sling setup for switching shoulders ?

[bxn]

wanted to post the below and piggybacked it on a related thread which happened to be there, but no reply, so I'll try here:

how to you arrange a sling, and what kind of sling allows it, so that you can switch shoulders easily ? I.e., I'm right handed and have my sling set up that way; when I try to switch to my left shoulder (chest/pectoral actually) etc., it's a PITA. I have a 3-point sling (Wilderness). If I do what I think is called 'patrol carry' (strap over left shoulder), I can maybe get the butt over to my left pec, but barely and it's really easy to get tangled up as you switch hands. If I do what I believe is called 'offside carry' (strap over right shoulder), then I strangle myself trying to get the butt over to my left chest (forget the shoulder).

So, in situations where I want to switch shoulders, what do I do ?
- is it possible to do this with a 3-point sling, or is the real (only) solution to use a 1-point ?
- I've tried slipping my arm (opposite strap shoulder) out of the sling, so that the sling goes around my neck. This makes shifting easier. But (being a range commando) I realize that putting a loop around your neck with a 10-lb weight attached isn't maybe too Tacktickel, so to speak. (Make your own "strangle me pleez" or "pull my chain" sign, etc., I know, I know.)

Your comments appreciated, TIA
bxn

[HoboWithAK]

You can always try one of BHI's Chalker slings. They are a single point, but instead of hanging it around your neck, you wear this H-Gear looking thing and it attaches to a sternum strap. A little expensive, though. Where do you live in NY? The only place I know where you could go try one out is at Bradley's Military right outside Ft. Drum. They carry a lot of BHI stuff.

[FreightTrain]

Have you seen or considered going with an Israeli type sling setup?

It is a two point sling. Nothing else to get in the way.

You can use a $2.00 USGI utility sling with paracord or order one from TimW at Practical Tactical.

[Texas Tactical]

Single attachment point Slings will allow for an easy shoulder transition. One of these is the Spec.-Ops. Enforcer CQB Sling which is both a comfortable carry and allows for rapid shoulder transitions. For transitions, the only easy way is going to be a single attachment point style sling.

[Kletz]

Specter Gear (used to the CQB Solutions) has one called the CST that allows for weak side firing. IT's a three pint sling, but with the flip of a buckle,(very simple and easy to do) the sling is released to a two point and allows you to shoulder on the weak side. I had one on my CAR15 until I sold the gun. Very nice and well built stuff. Around $30.

[Artful]

I made mine with release that can slide to front to lengthen for going left -just give you more room in th sling - if you want a picture let me know. I'm making my own as for the price of 3 I have enough material to make 20 - and I can play with different options/designs - check out the internet you will find way more than you want to pay for....

[yasnevo]

Texas Tactical is 100% correct. The single point sling is the way to go. I use a Blue Force Gear Contractor kit... that way, I can use the sling set and put it on any weapon system that I have... that way I don't need a dozen slings...

Y-

[TimW]

There are several options:

The SpecOps CQB Enforcer sling described by Texas Tactical

SpecOps also makes the Wolf Hook, which is a 2-piece strap, one-half of which hooks to the weapon and the other to your vest or LBE. Military Moron uses a setup similar to this, but hooks the weapon to his weak side of the vest, that way if he has to transition to a side-arm, the gun stays out of the way. Downside: If you don't have your vest/LBE, you're screwed (ask me how I know..DON'T ask Yasnevo. [img]smile.gif[/img] )

The Chalker sling is an interesting animal. I bought one to T&E and don't use it. If you're interested, I'll sell you mine cheap, and include 3 extra of the weapon stand-off adaptors.

Other single-point slings are the Specter Gear MOUT sling (very sturdy), Yasnevo's BF Gear sling (which I don't carry yet).

The IDF sling is a nice set up, but does not allow for shooting from the weak shoulder, nor do most of the 3-point set ups, except for the Specter Gear CST sling, which I use on my FAL.

Of course, I can't mention single-point slings w/o bringing up our Frankensling, which combines the best elements of several slings: The modularity of Wolf Hook sling, the 2" wide webbing if IDF sling and the 'body loop' of a MOUT/CQB sling.

[bxn]

hey all, thanks for your replies !

So, I discovered that thinking adds life [img]smile.gif[/img] (which I had failed to do previously). I noted that the fundamental problem with transitioning a 3-point sling to off-shoulder is that the loop around the body doesn't have enough slack to allow the buttstock to move all that long distance to the off shoulder. And that the Specter CST for example solves this by having a quick release which appears to allow the body loop to slide backwards along the weapon "loop", shortening the body loop and adding slack to the line to the butt. Blah blah blah.

To make the story short, I took my 3-point and moved the stop slider which blocks the end of the body loop from moving back along the weapon loop towards the butt, back from close to the muzzle, to about the level of the trigger/grip. Lo, I was able to transition with relative comfort. I noted also that this made the body loop very similar in shape to a 1-point - small loop around the shoulder/torso, hanging from two (close) points on the weapon loop instead of one as in a 1-point, and not from 2 distant points as in the muzzle-close position of the stop-slider. The long run to the muzzle of the weapon familiar from patrol carry goes away...

This was with offhand-drop carry (sling over strong shoulder); I noted that the sling set this way also worked for patrol-style (sling over weak shoulder), and in both cases the weapon hung more or less at the same level as before.

While there was still more crap dangling around (extra webbing) than in a 1-point, it's workable for weekend warriors [img]smile.gif[/img] like me.

Again, thanks all!

[bxn]

and one more - with the shortened body loop, it's still not a done deal to be able to switch to off shoulder. I find that from "offside drop carry" (sling over strong shoulder), you need to rotate the body loop so that the butt is as close as possible to your off shoulder - then, when you shoot strong hand, the butt passes across your chest (not much further than if it hung closer to strong shoulder), while when shooting off hand, the butt's in the right place (near off shoulder) and there's enough slack to sweep the weapon over (across your chest to your strong side) without strangling yourself or "getting stuck" halfway there. Yay.

Remember, I'm an amateur, so don't take this as gospel. But if you have a 3-point sling, it seems transitions are possible with these two steps (1. bring back the stop slider from close to the muzzle to about the level of the grip/trigger, and 2. hang with butt close to off shoulder). As described, the purpose-built transition slings will do this better because they're designed to.