Comfortable field sling for heavy rifle
- Thread starter ssteve
- Start date
I still think it’s hard to beat the 1907 sling. It’s what I use on every rifle of mine. The only update is that rather than leather I’ve been using one made of a rubberized Kevlar.
I like the Blue Forcer Gear padded slings for that very task. They adjust quickly and are comfortable enough to tromp around all day with. Either that or put it in a backpack.
I love the M1907. Turner leather makes a great one and I have several in leather and biothane https://turnersling.com/
For long range carry of a heavy rifle I use the TAB Gear Biathlon Sling https://www.tabgear.com/products/biathlon-sling
For long range carry of a heavy rifle I use the TAB Gear Biathlon Sling https://www.tabgear.com/products/biathlon-sling
- Mar 6, 2018
- 805
- 188
Have a VTAC padded and bungee. Bungee probably wont be firm enough, but the padded version is nice. Very similar to the BFG mentioned above.
I have a Triad Tactical padded sling on my 14ish pound 308 and I love it.
This or the Vickers padded sling. You can find one or the other for a pretty good deal at PX if you can go to one. Then if you're a vet Blue Force has a discount. I can't remember about Vickers, been a while since I dealt with them directly.
If this is JUST for toting around over the shoulder and comfort is #1 and cost #2, a surplus (usually can find 'em new) SAW or 240 sling is a great option. Just a long, thick padded sling with buckles on either end so use whatever swivel you want.
1907 for CARRYING a heavy rifle? Uh-uh, hell no. That's a shooting sling and there's a reason for the heavy jacket and glove in NM courses.
A biathlon type sling will work wonders and works very well with heavier rifles on long hikes - on foot, cross country skis or snow shoes. I know Tab Gear makes one but mine is an old sports sling that has seen probably in excess of 15 years of actual biathlon before I got it.
Finnish company 3HGR makes some interesting slings influenced by biathlon and old military slings, too.
Finnish company 3HGR makes some interesting slings influenced by biathlon and old military slings, too.
I use my Armageddon gear sling. I find the bungee helps fatigue a lot when the rifle is heavy but is stiff enough to keep it from bouncing around.
Thanks for the mention. These two slings should do anyone very well.
CARBINE/MULTI-USE SLING
www.riflesonly.com
Yeah @Dthomas3523 , I was talking about the Bungee one.
Little story,
I went to Rifles Only as a part of a military class. We showed up with our issued MK20 kits which have a thin, HK style sling on them. These slings were not sufficient for what we were going to do. Jacob asked us if we could purchase some of his bungee slings so that we could have success in the sling shooting part of the class and we said we couldn't. Our unit was REALLY tight with money despite having lots of it to waste on stupid stuff.
We showed up to the class the next day and Jacob told us that a "well off individual" wanted to donate a sling to each of us for the class and so that when we deployed with our rifles we would have an adequate sling for shooting and carrying our rifles. We all were pretty sure that "well off individual" was Jacob himself, but he didn't want the credit for it.
I have never told this story before but I think it is relevant when you are considering who to do business with. Jacob is a really good guy in every way and his bungee sling actually makes carrying and shooting a heavy rifle easy.
Little story,
I went to Rifles Only as a part of a military class. We showed up with our issued MK20 kits which have a thin, HK style sling on them. These slings were not sufficient for what we were going to do. Jacob asked us if we could purchase some of his bungee slings so that we could have success in the sling shooting part of the class and we said we couldn't. Our unit was REALLY tight with money despite having lots of it to waste on stupid stuff.
We showed up to the class the next day and Jacob told us that a "well off individual" wanted to donate a sling to each of us for the class and so that when we deployed with our rifles we would have an adequate sling for shooting and carrying our rifles. We all were pretty sure that "well off individual" was Jacob himself, but he didn't want the credit for it.
I have never told this story before but I think it is relevant when you are considering who to do business with. Jacob is a really good guy in every way and his bungee sling actually makes carrying and shooting a heavy rifle easy.
OP you can find an M60 sling... That M60 machine gun was heavy, the sling was wide about 2.5" and padded about 1/4" made it easy to carry.
These days, you can find M249 Saw slings cheap, too. I even put them on my traveling bag, much more comfy than the thin nylon strap bags come with.
+1 for TAB biathlon sling, too.
Sirhr
First I am a fan of the RO sling like a lot of others on here (I have owned several other recommendations on here) that said, I know this is late, but it's never too late to update your kit.
No matter what rifle you carry, if you are hunting in the Western US and hiking, you're going to want two hands free. While you can attach rifles to the pack, of course, they just aren't going to be fast or quiet to get off and on target. A lot of hunting in the West is also in the winter if you're looking at Elk and Mule. The reason this becomes important is that as in the picture below you might have 4+ layers on, this rounds your shoulders (everything) and slings tend to want to slide off. Sure you can clip them but the weight is still 100% on our shoulder. That magnum is in the 9lbs and change in field trim (with a full featured MK5) and slinging it all day still sucks. I used to hunt with a heavier setup, but rather put the extra weight in the tripod.
I used the KUIU gun system as well as a couple of others but hands down the Kifaru Gun Bearers are the best. They are simple with most of the weight on the hip belt on any pack like the KUIU, but unlike the others, they are easy and fast to load the rifle and lighting fast to deploy the rifle, all while holding the rifle super secure. I run mine a bit backward so I can tuck it in tighter, keeping the ejection port against my body so snow doesn't get in and more upright than the images on the Kifau sight shows. But either way works.
One tug on the strap near my chest strap and the rifle is out. Never had an issue with anything releasing in even when crawling under brush on all 4s.
Gun Bearers | Kifaru International
PS I use the same system to hold my bow - I just took the time to share what an old dog learned after years of doing it the harder ways. Slings are great but not the answer to everything.
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