Sling Usage In the Military?

[JWH321]

My Dad was in the South Pacific in WWII in some pretty tough places. He carried a 30 cal carbine. I still have the sling he was issued. It's like brand new. He told me once that it was like brand new because it never got used, ever. He somehow liberated his Carbine when he came home. It's beat to heck. But it's sling is perfect.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

This is why I like Folding stocks on AKs, you can get the sling out of the way until you need it.

 

[Edarnold]

Guess I'm even older than I thought, since no-one mentioned the most practical configuration of the two-point sling: the hasty sling. Adjusted long enough to carry the weapon muzzle down, swiftly wrapped around the forearm as the weapon is deployed. Almost as stabilizing as the loop sling without the hang ups, but they won't even let you use it in NRA standing position anymore. Fashions change.

 

[threefeathers]

Newer slings are taking hold. I teach classes at Ft. Huachuca and Pima County Parks and Rec and Viking and Larry Vickers have done a great job of figuring it out. You can use these slings for added support and for having your firearm in good position all the time.

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

My nephew was an operator in the Army Special Forces deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was shot from behind while shooting from the passenger side in a vehicle in Iraq and if not for the single point sling he would have lost his weapon but he came to with it dangling from his neck after being hit so he was able to resume fire immediately.

 

[d2wing]

If I recall right, we last trained for marksmanship with slings on the M-14 in 1968. The M-16's had slings but I don't recall ever using it for shooting even at the range or training.
I doubt it ever crossed anyone's mind to use one in combat. It didn't mine for sure. By then we were using quick kill anyway, which I also did not take time to think about.
It is pretty old fashioned way of thinking. But gun guys seem to like old fashioned and obsolete. Style and romantic notions however fanciful, win over ballistics and real world anytime. 45/70 anyone?

 

[C-grunt]

I was trained to use a sling wrapped around my forearm in Basic at Ft Benning in 02. It was not a requirement, like nose to charging handle was, but it was taught as a technique.

In Iraq we used mostly 3 point slings and everyone used them. I later switched to a two point sling. I currently use a V-Tac 2 point sling on my duty and personal rifles. I might switch to the Vickers sling as I like them better but I haven't yet because the V-Tac works well and there are other things I can spend 120 bucks on.