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  1. #1221
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean KZN View Post
    Also is see Finland and you other neighbour expressing interest in joining Nato, not sure if it's true or not.
    Accurate reporting always has some agenda at heart, therefore we need you fill in any gaps for us who are interested, although that may derail the thread a great deal.
    I will come back to this topic on a later date, I promise. But first, more about the AR project.


    As most gun enthusiasts know, the AR direct impingement gas system may sometimes act like woke-person's mind if disturbed in any way: prone to stop functioning coherently and basically collapse like a cheap garden stool. If you don't want your project rifle act like a butthurt feminazi, get an AK. But a few words for those brave enough to be ready to accept the challenge and take a walk on the wild side of tinkering with your guns.



    So, I got my barrel back and put the rifle together using my PDW lower...


    Looks pretty cool, I'd say, OAL 66 cm...




    ...took it to my back yard aaaaand.......


    Bugger...



    Almost every time a failure to eject causing a double feed mess inside the gun. Damn. The PDW buttstock system with its unique buffer does cause some problems.. sometimes, but this isn't normal. How about if I'll try with a basic normal lower with standard buffer and spring?


    Bugger...



    OK, not normal anymore. When I got the barrel back from being cut we did measure the gas hole back at the mom & pop's and were both satisfied with the 1,9 mm / 0.075" hole size, which is actually a bit on the large size hence the lack of gas should not be a problem. It could be the gas port, so I replaced it with an other one and used a brand new gas tube.

    Nope, still no joy.

    What about the gas hole, is it 1,9 mm all the way through the barrel? No it wasn't! There was something, probably jacket material from bullets partly blocking the gas hole, so now I'll just have to drill the extra stuff away from the hole. With a 1,9 mm drill bit. Where in heaven's name am I going to get me a 1,9 mm drill bit? Really? THINK!

    And I began thinking. You can't use a 1 mm bit and try to hone the hole larger with it since it will break the moment it's subjected to an uneven pressure from the side. But! There is always a 'but' lurking somewhere. BUT knowing I never throw anything with any even remotely conceivable value (was it monetary or practical kind) away, I knew I had somewhere an over half a century old matchbox with some small peculiar drill bits in it.

    Keyword: somewhere.

    After a... good while, I found it...



    ...and there was a 0.07" drill bit... which was broken with almost none of the cutting edge left. The heck, maybe it will grind off the excess material inside the gas hole, can not know before I know.


    I carefully attached the bit to my smaller drill press, aligned the bit with the gas hole murmuring magic spells and I did manage to open the hole up without blocking it with a broken (again) drill bit.



    Excellent! I put the rifle back together, went to the back yard, shot a couple of times and every fourth or fifth shot there was still a failure to eject. Close but no cigar.

    No, I didn't open a bottle of vodka, instead sat down and went through every aspect of this dilemma: "The night I was born...." no, fast forward to a moment which might have direct effect to this error in cycling even when everything is by the book. Or is everything in the end 'by the book' for real?

    Then it hit me. What an idiot. Kak for brains, really.

    My fast forward made a screeching stop at the thereabouts of the year 2015 when the unthinkable happened to this very AR barrel, a barrel which was custom built by the one and only Lothar Walther barrel factory (look it up, it's a legendary company), dudes who just-don't-make-mistakes. Alas, they made a mistake and failed to tighten the barrel extension properly and it worked itself loose while I was at a shooting range. Lucky me it was just a range day... But the very same mom & pop's who had this barrel made for me promised to fix the barrel free of charge and they made a pretty good job with re-tightening the extension on the barrel almost managing to line up the gas hole with the extension. The gas hole is normally drilled only after the extension has been secured at its place, but naturally now it wasn't possible.

    Almost managing to line up. Just almost!

    And every time I rebuilt the rifle I lined up everything perfectly, which caused the gas hole and the hole in the gas port never meet each other properly. I blame my old eyes, high air pressure and the phase of the Moon for this stupid, stupid error. Or I just fucked up. Anyways, when I relined the gas port with the actual placement of the gas hole the rifle cycles just fine.


    Can't you cant the cant? The gas port almost touches the handguard, but just almost...



