Advanced Marksmanship Slings, yes slings...

[ManUtdManiac]

(olde English voice) When I were a lad, and there were rifle shooting competitions and we'd have to use slings and such because it were thought, and rightly so, that slings are part of a rifle and a rifleman should know how to use his rifle in a sling. Whether it be sitting, standing, squatting, kneeling or a combination of these. (end voice)

Ye can't be a rifleman until you use yer sling, laddie, how can you have your suppressors, if yer can't use yer sling! (there's a musical reference there...)

So, I know I have my sling 'routine', but I'm interested in yours - does anyone even practice with slings anymore? Seems people are looking to dead weights to counter recoil and giant bean bags for positional support, but I'm hopeful some old schoolers are still working out and training with slings...

Here's my routine:

1. Slung in prone, then transition into kneeling while trying my best to keep on target, then into standing. each transition with a shot or a dry-fire (I use an IOTA at home).
2. From rifle in low ready and a pack in hand, I place pack down, sling up and using pack / sling see how quickly I can get a steady position in squatting/kneeling. I don't do this at the range as it gets weird looks from the RO's and people come and ask or tell me things. One favourtie was "You look like a pregnant giraffe giving birth". I think that's what I'll call my martial art "The Birthing Giraffe Technique".
3. From a prone on the bipod, to taking the bipod off, putting on a sling and then in prone shooting. Not sure why I do this but it's fun so why not...

I want to make a flimsy barrier, something that I can't lean hard on or put all the weight on without a ton of instability and see how I can use the sling around a structure.

Any suggestions would be welcome. To be honest, doing the above a few times wears me the hell out, it's like rifle-cardio (I've trademarked that bitches).

 

[gunsnjeeps]

As a Service Rifle shooter almost everything is shot slung. I'm working on learning how to do prone without a sling.

I'd say that for you to shoot with a sling and barricade try putting the back of your support hand on the barricade. Also, depending on your setup try leaving your bipod on with your sling. My hand stop ends up about 6 inches behind the bipod.

 

[ManUtdManiac]

YOu mean the rifle in my palm and the back of my hand on top of the barricade?

I was and have been practicing with the bipod legs on the barricade for 'gravity' support and then using sling tension for stability as per normal.

 

[308pirate]

I too was a service rifle shooter for many years. I don't use a sling too much when shooting precision rifles but there are instances when it comes in handy. I modified my PR sling to make the front end quick adjust for length.

I have it rigged with an ITW clip so that I can clip the arm loop to my rigger's belt buckle when shooting unstable props. It does help stabilize the rifle but you have to make sure you are truly square to the rifle to avoid side loads on it.

I did use a sling supported sitting position once at a match to make a quick shot over grass at a plate about 350 yds away.

 

[phlegethon]

I think this is an interesting topic. It seems like nobody uses slings in PRS, but you’d think they would help in stability. The old style slings took some time to set up, but the modern ones (Rifles Only, VTAC, SAP) can be very quick to get into.

 

[ManUtdManiac]

I use the TAB sling, their latest/greatest which is a few years old but great. I had the TIS Sling and yeah, for a set position, it was great, but for adaptability to different set ups, it was slower.

For me, I like slings because it's part of my idea of being a proficient rifleman, not really for comps though.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

YOu mean the rifle in my palm and the back of my hand on top of the barricade?

I was and have been practicing with the bipod legs on the barricade for 'gravity' support and then using sling tension for stability as per normal.

Yes, I've done it in prone with a couple of bags under my hand for group testing. It is a little more stable. I would assume that standing at a barricade you could try it with a hasty sling if you were trying a sling. I haven't shot PRC so I'm not sure about the equipment.

 

[bllistc]

I'm still a relatively new shooter compared to most of you guys but I still shoot a lot with a sling. Just for fun and practice. I took an appleseed course a while back and learned a lot about using it properly. Been shooting .22 and my garand with the sling using what I learned there. I started shooting PRS and dont really use them in competition though.

