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
I’ve found the V-Tac (Viking) to be the finest sling I’ve ever used and by far is the most widely used in tactical courses and in the field.
I guess I am old fashion. A plain M14 style military sling(the cotton one) is comfortable, easy to adjust and can be used as a hasty sling or a target sling. And it costs less than $25.
All of this great gear available today. Can you imagine what the US gov originally paid for those cotton slings? :>) Being retired on SS, I will have to improvise with a visit to the bulk strap rack to start, then use the old battle proven method and scavenge the ‘drops’, as the fight progresses. :>)
If you ever take a tactical rifle course (highly recommended) you’ll quickly understand the benefits of a quality quick adjust sling and the short comings of cheap, service issue, slings.
On a short rifle i.e. a mouse gun (5.56 AR style), I might agree, but with a full size 7.62X51 or 7.62×63, it seems a bit unwieldy.
My shooting/training partner, who is MUCH smaller than I am carries an M1A all day long in training and while on duty (no wimpy 223 for him). From contact to 600-800 yds you can’t beat it. But, you have to have a good sling. Try that with your sling and you’ll be seriously hurtin’ after three hours let alone after two or three days. Remember, in a good sling you absolutely must be able to transition, almost instantly, from at rest, muzzle down, to shoulder aim to “take a knee” while resting to prone and any variation thereof. If you can’t adjust your sling instantly for all of those “on the fly”, get rid of it, you don’t have a tactical sling you just have something that’s for show and is decades outdated.
Having a quality functioning and fully adjustable sling is crucial, at least for those who anticipate carrying a long gun in the field. Long guns that are predominately bench shooters obviously don’t need a sling. I think Jason has presented some good ones and I too like the padded Viking. Long guns now have so many different accessories that it’s crucial you opt for a sling that integrates with those accessories well. So you don’t just match a sling to the rifle but to all the individual accessories you will be using as well. A single accessory in an odd position can adversely affect a sling so choose with all your accessories in mind. It’s always best to try out a sling to make sure it mates well with your equipment.
Thanks for the product plugs, but based on the title, I was expecting 1, 2, or 3 point sling configuration discussions; not 3 brand name options.
Re: the photo, how does 6 different color options of the same sling get captioned as, “3 Sling Choices for Your Rifle”?
heavy sigh, smh