In my opinion, there are a few must haves for every rifle you own. First, you’ve got to have sights whether you’re using iron sights or an optic. Second, you’ve got to have a lighting system, and finally, you need to have a sling.
The truth is, I’ve never had someone show up to one of my defensive rifle courses without a sling (although I’m sure it’s happened elsewhere) but I have had people show up with “improper” slings that were not very comfortable and made for a long day of training.
Obviously, you don’t want to end up in this position or have a “cheap” sling that falls apart during your training, so let me share with you a few slings that I have on my own rifles and that you may want to consider too.
One of my favorite slings is the Viking Tactics Sling. The reason I like this sling is because it’s instantly adjustable. In other words, when you’re shooting from various positions you just press down on a metal clip and you can instantly shorten or lengthen the sling as needed.
I’ve had my Viking Tactics Sling for years and have never had a problem with it. The company also makes a padded version of the sling for increased comfort, and if you carry a rifle often this is the one you’d want to get. The Viking Tactics Sling sells for around $43, which isn’t a bad price at all.
Another of my favorite slings is the Wilderness Giles Tactical Sling.
I just put this sling on a new Ruger 10/22 I purchased. What’s nice about this sling is that you don’t have to drill any holes in the buttstock of your rifle. It just slides over the buttstock and you can put in on your rifle in a matter of minutes.
This sling is also extremely durable so you should only have to buy one of these in your lifetime. The Giles Tactical Sling is slightly more expensive than the Viking Tactics and sells for around $50. But still, that’s a small investment for a quality sling that you should never need to replace.
Other slings you may want to check out are the ones made by Magpul Industries. Magpul makes all types of solid products for rifles and their slings are no different. They’re easy to adjust and quick to detach. Magpul just introduced a new sling this year called the MS1 Sling System, which makes it even easier to modify your sling and get it exactly how you want it.
Of course, there are many other sling makers on the market, but you can’t go wrong by going with any of the three slings I mentioned above. All of them are $50 or less and well worth the investment for all of the rifles you own.
Photo by Viking Tactics
