10 minute read
THE CAGE: SLINGS
THE CAGE: SLINGIN’ IT!
THERE ARE MANY ASPECTS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU’RE SETTING UP YOUR PRIMARY FOR AIRSOFT, AND OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THE LEGIONNAIRES HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING THIS IN DEPTH. NOW WE COME TO A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT WHICH IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED BY MANY, AND THAT’S YOUR SLING! BILL AS USUAL LEADS OFF…
So, to sling or not to sling? When I received my training courtesy of Her majesty’s Armed Forces way back when the sling was a piece of equipment that was pretty much frowned upon! Yup, we were taught that the place for your personal weapon was in your hands, and that it should never be more than an arm’s length away from you… we all learned over the course of many hundreds of press-ups that an “arm’s length” was a subjective measurement at the whim of the DS…
How things move on though, and the fact is that the sling has actually become a useful piece of equipment in our weapon manipulation drills! Sure, a sling will help carry your rifle, but a GOOD sling will also be able to serve as a support, helping you to maintain that key point of aim.
There’s actually an entire science behind the humble sling that we won’t go into here, and although there are many, many types of sling that all offer “benefits” and work better with different platforms, it’s probably easiest to focus in on two of the most popular models for airsoft, and that’s the single-point and the twopoint.
Starting with the latter, a two-point sling is exactly that; it attaches to your primary via two points, usually with one on the butt or stock, and one on the rail or front stock. However, not all two-pointers are equal! A simple canvas/web two-point like the one that you’ll see on weapons of a historic nature or vintage are usually “passive”, and though they are adjustable for length, that’s pretty much all she wrote! A modern two-pointer allows for much more…
A modern design two-point sling is different from that old carry strap in that they are designed primarily to retain the weapon on the shooter’s front side rather than on the back or over the shoulder. They offer superior platform retention while also allowing the shooter to quickly bring the primary on target from a slung position, often with a QD release to enable extension from “rest” to “shoot”. I use a couple of different models of this type of sling, one from Direct Action in Poland, and one from Viking Tactics in the USA, although the new VIPER VX sling offers the same features for less money and is really all you need for
airsoft.
For many, many years I used a single-point sling; the single-point excels at accommodating a wide variety of shooting positions and movements at the cost of support and retention. Attaching to a dedicated plate at the lower rear of the receiver, a good single-point will give you freedom of movement to perform swift manipulations and strong/weak-side transitions. Used as a punch-out brace for a stockless primary like the MP9 or MP5K it also helps to strengthen your overall shooting position, allowing you to keep shots on target better. However, a single-point makes it harder to stabilise your primary when you let it loose to transition to a sidearm, sometimes resulting in the dreaded “crotch smash” for unwary users if they’re not careful!
For me a single-point is the ideal sling for CQB-use where my primary will be in my hands the majority of the time, but for general field-use I definitely prefer the two-pointer as I’ll often need to secure my AEG or GBBR while I carry out other tasks like team comms or map-reading!
TEAM TALK
So, my question to the members of the AA Legion this month was simply “Do you use a SLING on your primary? If yes, what type of sling do you prefer (Singlepoint? Two Point? Three Point? Padded or Unpadded?) and why? If it’s a no, then why don’t you choose to use one?”
Stewbacca: For the PSG-1 I have a slightly padded two-point sling permanently attached to it to help carry the weight and have it sit nicely across my chest at rest. All my other guns have a QD Fastex buckle attached at their rear or in the area of the pistol grip which attaches to the floating QD female clips which slide along the custom integrated slings on my plate carriers and allows for single-point slinging and ease of transitioning which works fine for the vast majority of gameplay I’m involved in.
I also have a larger male Fastex QD buckle on the front of most of my guns which can be clipped into the left side of my play carrier either with the gun in front, or once it’s slung over my shoulder at the top
limit of the integrated sling so it’s held tight across my back for any instances where I have to use my hands or sidearm for longer.