    Tinkering with your kit and guns is very much like Zen gardening alas it may sometimes make you feel frustrated, but then again the moments of being victorious make it all worth the effort. And what's the most important factor, you will put aside every mundane nagging everyday-life problem and stay focused inside your private domain while you navigate through the process of whatever your task is, almost better than drinking beer and watching porn.


    Aww, they all are my favourites...

  2. #1222
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Figuring out the root cause of an issue that's been lingering for ages is really rewarding. Glad your blaster is back on form.

  3. #1223
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Meanwhile back in Finland - Slight return ...and I'm still waiting, channeling some my nervous energy on this journal of mine alas I feel a long post coming. I even changed the oil from my Glock 19: it is a telltale sign on the gravity of the situation.



    About the few months leading up to this moment. For some reason things tend to pile up with both happy and not so joyful surprises, hence the need to prioritize your life.


    On the musical realm, aside from the ongoing process of breaking in a new keyboard player for our band, a cousin of mine wanted to give me his collection of old records from which I found many interesting artistic golden nuggets I haven't listened to in years.


    Zappa, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Isao Tomita to name a few...



    ...and I attended a concert by Steve Hackett playing his original music as well as the music of The Genesis from the times when he did contribute to the art of the band as a guitarist and a composer...




    ...and bought an OK'ish Telecaster cheap and refurbished it into a professionally acceptable Nashville style session player ax...




    The winter was coming...



    ...and going...





    ...and coming...




    Oh, I can see Juggernaut the Bakkie from here...



    An old farmhouse close to my home, currently used as a summer cottage by the owner's relatives.



    The frozen Lake Saraavesi at Christmas time.




    Loki the Cat enjoying a visit in the Central Finland countryside...




    I believe I mentioned I was going to spend a weekend with some fine gentlemen sharing similar interests as I do, at the same time participating a combined three position rifle match and a 25 meter pistol match. Here's the equipment, shot the rifle match with my Colt Match Target HB and the pistol was naturally my Perfected Glock 19. Btw, still zero malfunctions and brass to face ejection... The .22 was there for the others to get acquainted with.




    ...and the overall winner is (drum fill) yours truly. I lost the rifle match with one point, but won the pistol match with flying colours thus the cup win. Not wanting to brag or anything, but the first loser aka "second place winner" was a Finnish pistol shooting champion... Yes I want to brag: I won the bloody Finnish pistol shooting champion!


    Got to get that U.S. Cavalry sword serving as the challenge cup engraved one of these days... with the name of the winner... that would be me, me, me... Nah, not a biggie



    More about kit and guns, the new year brings you annual chores, like the oil change to Moska the AK. Pull the Boresnake three times through the barrel, wipe the carbon off from the moving parts, apply a few drops of Slip 2000 to the bearing surfaces and it's good to go.

    Really, it's an AK, they run on ammo, not oil, unicorn piss or love or anything lame like that...


    Loading an making ready, it's what we do. But the 21st century has given new content to the terminology...


    "Are you ready?" "Meh!"



    A flew market find (not the Colt, but the parka): A gently worn all original M65 Field Jacket, Men, Cold Weather. Too bad, no liner but the price tag was mere R50.


    Let my inner John Rambo awaken! "Covey leader calling Raven actual, come in Raven, talk to me Johnny...."




    Now that we got into the 'finding' things category, about them previously mentioned regrettable boating accidents and the subsequent interesting kit floating on the shady sides of the market places...

    There was an ACOG 3X sight available on an Internet marketplace and we with the Action Shooters found it quite suitable for a Type 56 AK project with a custom made barrel, Valman Ltd. furniture etc. Basically an AK based DMR weapon. The scope was sent to the gunsmith who had the rifle under construction to be fitted on top of the rifle and sighted in, so that the rifle would be ready to use when it would arrive to us. Well... then the next conversation happened between the gunsmith and one of our guys.

    "The scope is broken"
    "What? The guy who sold it is trustworthy and he said it's quite OK"
    "The scope is broken, it can't be zeroed."
    "Are you sure you know what you are doing?"
    "That's insulting, I'm the pro here..."


