Sewn or riveted sling keepers

[Houndawg]

I'll be ordering a Les Tam sling soon and need to choose between keepers. He offers sewn and riveted. The riveted ones are cheaper since he has to put less work into them. The sewn ones he has to punch holes and then hand sew. Would there be any advantage of one over the other?

[Sunray]

Rivets have a tendency to work themselves out. Stitching doesn't.

[Steve Smith]

On a Tam sling, the rivets won't work out. I have three of them, all riveted, and they are absolutely awesome. The string in the sewn type can rot over time and break at an inopportune time.

[Houndawg]

Steve,

Thanks. That's the info I needed. One of the reasons I was asking was that I had read in Jim Owens' book about cutting the thread and resewing the keepers when they got stretched out, but didn't know how often that needed to be done, if at all with moderate use.

[BlindRat]

Les uses Nylon. Rotting thread is not an issue. Also, loosening keepers might be an issue with other makers slings, but if you're slinging up properly, it isn't so with a Tam sling.

If you still insist, he says, you could conceivably remove the old stitching, peel apart the overlap (glued) then restitch with an awl. But then you'd really have some excess time on your hands and holes in your pockets, because keepers just aren't that expensive.

Riveted or Stitched? It used to be a rules thing. DCM/CMP allowed only stitched. NRA allowed either. (or was it vice versa?) The rule was rewritten to allow both Riveted and Stitched for both a few years back. With Les' keepers it's just an aesthetic issue now. With other makers the restitching question might be a valid one.

[30Cal]

I've shot about 2 matches on average per month for the last 3 years and my stitched keepers (Turner NM sling--it's pretty much equivalent in quality to the Tam sling) are still tight. That doesn't include dry firing 3-4 times a week. I do have to clean the sling (saddle soap) 2-3 times a year and the black stuff that comes out of it is something to behold! I put on a very light coat of neatsfoot oil after it dries.

Wearing out keepers might be a concern if you shoot every day of the week with one of the the surplus MRT type slings that many of the service teams were using for the longest time. They stretch out in all sorts of ways.

I haven't had a sling w/ riveted keepers. I'd probably stick with what's worked for me in the past though.

As far as slings giving out at an inopportune time, I keep a surplus web sling in my shooting stool as a backup.

Ty

[BlindRat]

I think that anyone that's held or used both a Tam and Turner sling will tell you that there's no comparison. I'd previously posted pics of M14's on the "Stock Art" thread. It just happens that one pic illustrates a Tam sling and the other illustrates a Turner. By my eye the difference is very apparent even with my poor photography.

Here's an interesting story. My friend John Arcularius is a big guy and likes to sling up tight He shot for the USMC on their "big" team for the last few years which would include daily practices during the season. That his Tam sling survived a single season of John's abuse is amazing. That it survived John's stint with the USMC MTU is an incredible testament to the construction of the sling.

My first Tam sling is dated 1990. It would still be in use if it were long enough to use when I transitioned to the AR in '99 or so.