Robbie: Sling = two-point kevlar (melt proof); I use my sling to transition or carry. I want the rifle out of my way but quick to access. So, long carry would be quiver style across the back, but most carry is single shoulder, transitioning is over my left shoulder muzzle down. I can do this one handed while drawing my sidearm and I can also take it off my shoulder one handed and into a shooting position faster than most
can draw a sidearm and without getting leg-burned or crotch smashed like singles do. I usually run an AKM for note; I attach mine via kevlar paracord. Pull loop front and depending on either paracord or shockcord rear point (allows me to stretch over rear of stock and around front post for out of the way).
Miguel: A sling is a must for me, as a team leader, I’m always handling maps, objectives, or other items depending on the event. I normally use a Viper Tactical VX Sling, it’s comfortable, strong, and it has a fast length adjustment, it’s perfect for what I need. Mine has seen a LOT of use and ZERO issues.
Dan: A sling is a must-have accessory in my book. If you’ve ever done a 2 or 3 day MilSim that has a lot of rucking and long distance patrols, you’ll wish you had one. It’s also good to have for just being able to free your hands up, doing transitions, pulling grenades, working comms, maps, etc.
I’ve been using two-point Blue Force Gear VCAS’s since forever. Most of my stuff is equipped with QD sockets now, so I can easily transfer slings around with the push of a button. But there’s a few guns like the AK and SVD platforms that have a permanent VCAS mounted out of convenience. I have them looped through the factory sling loops and run an AK or HK hook up front. I normally wear it with the strap looped over my neck, and adjust the slider as needed. For the heavier guns like the PKM, I’ll use the padded version of the VCAS which makes carrying them much more comfortable. I’m a big fan of the material and slider design on these. They have the perfect amount of grip and smooth sliding. The slings themselves have been absolutely bombproof, with the only signs of wear being the heat-transfer logo wearing off after a time. I did just pick up a Magpul MS3 to run as a single-point for the MP7. That thing is just short enough that a two-point feels like it’s crowding it, and a single-point can be used without muzzle tapping your nuts when doing transitions or taking a knee lol
Jimmy: For me a sling is prerequisite! I love finding myself in that situation when you have to draw on your secondary. In the event you need to use your pistol speed is usually of the essence and we all know drawing your sidearm is quicker than a reload in the heat of the moment. If you need to shoot and move then putting your primary down is not an option this is where your sling comes into play. It’s something I drill a lot, getting the rifle out of the way and getting
to the pistol quick; some would think it to be an easy task, while it looks to be easy doing it fast and fluid takes practise.
As I use a selection of slings getting the movement right is paramount. Now it all depends on what primary I use at the time and I have three go to slings which all play different roles. Note all my slings are replicas and not the real deal so I don’t always have 100% confidence they will hold out but so far I have only dropped one rifle. My favourite is the Magpul style MS4 Dual QD; this is a fairly robust sling which can adopt different roles and has a fast-adjust system and can easily be switched out for both left and right handed shooters. This one I mainly use for my smaller CQB platforms.
Next up is my Magpul-style MS3, much like the MS4 but without the QD; instead there are two lockable hinged clips, great for sling plates. This one I will use for my slightly bigger rifles and use mainly for outdoor. Both the MS3 and MS4 I use as a singlepoint but both are capable of being used as a twopoint should you feel the need. The third I use is a Nuprol two- point sling which I use when I take the larger, heavier rifles out; being a two-point it helps spread the load a bit but it does make transition between primary and secondary a bit slower, but a little practise helps. With the two-point I also use it to help balance the weight a little by ensuring proper placement, so when I grasp the front of the rifle the sling sits across the top of my hand aiding with accuracy.
Chris: It depends on the Kit/Gat. For my AUG’s I use a standard issue no frills ADF sling (basically an L85 sling with a different clip), and for my AR’s a singlepoint bungie sling (mine is Nuprol) that’s the same/ similar to those used again by the ADF, you can see a pattern forming here can’t you? On my Steyr Scout I need to get hold of a Ching sling, but at the moment I use a two-point sling by FRV Tailoring; again no frills but it works and keeps my rifle on my shoulder when bimbling about in a tactical fashion! AA