    So, one of our young apprentices who is a newbie to guns went over, hit the range with the gunsmith who was adamant on the fundamental fact that he knew what he was doing. And he still could not zero the scope and it would hit waaaay under the target at 100 meters no matter what he tried to do. Too bad the youngster didn't have the grit to question the conclusions made by the gunsmith, so there was nothing more to do but to pack things up and leave.

    I said "please get the rifle to me and I'll have a look with a fresh pair of eyes", and so it happened. I got the gun, removed the scope from its base, nothing fishy. nothing bent, the image was crystal clear, no rattle when shaking the scope. Removed the caps from the adjustment turrets and sent a message to our Signal group:

    "Does anyone know why this scope is adjusted all the way down?"

    Remember, we are talking about this professional who was "the gunsmith who was adamant on the fundamental fact that he knew what he was doing."

    Apparently he had problems with the terms 'Up' and 'Down'. Also the fact that this version of ACOG moves the POI 1/4 of MOA per click, that's about 7 mm at 100 meters. You really have to make a lot of clicks to make the POI move any considerable amount. At 50 meters after returning the up/down setting to the center my first thing to do was move the left/right setting 110 clicks to the right to get the hits on IPSC Metric target.

    We are not using the services of this gunsmith anymore, this catastrophe of which everything hasn't even come up within this story was the proverbial last straw which broke the back of the equally proverbial camel.


    Here are the last three shots at 50 meters, closing to the A area from right to left. Broken my arse...



    When there was a 'suspicion' if the scope is broken or not, turned out its serial number isn't recognized by Trijicon support site, which means it is property of US Department of Defense. About those boating accidents, go figure....

    This awkward incident reminded me of a training buddy who had similar problems with his ACOG, a scope he thought was broken and made an inquiry to Trijicon how much would it cost to fix the scope. And the answer was "You may send the scope to us, but we can not return it to you because it's property of US Marines".

    Bugger... Well, they were nice enough to tell this before they sent the RMA code and packaging info...

    The problem was dying tritium, it only lasts for a decade or even less and the fact that (wait for it...) "This bloody scope is impossible to zero in!" Now have I heard this somewhere else! The Marine Corps version has 1/2 MOA clicks, so it not that finetuneable as the Army version, still it's 160 clicks from side to side... And this guy has no patience. Nor ability to do math, like zero talent. Ask him "10 minus three is...?" "Six... fourteen! ...Damned if I know!" He's a great guy and a solid fighter but anything over two hands equals a buffer overflow. So he didn't like his ACOG and didn't even use it and I offered to buy it from him... dirt cheap. And now we are both happy, I've got a Marine Corps version of the ACOG TA31RCO and he's got enough money to buy himself a new barrel he really needs, win-win.

    ACOG 4x32 USMC Rifle Combat Optic M4. I even had painted the scope over 10 years ago with the same paint I used on my carbine, instantly matching colours...



    Zeroing the ACOG was unsurprisingly a straightforward task...




    I'll get back to my Juggernaut the Bakkie project on a later date, but now after all those confessions on those regrettable boating accidents I can clearly hear the distinctive sound of black helicopters somewhere on top of my house...


    Sorry mates, have to listen to the chatter and plan my next cunning moves. Later!

  4. #1224
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Quote Originally Posted by AK-Gunner View Post
    6th of December, Finland's Independence Day.

    Let me tell you a story of one of those men who made sure we were able to keep our independence over the the threat of Soviet Union, a man who fought communism under three flags, Captain of the Finnish Army and Waffen SS Hauptsturmführer Lauri Allan Törni, later known as Captain Larry A. Thorne of the U.S. Special Forces, (Major posthumous).

    During the three months of 1939-1940 Winter War Törni's performance in fierce battles against the Soviet troops at Lake Lagoda on the Karelian Isthmus earned him an assignment to officer training.

