Proper Sling Adjustment

**mlbgpride** · October 14th, 2009, 03:37 PM

What's the proper way to put a sling on a rifle? I have my savage 93-17hmr and I bought an uncle mike's sling to put on it, but if I adjust it to fit my shoulder, the one strap ends up being very long and just dangling. Do we cut this off? Or am I just not doing it right? If I make it so that the tail isn't so long, the strap is entirely too long for me. I know this sounds pretty novice, but I'm done trying to figure it out for myself, who knew a sling could be this frustrating!

**GRIZ** · October 14th, 2009, 04:01 PM

If this is some kind of standard sling slide the buckle down hold in the loose end. The sling will be doubled up for some of it's length. You may need that extra piece of sling someday. Don't cut it off.

If its some kind of tactical sling tell us the model.

**levib** · October 14th, 2009, 04:33 PM

Go use the rifle adjusted how you think you like it for its intended purpose. If you go through a couple hunting outings (or whatever your rifle's intended purpose is) without adjusting the sling and don't see yourself moving the sling to a different rifle, cut the excess off. Leave a few inches, and if it's made of a nylon material you can probably use a lighter or match to finish off the edge so it won't fray. If you're not sure if it will work, definitely test it out on the bit you cut off first.

Slings usually come a good bit longer than most people will use so they will work with rifles that have mounting points that are very far apart, for exceptionally tall people, etc.

**mlbgpride** · October 15th, 2009, 02:44 PM

Thanks for the replies guys. To answer your question, it's just a single strap generic Butler Creek (sorry, not uncle mikes) sling. Nothing fancy or tactical about it. I'm glad to know that they normally come too long for everyone. How tight is it supposed to be up against me? Seems if it's too tight, the butt flies under my arm and comes forward too much, and too loose is just uncomfortable. So I have it somewhere in between. I've never used a sling before, but it is really starting to seem like more of a hassle than it's worth. I wanted this gun for walking the corn and soybean fields for groundhogs, so it is nice to have it over my shoulder.

**levib** · October 15th, 2009, 10:35 PM

You want to first figure out the method of carry that is comfortable for you. I think that if you want to carry it around for groundhogs, you would probably want to go for maximum comfort as opposed to being able to say pull it up extremely quickly. Once you have that figured out, find a length that is comfortable for you. I like slings to be just loose enough to get off, usually.

Slings are a highly personal thing, and it's one of those things you can only get suggestions for. What works for me won't work for everyone, and what works for you may not work for me. It'll be worth it once you have it all figured out, though.

**max384** · October 15th, 2009, 11:50 PM

Originally Posted by mlbgpride

Thanks for the replies guys. To answer your question, it's just a single strap generic Butler Creek (sorry, not uncle mikes) sling. Nothing fancy or tactical about it. I'm glad to know that they normally come too long for everyone. How tight is it supposed to be up against me? Seems if it's too tight, the butt flies under my arm and comes forward too much, and too loose is just uncomfortable. So I have it somewhere in between. I've never used a sling before, but it is really starting to seem like more of a hassle than it's worth. I wanted this gun for walking the corn and soybean fields for groundhogs, so it is nice to have it over my shoulder.

As levib said, do what feels right to you. If you carry it around awhile and feel that it is too tight, loosen it. If it's too loose, tighten it. If you had ten guys with the same sling and gun, you'd have it set up ten different ways.

EDIT: Oh, and I'd cut the excess sling after you've found how you like it adjusted. Even if you do one day decide you want the sling adjusted differently, you can get a new one. That's the beauty of not buying the most expensive one you can find. Just make sure to melt the edge after you cut it so that it doesn't get frayed.