 

[ScottDWallace]

I absolutely love sling shooting and manage to pick up quite a few points in NRL22 because it seems like I'm the ONLY one that practices it! I went down a rabbit hole making, in my opinion and for my applications, the best shooting sling I could come up with. Still trying to pay off that damn sewing machine!

There's a few "action" shots on my website if you like to take a look.

 

[ManUtdManiac]

very interesting. Have any vids of making adjustments under tension? I"m using the Tab PRS sling but your's seems pretty fast if I understnad the adjustment properly.

 

[hlee]

I think this is an interesting topic. It seems like nobody uses slings in PRS, but you’d think they would help in stability. The old style slings took some time to set up, but the modern ones (Rifles Only, VTAC, SAP) can be very quick to get into.

Might help with stability, but doesn't help with time. With stages being 90 sec to 2 minutes, you don't have a lot of time to be dicking with a sling. And, the modern support bags (pump pillow, cuddle bag, etc) go a long way to taking up the space that causes instability in a shooting position.

 

[Lost_Phil]

I use a sling some times and some times I do not when I am prone or kneeling. I use what I attached which uses a 72" or longer sling to make the loop.

 

[chevy_man]

I use mine often.

One of our match designers likes to leave open ended positions such as "kneeling, no tripod". I'll grab a sling while others are shaking all over.
We played spin the wheel on stage positions one day and I was the only one that got anything besides prone. I pulled out my sling and shot better offhand than anyone else did without a bipod prone. He had the targets placed to make them 1 invisible from prone to handicap the position. Could only see the target hanger, and had to clip grass to hit.


There's also the stages where all you do is waste time. Knowing when to use it, when you need it, when there's time for it.... all part of the learning curve.

 

[ScottDWallace]

very interesting. Have any vids of making adjustments under tension? I"m using the Tab PRS sling but your's seems pretty fast if I understnad the adjustment properly.

I don't have any vids of the sling in use, as of yet. It's really straight forward though. The take-up loop sewn into the tail is color coded bright green for peripheral acquisition. A tug will pull slack through a metal cam buckle that holds fast until you release the cam by pulling the red loop.

There is a white loop to adjust tension on the cuff in either direction. I find that once I get in a position, a little bump on the cuff will snug it even tighter. Though, since I have added the no-slip layer to the cuff, it really is unnecessary to go gorilla tight on the cuff anymore.

Cheers

 

[308pirate]

I had the TIS Sling and yeah, for a set position, it was great, but for adaptability to different set ups, it was slower.

That's what I have. I made some mods to the front end to make it rapidly adjustable in position.

 

[308pirate]

I absolutely love sling shooting and manage to pick up quite a few points in NRL22 because it seems like I'm the ONLY one that practices it! I went down a rabbit hole making, in my opinion and for my applications, the best shooting sling I could come up with. Still trying to pay off that damn sewing machine!

There's a few "action" shots on my website if you like to take a look.

That is awesome. I might just have to pick up a two point. Got any pics of that variant?

 

[308pirate]

Might help with stability, but doesn't help with time.

The majority of slings marketed for "positional" shooting are painfully slow to don and most people don't do enough practice with them to get fast.

As someone else said, you also need to know from experience when they help and when they don't.

But once you have the skill, it definitely helps.

 

[ScottDWallace]

That is awesome. I might just have to pick up a two point. Got any pics of that variant?

Not currently. So far, nobody has wanted to spring for it. It's essentially a female Cobra buckle, a bight of webbing, and another QD swivel. Pretty basic.

 

[hlee]

Looks like a tactical riff on a “Heartbreaker” sling...

 

[ManUtdManiac]

That's what I have. I made some mods to the front end to make it rapidly adjustable in position.

something like the Armaggedon tactical sling? Has an arm cuff and the adjustment. What I like about the Tab Gear is the ability to make the adjustment under tension. Does yours also have that? If so... cool!

 

[308pirate]

something like the Armaggedon tactical sling? Has an arm cuff and the adjustment. What I like about the Tab Gear is the ability to make the adjustment under tension. Does yours also have that? If so... cool!

It's a DIY modification that I made to the front end of my old TIS Slip Cuff sling. I'll snap a pic of it tomorrow.