    Young 2nd lieutenant Törni in the reserves during the Interim Peace between the Winter War and Continuation War




    The Moscow Peace treaty or the Interim Peace as we the Finns called it was a short 15 months period during which the Finnish Army was re-arming and gathering equipment, gave additional training to conscripts and as one extremely important part sent men to Germany to be trained and sending troops to fight against the Soviet troops at the German eastern front, one of them was a dear now late friend of mine whose story I'll tell a later date. Törni was one of those who were needed back in Finland so he was assigned to be trained in Vienna, Austria with the Waffen SS and to be sent back to prepare for the retaking of the Karelian Isthmus: Finland's invasion to the soviet Union. Time for payback before the Soviets would end what they didn't finish with the Winter War, the total annihilation and annexation of Finland to the USSR. Remember, we were the Grand Duchy of Finland, a part of Imperial Russia just a few years before and they wanted us back to be a 'rightful part' of Mother Russia as another Soviet State of the USSR.


    Waffen SS Untersturmführer Törni during training in 1941 Vienna, Austria





    After two years of fighting the Continuation War in 1943 a unit called Detachment Törni was formed, a special operations group which task was to operate deep behind enemy lines gathering intelligence and wreaking havoc in effect causing extremely heavy casualties to the Soviet troops.






    Eventually the Soviet Army placed a bounty of three million Finnish Marks (a mindbogglingly large sun of money) on bringing him to the Soviets dead or alive. The prize wasn't high enough since Törni survived to earn the Mannerheim Cross of Liberty 1st class and the Knighthood Of the Order of the Cross of Liberty in 9th of July 1944, the most distinguished military honour of Finland and to find himself demobilized after the hostilities between USSR and Finland ended.


    In the late 1944 Törni was involved with so called Weapons Cache Case during which Finns were gathering weapons, ammunition and other military materiel hiding them in buildings, forests and other isolate places for preparation of guerrilla warfare against possible Soviet invaders. This preparation and the obviously purposeful leaking the info of it to the Soviets is thought to be one of the decisive factors on the Soviets' policy of not invading Finland with military force contrary to their original plan.


    On the night of 22nd of January 1945 Törni hitched a ride on a German submarine to be taken to Germany to be trained on sabotage and insurgence in further preparation for the Soviet military invasion. But the training was cut short since the German war effort was beginning to fail, so he joined the German forces to fight Soviets at Schwerin, Germany eventually surrendering to British troops not being willing to fight other than the Soviet scum. He was taken to a British POW camp from which he and a few other Finnish officers escaped and returned to Finland with falsified ID papers.


    In the summer of 1945 Törni was arrested by the Soviet controlled State Police, but he escaped again during transportation, to be caught again in 12th of April 1946 and put in solitary confinement until in he received in January 1947 a six year sentence for treason on a basis of recruiting to enemy troops since Germany and Finland were at that point at war with each other. What a mess really...


    In July 1947, helped by a prison guard, Törni escaped and fled for Sweden, but got caught near the border and was taken back to prison. He was released for probation by a presidential pardon in 23rd of December 1948 and after a while crossed the border to Sweden using other person's seaman passport as an identification. He lived for a while as a quest of Countess Wera Von Essen in the castle of Skokloster, got engaged with Marja Kops with great festivities, leaving her behind got onboard S/S Bolivia to Venezuela never to come back to his bride to be who eventually got married to another man.

    In Caracas in the late summer of 1950 he got a job in a USA bound Norwegian ship M/S Libre Villa and while the ship was close to Mobile, Alabama he jumped overboard and swam ashore. he managed to get himself in New York and with the help of Finnish ex-patriots he made his living doing several odd jobs. He was granted his residence permit in October 1953 and enlisted the US Army in the January 1954 restarting his military career from the very beginning as a 35 year old recruit.

    He was befriended with a group of Finnish-US officers known as 'Marttinen's Men' who helped his way to became a member of US Special Forces, which wasn't too hard to justify with his specialties as a cold weather and guerrilla warfare expert. He served in the continental US and in Germany, and got fame as the 2nd in command of a successful 10th SFG search and rescue mission in the Zagros Mountains in Iran.


