Rifle Slings
Friday at Camp Perry I shot the 1903 Springfield Match. The 1903 and the Vintage Military Firearm match were run concurrently and the competitors mixed on the firing lines. I was in the late afternoon 9th relay because I shot Infantry Team Trophy in the morning. I got to my firing point and found two great guys, from Tulsa, shooting K31s in the Vintage match.
Did I mention I shot a doe dead as Jimmy Hoffa’s wingtips with a K31 and Swiss GP11 ammo last year? No? How about that I won the Texas Vintage Military Rifle Championship with the same rifle and ammo last Oct? I love K31s.
The guy next point over was shooting a beautiful Schmidt Rubin 1911 rifle. On the other side was a P17 Enfield. Up and down the line you could see mausers, Swedes, K31s, Enfield #4s all placking away at the 200 yard target centers.
My guys were a plumber and an architect from Tulsa. They had driven up just to shoot this match, the Garand match and maybe the M1A. The folks that shoot this match are more recreational than the team shooters. The team shooters all have carts, jackets, gloves, scopes, sight black, snacks, sunblock, mats, et, et. And slings.
My guys weren’t using their slings shooting prone. They also weren’t shooting really badly, but weren’t shooting that well either. I think they shot a 241 and a 151 out of 300.
I unlimbered my 1903 sling with the clip at the back. I unclipped the back. I pulled a loop out of the sling where it passes through the middle of the buckle. I turned it OUT and put my arm through the sling all the way up past my bicept, with the buckle toward the outside of my arm. I wound my hand out OVER the sling and then under it at the front swivel. When I rolled into prone I was locked in. The rifle was as steady as shooting off a sandbag. I relaxed my front arm and just used it as a rest. I had a shooting mitt on to relieve pressure on my hand at the swivel. Since the 1903A3 doesn’t have a floated barrel, I didn’t have tons of pressure on the rifle, just enough to steady it out.
Nearly won the dang match. 285X6. We were shooting Greek 30-06 issued by the CMP. It wasn’t too bad.
I taught the army to shoot for a bit at Ft Hood. The army folks put “carry straps” on their M16s. Admitedly, mostly thats what you do- carry a rifle, but you would think they could teach at least a hasty sling technique.
If you don’t know how to sling up and shoot, I’m sure you can find a better teacher than me on the internets somewhere. You oughtta. Everyone ought to know how to shoot from a sling. I’ve got a leather Turner sling on both my match ARs and Garand. All my deer rifles are slung for carrying and shooting. Slinging up isn’t a mystery that can’t be easily learned. The Tulsa guys could have bought themselves a lot of points shooting prone with a sling.
1903 green web slings are cheap. The cotton ones grip better than the later nylons. 15 bucks max. Turner makes a good sling along with Les Tam. Uncle Mike makes a lousy leather sling. Turners are about 48 bucks. Worth every cent.
August 8th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
damn, robert, you obviously have a lot to say
Keep it up.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Sorry, just blabbing on. Your fans will miss you a LOT before by the time you get back!
August 8th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
From what my son said about Basic, the sling is just that, a carry strap. I don’t think they ever mentioned the idea of using it specifically to steady you, and he’d have been yelled at if he’d done it on his own.
First time I tried out the 1903 sling I stuck on my M1, it was amazing; as you say, once you get settled in prone it’s almost like a bench rest. I’d like to get a half-dozen of the cotton ones you mention(can’t afford that many of the good leather) for other rifles.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Just looked at http://www.AIMSurplus.com. They have K31 Swiss rifles in walnut stocks. 200.00. Great rifle.
I ordered a Schmidt Rubin 1911 rifle front sling swivel for my K31. The K31 has the sling on the side, the 1911 has it on the bottom. The barrel bands are interchangeable. I can sling up the K31 now with much less problem.
Texas Vintage Mil rifle championship next month. Going with the K31 I think.
August 9th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Didn’t know that about the 1911, I’ll have to try to find a band.
August 9th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
In the Small Arms Firing School up at Perry this year the coach I had said that they didn’t teach any slung up positions generally as the sling swivel was attached to the barrel* and the slings would bend the barrel significantly when in position. Although the M16 I shot did pretty well with a sling–I’d think you could still get away with the sling tension.
Blackfork, I’m loving the Camp Perry/High Power posts… I just took it up this spring, and I’m hopelessly hooked. I didn’t shoot very well at Perry, but as I told my teammates, I was really happy to be disappointed with the scores I shot–I sure wish the cut for the NTI had been where it was last year.
Any advice for getting a consistent offhand position?–do you have one of those formulaic place buttstock here, grip here, do this, etc., ways of building your position? I can’t seem to do it the same way twice–I get a nice steady position, but it’s almost always pointing different places. I just started doing this this spring, so I’m trying to pick the brains of folks who know what they’re doing any chance I get.