Quick Question: Sling on Strong Shoulder or Weak?

Training Training and Tactics
1

I’ve always had my two-pointer on the strong shoulder: from the buttstock over the shoulder and rearward, diagonally downward across the back, under the weak-side arm, and forward back to the handguard.

Recently I’ve seen around one or two photos of shooters having it going from the buttstock under the strong-side arm, diagonally upward across the back, over the weak-side shoulder, and forward back to the handguard.

I haven’t yet had a chance to try this out, but it would seem to leave the gun hanging in quite a different way. Also, how would shouldering to the ready-to-fire position be affected?

Have I been wearing mine wrong all along?:confused:

2

For a three (or two) point sling, you are wearing it correctly. Otherwise the weapon will fall on your strong side and cover up a pistol if you have one.

3

This is from a series of photos of Larry Vickers in which he is firing from his left shoulder. The sling is under the from-fired side.

The pistol on his right though implies that he is right handed.

WTF?:confused:

4

Larry is cross dominant, right handed but left eyed. He shoots rifles left handed but pistols right handed and moves the gun under his dominant eye. He says as a kid when he first picked up a rifle he just shot left handed since he was left eye dominant. I guess he didn’t pick up pistol shooting til he was older and just figured out he could move the gun under his dominant eye but still shoot right handed.

5

So for the purposes of discussion here, he is slinging over the weak shoulder.

I’m going to play with it when I get home tonight…the rifle that is (gutter-minds :rolleyes:).

6

He is slinging it over the shoulder that keeps his pistol clear. For most shooters that shoot rifle/pistol both hands, that is strong side.

7

Well last night I compared both ways, and which both pretty much work.

Having the sling over the weak shoulder positions the gun for a very fast snap to ready-to-fire position. Hanging loose also wasn’t a big problem – on me it fell plenty forward of the handgun. There is a comfort issue in that the buttstock tends to slightly dig into the armpit (which you can see happening in the picture of Larry Vickers above).

Also as far as the handgun, access to the holster is okay, but then completing the draw is hampered by the buttstock blocking the upward and forward path of the forearm. (This is assuming unlike Larry Vickers that you are using the same strong side for both rifle and pistol.)

So altogether, the weak-side-sling arrangement doesn’t actually cover the pistol but does impede completing the draw, and the buttstock-in-the-armpit makes it less comfortable. I think I am going to stay with the strong-side sling.

8

Slings? People still use em?