags.
Per Bill when I picked his brain many years ago he told me that it was a mom and pop canvas place in New England, either Mass or Maine I forget that made the slings for Colt. He was in the middle of a move, so he was not actually able to get to the copy of the written contract he had. I never followed up and he got sick and has passed.

The 601 sling is similar to but different then the cotton canvas M1 sling. (Nomenclature is M1, not meaning M1 rifle). It does not have the adjuster (belt buckle) like the M1 sling. The web is run thru the lower J clip assembly then sewn off. The end of the webbing appears to have been dipped into paraffin or something similar to prevent the webbing from fraying. Overall length is just under 49 inches on this real example. See pics (courtesy of Tgus) below:
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We have also come across slings that the end, after being inserted thru the loop, was folded over then sewn. I have begun to question those as being maybe repairs?? Could be real 601, but just not sure anymore myself.

If you click on this link to retro black rifle web site, then click accessories, then slings. The top black sling came with a NOS in box, Nov 1964 SP1. Construction is the same as the green (Tgus) sling I posted above but for the SP1 was dyed black.
If you look closely at the 2nd set of pics, the one on the right, you may be able to make out what I meant by the end was folded over then sewn. That type sling is quite a bit shorter than the real known 601 sling and the black SP1 leading me to believe that type may have been a repair rather than a factory made 601 sling.

http://www.retroblackrifle.com/

Thanks for the replies everyone!

It's amazing how many details you realize there are when you start digging deep into the early models.

So it sounds like I will not get an original, and no one is making a repro of the correct type, so I guess an M1 sling is what I will go with. I have a few either on Garands or late Springfields, or in my sling box. I'll see what I have.

That is where I was getting confused trying to follow along. Your picture above and you said it was just folded over and sewn but on RetroBlackRifle it looks to be folded over then under and sewn.

I was thinking the 601 had its own sling. I seen one on GunBroker once that sold pretty high. It looked just like a standard M1 to me but they said it was in fact different somehow. It also had a date or numbers on it.

Yeah, that's why I tried to expand on it. That was old info in RBR, nothing there really got changed when new info was found. Until I spoke to Bill that time, no one had real solid info about the 601 slings. Several of us did come across ones that were slid thru the loop, then folded over and sewn. Hell the 1st one of that type I found was in a trunk I have. I was putting together uniform stuff for a living history display, found that sling in the trunk. The one Tgus got and the black one from the 64 SP1 came from legit sources. And is why I now question the ones folded over then sewn.

As for the one you saw on GB, there are M1 slings dated 63 and 64, not 2 full years, but the maker stamped into the D end tab MRT and month/year.. Is that what you remember seeing?

Don't really remember. This was back in maybe 2021 / 2022. I was just getting into retro. I seen a thread on here about 601s. Then shortly after a bunch of 601 stuff got posted on GB and it was talked about in that thread. It was like someone was parting out a couple of 601s they had. With extra mags, slings, etc. I just remember seeing the sling going for way up there and there was talk about it. I remember there was talk about it having something stamped on it. I just remember thinking at the time, it did not look any different than a $20 one to me. Heck, back then, it all looked the same to me. Now I see the tiny differences.