Sling options without modifying rifle

vonn said:

I sometimes use a sling as a shooting aid but any time I am hunting etc. I keep my rifle in my hands so that I am ready in case of an opportunity for a shot that if it were on my shoulder I would miss. Would probably never transition from a rifle to a pistol for any reason except complete failure of th rifle. Don't remember where I got it but have always remembered the "a hand gun is for fighting your way to your rifle". In RVN the only slings were on M60's and a lot of guys didn't even use them on those.

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I use a sling as a shooting aid when hunting. I also agree with you on the transition to pistol thing but there are competitions and games where this is done, so that is why I asked the OP. I don't use any of the newer tactical type slings, so no help there...

I do have one question though... Using the standard sling swivels on the Sport, won't the rifle want to hang upside down if slung across body with a two point sling? Wouldn't you have to run the sling through the slot on the stock to get the rifle to hang in an upright position?

vtecluder617 said:

Hey guys,

Did some searching but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I want to purchase a 2 point sling, but I don't want to modify the rifle in any way ( I see a lot of the good slings require mods to the rails and buttstock to accomadate QDs and such)

I am simply looking for a sling that will use the existing attachments on the rifle, BUT, I wanted something that I could detach with ease. (Not looking for ones that I have to thread through the existing loops)

I see the Magpul MS3 has what appears to be metal clips on each end. Could I simply use those clips to attach directly to the existing loops on the rifle? Any input on whether this setup would work, or not work, would be greatly appreciated. Any insight for this AR noob?

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In a word, yes. I have an MS2 on mine (discontinued but you can pick up 3rd party clones on Amazon) but the MS3 should work just fine with the standard sling loops.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=264001&d=1483905178

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Black-Tactical-Metal-Clips-Rifle/dp/B01MSALMDS/[/ame]

Welcome to the world of Gear bud:

- No one piece of gear is universal. When you find the perfect sling, perfect holster, perfect belt, perfect H-gear, perfect vest, pouch...knife, gun..etc... that works great in all situations, let me know and provide a link.

- Only want to use the traditional sling mounts? Well, they were devised with the strong side sling arms position in mind and didn't take into consideration transitions to pistol because the technique was not widely used and peeps didn't get issued a rifle/pistol combo.

- Don't want the weapon to "flop" when transitioning? Or not rub your neck raw? Well, you might need to buy the quick mount rail adapter or relocate the connection point.

- 2 point vs. single point slings even have pros/cons from the pros.

*My only input is to not get too fancy with the sling. in my opinion Viking Tactics Sling (Original) is just about perfect for a 2 point.

*I would not consider myself ill-equipped with an old school leather or cotton web G.I. type either.

arnoob said:

In a word, yes. I have an MS2 on mine (discontinued but you can pick up 3rd party clones on Amazon) but the MS3 should work just fine with the standard sling loops.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=264001&d=1483905178

Amazon.com : Black Tactical (All Metal Clips) Rifle Gun Strap for MSA RSA ASAP : Sports & Outdoors

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This is exactly the type of set up I was looking for. I think I'll just go ahead a grab a MS3 from Cabelas, and return it if it doesn't work well. How do you like that setup with the MS2? Does it move around a lot when walking, or can you have it tight up against your body? Love your AR setup btw. Nice clean classic look.

buckyjames1 said:

Welcome to the world of Gear bud:

- No one piece of gear is universal. When you find the perfect sling, perfect holster, perfect belt, perfect H-gear, perfect vest, pouch...knife, gun..etc... that works great in all situations, let me know and provide a link.

- Only want to use the traditional sling mounts? Well, they were devised with the strong side sling arms position in mind and didn't take into consideration transitions to pistol because the technique was not widely used and peeps didn't get issued a rifle/pistol combo.

- Don't want the weapon to "flop" when transitioning? Or not rub your neck raw? Well, you might need to buy the quick mount rail adapter or relocate the connection point.

- 2 point vs. single point slings even have pros/cons from the pros.

*My only input is to not get too fancy with the sling. in my opinion Viking Tactics Sling (Original) is just about perfect for a 2 point.

*I would not consider myself ill-equipped with an old school leather or cotton web G.I. type either.

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I guess I'll have to purchase what a I was initially intending and get a feel for it. When buying the Sport II, I really made up my mind that I wanted to try and keep it as stock as possible.

vtecluder617 said:

This is exactly the type of set up I was looking for. I think I'll just go ahead a grab a MS3 from Cabelas, and return it if it doesn't work well. How do you like that setup with the MS2? Does it move around a lot when walking, or can you have it tight up against your body? Love your AR setup btw. Nice clean classic look.

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Yeah the MS3 will be much better quality than a clone, I was glad I picked up a couple of MS2's before they discontinued them.

