The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: fightingquaker13 on January 01, 2011, 03:56:50 AM
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Ok. this is going to sound like a very basic question, and I'm a little embarassed to ask. But, as I tell my students, "You should never be embarassed to ask for help, you should be embarassed if you don't". So, here goes. I have owned and shot rifles for most of my life. Sadly, for me, the sling is just a tool to carry them. I need to buy a new one for my AR and the one on my .270 is getting a bit long in the tooth. So:
A) What kind of sling do I want? And please, lets confine it to basic models, not tacticool gizmos. No offense, but the majority of the time its just going to be used to lug the rifle around, nothing more.
B) How do you properlly deploy a sling to increase acuracy for shooting off hand?
Question B is my main concern. I feel that I have been given incomplete instruction here. I doubt I am alone. Any help in this regard would be appreciated by me and probably others. :-[
Thanks guys
FQ13
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http://tinyurl.com/33zvglj ;D
the Simple Sling System looks ok I will leave it for the experts though
i just wanted to post the link hehe
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I suggest you check into the apple seed program . Here is a link that may help http://www.rifleshootermag.com/shooting_tips/sling_0612/
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Here is a link that shows a few pictures and some instructions.
http://carnival.saysuncle.com/001086.html
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Here's a WWII training video on using the sling. It is aimed at the M1 Garand but is no differant than what we were taught with the M16
http://www.archive.org/details/Rifle_Marksmanship_with_M1_Rifle_Part_1
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B) How do you properlly deploy a sling to increase acuracy for shooting off hand?
Question B is my main concern.
FQ13
A sling can really help in prone, sitting, and kneeling positions. But in offhand/standing, not so much, because there's really no solid structure that the sling can work with, or in tension against, however you prefer to think of it.
You appear to be asking about use of a primarily carrying sling/strap. Lotsa guys will snake their arm through there in an arrangement called "hasty sling." This SEEMS to offer some solidness/stability, but in my own testing, it doesn't really. No real difference shooting offhand with or without the "hasty sling." It seems to be mostly a psychological thing. If you think or feel like it improves your shooting to shoot hasty sling, then by all means go for it, as it certainly doesn't seem to HURT anything.
Run your own experiments and see how it works for YOU. Get a .22 rifle and try shooting it offhand at, say, 25 yards--that's plenty of range to prove whatever there is to be proved here. Try it both with and without hasty sling. Your results might differ from mine.
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FQ,
Come on over to my pages at www.shottist.com check out the Ching Sling. (and if you want to borrow one, just ask!)
Andy
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Just went to the link provided by Solus and read the following:
I must add that a sling is of no use, other than psychological, when shooting from the standing or offhand position. You must have something to support your elbow for the sling to work its magic. Using a sling from the Standing or Offhand positions is akin to having a rifle rest held in your left hand two inches off the shooting bench. The rest itself is steady, but of little use when it is not supported by something.
A variant of these techniques is called the hasty sling. It can be used whenever you don’t have time to loop up properly. One merely inserts their arm through the gap between the sling & the rifle, wraps their hand around the sling as described above & grasps the rifle. It’s not as steady as a proper sling position & it too does no good when firing from the standing position, but from Kneeling, Squatting, Sitting, Prone or an improvised rest it will help your aim a little.
Glad to know that it's not just me. ;)
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Thats kind of why I posted. I got a bit of training in ROtc, but it didn't seem to help much for off hand. I thought they just didn't teach us right or I missed something (both are possible). If on the other hand, there is little there there, I feel like less of an idiot :-\. I will definately watch the reccomended videos. Thanks guys.
FQ13
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That is like asking for the best holster, or asking which oil on a car forum ::)
Hard to argue w/ Col. Cooper (or Andy) about a ching sling. Easy to install on a railed AR, takes a little work on a bolt gun.
I make my own out of rock climber's tubular webbing and tri-glides.
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Hard to argue w/ Col. Cooper (or Andy) about a ching sling.
Agreed. So let's see what he (Cooper) had to say on the subject in The Art of the Rifle, his definitive work on riflery.
In the section on the use of slings, including the Ching sling, in shooting: absolutely nothing about standing or offhand shooting.
In the section on OFFHAND POSITION, page 73:
The sling is not used from either the standing or offhand position. In my youth several coaches encouraged the use of what was called the "hasty sling." It never did anything for me, and it is geometrically unsound. If you are hunting thick country, in fog or at night, it is best to take it off your rifle.... (I)t will do nothing for your shooting.
And there you have it! ;)
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In the section on OFFHAND POSITION, page 73:
The sling is not used from either the standing or offhand position. In my youth several coaches encouraged the use of what was called the "hasty sling." It never did anything for me, and it is geometrically unsound. If you are hunting thick country, in fog or at night, it is best to take it off your rifle.... (I)t will do nothing for your shooting.
So, I've always wondered:
If the sling provides no advantage for standing then why is it against the rules of High Power shooting to use a sling in that position?
RULE 5.12 Standing - Erect on both feet, ........................... The sling may not be used for support and may not be wrapped around the arm or hand.
I'm not disagreeing with Col Cooper, I'm having a hard time believing the NRA would put in a rule just to be helpful.
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So, I've always wondered:
If the sling provides no advantage for standing then why is it against the rules of High Power shooting to use a sling in that position?
I'm not disagreeing with Col Cooper, I'm having a hard time believing the NRA would put in a rule just to be helpful.
You'll have to ask the NRA. While you're at it, then ask them why they DO allow it for sitting, kneeling, and prone. ??? ??? ??? Maybe they're just trying to save you a bunch of trouble and effort for nothing, and/or maybe it's a safety issue in the standing position.
But do your OWN tests and see if the "hasty sling" does anything for YOUR offhand shooting. You never know, it just might. Hell, I know that it does nothing for mine, and I still do it sometimes, just because it FEELS like it's helping, or should be. ;)