Apr 27 2005

It’s all a question of slings….

Published by Mugwug at 06:15:02 under Firearms

C7 Patrol Sling on Norinco M14I feel like I have been hunting for the perfect rifle sling for ages.

Slings serve different purposes. Standard (or parade) slings are good for lugging a rifle from point A to point B, and for providing some support when shooting. The 1907 style sling serves as an excellent example of a sling made for steadying the rifle while shooting (this style of sling resides on my M14, and soon on my M1).

“Tactical” slings are designed to keep the rifle ready for use while the operator keeps his hands free. These seem to be broken into a few catagories.

The single point sling attaches to the butt of the rifle, just rear of the receiver and allows the rifle to naturally drop to a vertical position down the front of the operator (I have two versions of this type of sling, one on my AR and the other on my Tactical SKS, each utilizes different attachments to the rifle itself).

The two point sling (or patrol sling) consists of a long loop that crosses over the weak shoulder of the operator and back out under the strong shoulder, and attaches in standard positions near the muzzle and at the buttstock. This allows the rifle to be carried horizontally across the waist when not in use.

The three point sling is a hybrid of the first two, and allows for the rifle to be carried in “patrol sling” fashion across the waist, but with the release of a catch or tab the third point slips along one arm of the sling allowing the rifle to drop to a vertical position akin to the single point sling.

Screw it, I’m going to make my own….

2 Responses to “It’s all a question of slings….”

  1. # freddyboomboomon 27 Apr 2005 at 23:14:58

    I just finished making my 3 point sling from the AR-15 forum destructions…

    Now I have to dig out my CAR to try it out…

    I can also see if it fits on my L1A1. :)

    I did go long on all the webbing lengths.

    I also think that the 1 inch webbing would work, but never having carried my rifles for long distances, I don’t know if the wider webbing would be more comfortable. So take that for what it’s worth.

    Good luck, let us know what you did…

  2. # Mugwugon 02 May 2005 at 21:27:07

    I think it’s great that people have gone to the effort of documenting how they improvised a sling (especially when places are charging some good $$ for them).

    Myself I’m not really building my own sling so much as a harness of sorts to use with a single point sling.

    I don’t much like the way the rifles hang with a single point, and thought I’d see if I could cludge something together.

    Who knows, it may actually work out…