Slings
The sling is an important accessory for your rifle. The sling can act as an aid to carrying the rifle
or as an aid to shooting the rifle. Carry
slings range from simple straps to tactical slings of varying complexity. Many of the carry slings can also be used as shooting
aids. I’m going to discuss the use of the
sling as a shooting aid. Since we’re interested
in working field rifles, I won’t be concerned with the full-out target slings, although
some police SWAT marksman have adopted full target slings.
The shooting sling performs two functions. The first is an aid to accuracy. The second is recoil control.
As an accuracy aid the shooting sling steadies the support arm. By securing the rifle in the shooting position
the sling can make recoil more consistent from shot to shot but, more importantly,
it helps the shooter maintain his position under recoil, reducing recovery time
between shots. (The improvement in recoil
control is going to be barely noticeable with a 5.56 mm weapon.)
A shooting sling will change your point of impact (POI), usually
downward. While it makes the recoil more
consistent and lessens muzzle rise, it changes the recoil characteristics from the
same weapon under free recoil. Additionally,
depending on the weapon and sling, it may shift the barrel mechanically changing
the POI even more radically. The worst example
is the hasty sling.
The hasty sling is attached at forearm and buttstock. When pressure is applied to the sling, it tends
to draw these two points together. With a
standard sporter and a non-free floated barrel, the pressure of the forearm against
the barrel will be lessened. This can cause the POI to shift downward.
Some modern military rifles
are hinged at the receiver so that the weapon can be easily field stripped. An example of the hinged rifle is the FAL. The front sight is attached to the barrel which
is in turn attached to the upper receiver.
The rear sight is attached to the lower receiver. If you use a hasty sling on an FAL it will apply
pressure against the pivot point and cause a change in the relationship between
the front and rear sights causing your POI to shift down significantly.
The M16 series of weapons also has a hinged receiver. Unlike the FAL, neither front nor rear sight is
attached to the lower receiver. However,
the M16 barrel is not threaded into the upper receiver but is instead slipped into
the receiver and held in place with a large nut. The flex point on this rifle is between the barrel
and the upper receiver. Because the front
sight is attached to the barrel and the rear sight is attached to the upper receiver,
changes in pressure on the forearm can cause the POI to shift down with a hasty
sling, or up with a field rest. A free-float
forearm will reduce this tendency.
Any rifle with a two piece stock- such as a Winchester model
94 or an AK- can show similar shifts of POI with a hasty sling.
The CW or Ching sling as espoused by Jeff Cooper is attached
at the front and rear of the forearm. This
system was used on Mauser rifles prior to WWI.
When you sling up in the CW, all the pressure is applied to the forearm so
the only downward shift in POI will be due to the change in recoil. The CW sling is faster to use than even a hasty
sling but provides approximately the same support as a target sling. The Ching sling is an improvement over the CW
as it allows for use as a carry strap without removing and reinstalling the sling.
Two other types of combination carry and shooting slings are
typified by the U.S. model 1907 l-¼” leather
sling and the U.S. M1 canvas sling. When
looped up in either of these slings, the only pressure point is on the forward sling
swivel. Because this type of sling isn’t
trying to bend the weapon between two sling swivels, you will see very little change
in POI as compared to the hasty sling. The
support hand is tied to the forward sling swivel which prevents it from shifting
or losing contact with the forearm under recoil. The sling further ties the support hand to the
upper support arm locking the support elbow at a fixed angle. Since muscular tension is no longer required to
hold the elbow in position, the support arm becomes a fixed monopod and quite stable. Note that the shooting sling is only effective
in increasing stability if you have somewhere to plant that support elbow, so it
won’t do you much good in the offhand position.
The M1907 is often marketed simply as a military sling. The 1907 is complicated to install and adjust
but, once adjusted, is fairly quick to loop up.
Leather can crack, rot, or stretch so one of the competition 1907s made from
a synthetic is preferable on a working rifle.
The M1 in canvas or nylon doesn’t suffer from the same environmental
factors as the leather and the M1 is much easier to install and adjust. However, the M1 is a serious pain to loop up and
takes perhaps the longest of any of the shooting slings. I wouldn’t loop up in an M1 outside of formal
competition.
So, when to loop up in a shooting sling: First, you need the increase in accuracy. Second, you need the increase in recoil control
for multiple shots. Third, you have time
to loop up. Fourth, you are shooting from
a position that allows a base for your supporting elbow but not something you want
to use for a field rest for the forearm.
Fifth, you aren’t going to need your support hand in a hurry. As you can see, the circumstances where a shooting
sling is going to be useful on a fighting rifle are pretty slim.
On a sniper rifle, I prefer a synthetic version of the M1907. On a battle rifle, I prefer a simple carry strap,
a patrol sling, or a tactical sling depending on the area and type of operations. Here are some links to M1907 instructions from
Fulton Armory, info on the Ching and CW slings, instructions for the M1 web sling,
and links to military rifle manuals.
(The original links are old and may not work. Here are a couple of current links.)
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