Airsoft Action - August 2022

THE CAGE SLINGIN’ IT!

THE CAGE:

SLINGIN’ IT!

THERE ARE MANY ASPECTS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU’RE SETTING UP YOUR PRIMARY FOR AIRSOFT, AND OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THE LEGIONNAIRES HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING THIS IN DEPTH. NOW WE COME TO A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT WHICH IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED BY MANY, AND THAT’S YOUR SLING! BILL AS USUAL LEADS OFF…

S

o, to sling or not to sling? When I received my training courtesy of Her majesty’s Armed Forces way back when the sling was a piece of equipment that was pretty much frowned upon! Yup, we were taught that the place for your personal weapon was in your hands, and that it should never be more than an arm’s length away from you… we all learned over the course of many hundreds of press-ups that an “arm’s length” was a subjective measurement at the whim of the DS… How things move on though, and the fact is that the sling has actually become a useful piece of equipment in our weapon manipulation drills! Sure, a sling will help carry your rifle, but a GOOD sling will also be able to serve as a support, helping you to maintain that key point of aim. There’s actually an entire science behind the humble sling that we won’t go into here, and although there are many, many types of sling that all offer “benefits” and work better with different platforms, it’s probably easiest to focus in on two of the most popular models for airsoft, and that’s the single-point and the two-

point. Starting with the latter, a two-point sling is exactly that; it attaches to your primary via two points, usually with one on the butt or stock, and one on the rail or front stock. However, not all two-pointers are equal! A simple canvas/web two-point like the one that you’ll see on weapons of a historic nature or vintage are usually “passive”, and though they are adjustable for length, that’s pretty much all she wrote! A modern two-pointer allows for much more… A modern design two-point sling is different from that old carry strap in that they are designed primarily to retain the weapon on the shooter’s front side rather than on the back or over the shoulder. They offer superior platform retention while also allowing the shooter to quickly bring the primary on target from a slung position, often with a QD release to enable extension from “rest” to “shoot”. I use a couple of different models of this type of sling, one from Direct Action in Poland, and one from Viking Tactics in the USA, although the new VIPER VX sling offers the same features for less money and is really all you need for

“A MODERN DESIGN TWO-POINT SLING IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OLD CARRY STRAP IN THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED PRIMARILY TO RETAIN THE WEAPON ON THE SHOOTER’S FRONT SIDE RATHER THAN ON THE BACK OR OVER THE SHOULDER. THEY OFFER SUPERIOR PLATFORM RETENTION WHILE ALSO ALLOWING THE SHOOTER TO QUICKLY BRING THE PRIMARY ON TARGET FROM A SLUNG POSITION” 44

AUGUST 2022