Sling works great, I much prefer 2-point to single point for exactly the reason you mention, you can pull it up super tight against your body and have very little uncontrolled movement when you walk. The downside of the 2-point vs the 1-point sling is you have to loosen it or take an arm out to be able to shoulder the rifle, so slightly slower than a 1-point, but for me it's well worth it for the secure feeling fit and not getting banged in the legs by the muzzle when you walk. Also the quick adjust system on the MS2/3 largely mitigates this disadvantage, you just pull the loop straight down and the sling adjusts out far enough to shoulder without needing to take an arm out.

Thanks for the compliment on the rifle, I tried to be thoughtful / minimalist on the changes I made, keep it classic looking and functional rather than tacti-cool. There's a thread on what I did here if you're interested:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p15-rifles/504054-ultimate-sport-ii-setup.html

arnoob said:

Yeah the MS3 will be much better quality than a clone, I was glad I picked up a couple of MS2's before they discontinued them.

Sling works great, I much prefer 2-point to single point for exactly the reason you mention, you can pull it up super tight against your body and have very little uncontrolled movement when you walk. The downside of the 2-point vs the 1-point sling is you have to loosen it or take an arm out to be able to shoulder the rifle, so slightly slower than a 1-point, but for me it's well worth it for the secure feeling fit and not getting banged in the legs by the muzzle when you walk. Also the quick adjust system on the MS2/3 largely mitigates this disadvantage, you just pull the loop straight down and the sling adjusts out far enough to shoulder without needing to take an arm out.

Thanks for the compliment on the rifle, I tried to be thoughtful / minimalist on the changes I made, keep it classic looking and functional rather than tacti-cool. There's a thread on what I did here if you're interested:

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p15-rifles/504054-ultimate-sport-ii-setup.html

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Thats great to know. I definitely wanted something that felt secure. And I think the investment on a quality Magpul would be worth it (I think they're only like $40-$50 anyway)

I took a look at the thread, and that is something I am aiming for as well. Awesome rifle! I already purchased a mint condition carry handle on ebay. Maybe I'll do a couple of other things to enhance the performance (i.e better trigger) down the line but thats really the extent of what I want to do with it. Thanks for the advice and insight!

Here is some more food for thought (don't splode' your brain), and these are my opinion only:

1.Chest rigs/body armor with lots of pouches: If your thinking about utilizing chest rigs or body armor, a single point sling works better than a dual point sling. It hangs better and "finds" its own hang spot in between all those pouches full of stuff we probably aint' gonna use. It also doesn't hang and bang (as much).

2. H-gear/battle belts: A dual point sling works better, can be cinched closer to the body, hangs better. All this due to the slimmer profile of your upper body/chest area.

3. We could also start a whole thread on Chest rigs vs H-harness types, but again just the point that gear vs. situations will never be universal, something will always be better in a specific scenario.

*Me personally? Why settle, so I have 2 rigs.

vtecluder617 said:

I wanted one mostly for carrying over my shoulder, but also something that I could transition from rifle to hand gun.

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I think you'll find carrying over your shoulder isn't very comfortable and it can easily be pulled off or slide off your shoulder when moving and you have little control over your rifle .. carrying it cross body is more comfortable and access and control is greatly increased ..

Watch some video on slings and you'll see very few examples if any of shoulder carry .. the reason is most don't use it that way ..

Whitwabit said:

I think you'll find carrying over your shoulder isn't very comfortable and it can easily be pulled off or slide off your shoulder when moving and you have little control over your rifle .. carrying it cross body is more comfortable and access and control is greatly increased ..

Watch some video on slings and you'll see very few examples if any of shoulder carry .. the reason is most don't use it that way ..

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I think that was I was trying to imply. Just something that stays close to body, but can easily be shouldered with a minor adjustment. All arrows right now are pointing to that Magpul MS3.

vtecluder617 said:

I think that was I was trying to imply. Just something that stays close to body, but can easily be shouldered with a minor adjustment. All arrows right now are pointing to that Magpul MS3.

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I think you will find you will need to add attachment points of some kind whether to use with the Magpul sling with a clip or the QD attachment .. the reason you will want to carry it in different ways only added attachment points will enable you to do that !!

I'm guessing you have one attachment ring on the guns butt .. using it .. it will swing in ways you won't want to carry with any movement by you !!

Whitwabit said:

I think you will find you will need to add attachment points of some kind whether to use with the Magpul sling with a clip or the QD attachment .. the reason you will want to carry it in different ways only added attachment points will enable you to do that !!

I'm guessing you have one attachment ring on the guns butt .. using it .. it will swing in ways you won't want to carry with any movement by you !!

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There's one on the stock and one under the FSB next to the bayonet lug, no mods required for a two point sling. Check the photo in my reply further up.