How do slings help?

[Eric of IN]

I've read several posts that recommend slings to improve accuracy, but I'm not sure how. I can only surmise that they can be used to stabilize the gun in some way. Can anyone give a description of the technique?
Eric

 

[ea2]

A sling will allow the shooter to "pull" the rifle more into the shoulder, and help keep the shooting muscles in a sort of compression.

The caveat for sling use is that the shooter will see most benefit if the barrel is free-floated. Otherwise, sling tension deforms the barrel ever so slightly, which changes the vibration/harmonics of the gun when fired; different amounts of sling tension may cause different vibration, thus affecting the grouping.

 

[Art Eatman]

Next time you're at a gunshow, try to find one of the military book(lets) on basic marksmanship. There should be pictures of the various shooting positions, and "how to" stuff on the use of the sling.

Basically, proper use of a sling locks the rifle and both arms all together, taking out a lot of the wiggle.

FWIW, Art

 

[bergie]

Eric,
Good question!!! I was thinking about that myself for the last couple of days, as I seem to be the only guy in my hunting group that uses his sling for anything other than carrying his rifle. My daddy (who taught many guys how to shoot in the early 50's) taught me how to use a sling, and it really does help steady the rifle for offhand shots. Go to http://www.fultonarmory.com and check in the faq's for information on the proper setup and use of the military sling, complete with diagrams. I'm not about to try and tell you how to do it here. What I will tell you is how I use the sling on my rifle, in sort of what is called a "hasty" sling.
Basically, (depending on what type of sling you have) you want the sling about as long as it will adjust, holding the rifle in your right hand at the grip, shove your left arm through between the rifle and sling, swing your arm back around the outside of the sling and slip your hand in between the sling and forearm from the left and grip the forearm. The sling should now come across your chest, cross your tricep, and come back across the inside of your elbow/forearm. The sling makes a complete wrap around your arm. As you lift the rifle to your shoulder, it should tighten up so that you can easily hold the rifle at your shoulder with just your left hand lightly cupping the forearm. Tension from the sling means you are holding the rifle with your upper arm, shoulder, and actually even back and chest muscles rather than just gripping the forearm with your hand and trying to hold it still. With just a little bit of practice, you can do it in one motion as you shoulder your rifle, the fraction of a second you lose doing it will more than be made up for in increased stability and better shooting.
bergie

 

[Nevada Fitch]

On my 350Rem Mag I have installed a third sling swivel stud just in front of the floor plate.Jeff Cooper calls this the CW Sling position. You hook the sling in this stud and the one on the forend of the rifle when shooting.You stick your arm through the sling and hook the strap behind your elbow than grab the forend with the same hand.It is more steady than the hasty sling position and just about as fast.Look up some of the writings by Jeff Cooper.He explains and illistrates it better than I am capable of doing.Check His book out titled TO RIDE, SHOOT STRAIGHT AND SPEAK THE TRUTH.