Sling carry

[twobit]

Back in the late 1940's my Papa had a Winchester model 97 with a 30" barrel and full choke. In the 1960's when I first saw the gun when I was a kid it had a 22" barrel and no choke. He said he had a mishap while duck hunting once and got mud in the barrel but did not know it. He said that shot nearly broke his shoulder and he had to saw 8" off the barrel. The duck gun became a quail gun!
Unfortunately I did not get that particular gun when he passed away in 1986. Had I known how collectable they have become I would have fought over it more at the time.

 

[shortwave]

Have used a small square of electrical tape(m/l), small balloons, as well as the finger tips cut out of surgical latex gloves over the end of the bbls. for many years while hunting in the rain with no issue's.

Far as carry...up and away is the way I carry and the way I've taught my kids(now adults) to carry. They learned this at very young ages when we used to sweep fields while rabbit/pheasant/quail hunting or doing deer drives.

Sling carry... muzzle up.

 

[POKEYJOE04]

I was watching Tracks across Africa on the Outdoor Channel the other day. The hunters were walking in single file with double rifles across their shoulders with their hand on the barrels, and the barrels pointing directly at the back of the hunter walking ahead of them. Looked terribly unsafe to me. Not setting a very good example for the tv audience either.

 

[Rikakiah]

I'm sure they were unloaded. (That was humor.)

But, back on topic, I got a new receiver/stock plate attachment for my .22 416. Have an MS3 sling for it and it tightens a bit better than my aforementioned MS4 on my M4. I decided to play around with it a bit and turned it around (so the 1-point hardware was at the barrel end). In this setup, I can drop the rifle over my right shoulder so it crosses my back (from right shoulder to left thigh). It hangs REALLY low (muzzle is actually around the bottom of my shoulder blade), but since the cinch loop is in front, I can snug it up a decent amount (using 2 hands if needed, which isn't too cumbersome with the reversed arrangement). Then, to bring it ready, I grab the buttstock with my left hand and swing it around forward while my right hand pulls the cinch loop loose, then handles the pistol grip and finishes the process.

I feel like it can snag more in brush, since the muzzle sticks out my right side a bit and I don't have the control of grabbing the barrel in my preferred muzzle down carry, but it's probably better for longer treks, especially one I get my suppressor in, which would definitely put it in the ground in a muzzle down carry. Can't use this method with a group, though, as the muzzle sweeps a pretty decent arc.

It's not *quite* as smooth and clean of a transition, either, but it's sure as heck more efficient than any other muzzle up carry I've tried. I obviously can't put it in 1-point configuration anymore, but that would be a rare occasion anyway-the M4 will take the room clearing role in the event I get into any tactical classes/events anyway. I think I'll get a VTAC and adapt it to my MS4 hardware for the M4 and see what that does for my carry options on that rifle.