    Captain Thorne's mountaineers during the SAR mission in Iran, Larry A. Thorne on the right



    US Army Captain Larry A. Thorne in the 1960s

    Larry A. Thorne's last and fatal mission began during his second tour to Vietnam 18th of October 1965 when he was serving as an unconventional warfare expert as a member of MACV-SOG special unit. The CH-34 helicopter carrying him and his team crashed on a mountain side in bad weather with no surviving souls. The rescue teams were unable to locate the crash site and his remains were not recovered until 1999 when a Finnish and Joint Task Force-Fulla Accounting team managed to locate the the wreck and recovered the remains of the crew and team to the USA. Lauri Allan Törni - Larry A. Thorne's remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery along with the other casualties of the mission.


    Captain Larry A. Thorne's resume from arsoft-history.org website:



    - DOB: 28 May 1919


    - POB: Vyborg, Finland


    - Basic Infantry Training, PVT-SGT, 4th Jaeger Infantry Battalion, 1938-40


    - Finish Reserve Officer Course, Provisional Ensign, Platoon Leader & Tng Officer, 1940-1941, Finnish Freedom Medals, 1st & 2nd Class


    - Waffen SS Foreign Officers School, Stralsund, Germany, 1941


    - Platoon leader, Light Unit 8, 1st Finnish Division, 1941-42, WIA, Freedom Cross 3rd & 4th Class for Valor


    - Recon platoon leader, 56th Infantry Regt, 1st Finnish Division & independent Jaeger Company commander, 1942-1943, second WIA


    - 1LT to CPT, Commander, volunteer long-range Jaeger Company (Törni Unit), 3rd WIA, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross (Finland’s highest valor award), German Iron Cross Second Class, 1943-44


    - Discharged 11 Nov 44


    - Waffen SS Guerrilla Warfare & Sabotage Course, Neustrelitz, Germany


    - Jan-Mar 45, Wehrmacht CPT surrenders German Marine force to U.S. 17th Abn Div, 11 May 45 to become ‘Separated Enemy Personnel’ (SEPs)


    - Escape-Prison-Escape-Prison-Pardoned, 1945-49


    - Merchant seaman to Venezuela & U.S., 1950-53


    - Retired MG William J. Donovan, former OSS WWII director, gets a special private bill (HR 6312 – LEX TÖRNI granting Finnish immigrant status) through the 83rd Congress. It was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on 12 August 1953 (Public Law 168)


    - BPED: 1 February 1954, 35 year-old immigrant enlistee


    - BCT, Ft Dix, NJ, Feb-May 1954


    - Mountain & Cold Weather Training Course, Ft Carson, CO, May-Sep 1954


    - Airborne School, Sep 1954


    - PFC-SSG, Enlisted SF Course & 77th SFG, Ft Bragg, NC, 1954-1956 (U.S. Citizen 26 July 1955)


    - Commissioned 1LT after graduating Signal Corps OCS, Signal Corps Officers Basic Course, Ft Gordon, GA, 1956-57


    - 1LT, Platoon leader, 511th Signal Battalion, 11th Airborne Division, Ft Campbell, KY & Augsburg, Germany (Operation GYROSCOPE), 1955-58


    - 1LT-CPT, ODA commander, A Company, 10th SFG, Germany, Italian Alpine Mountaineering School, 1958-Oct 1962


    - CPT, Associated Infantry Officers Course 2, Oct 62-Mar 63


    - CPT, USASWCS SF Course instructor & 7th SFG, ODA-743 Cdr for TDY RVN (6 months – Nov 63-Apr 64), 1962-64


    - CPT, 5th SFG, RVN & MACV-SOG ‘Shining Brass’ (1964-65)


    - MIA 18 Oct 65, posthumous promotion to Major, LOM, DFC, BSM, 3 PH, AM, ARCOM, CIB, Master Parachutist.


    - On 26 June 2003, remains of MAJ Larry A. Thorne and his South Vietnamese Air Force comrades, located by Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), were laid to rest with full honors in Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC.51
    Fascinating story, I need to go back and read this thread again some awesome stuff in here.

  5. #1225
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    I really like my 12" SBR AR...but. There's always something and this something is the front backup sight. Not the actual sight, I do like those synthetic Magpul flip-up sights, but it's positioning on the top rail between the AN/PEQ and the RDS isn't the best possible. The support hand doesn't feel like it would fit naturally among all the junk on the top rail, but then again, I really find all of them bells and whistles non-optional.

    Then better come up with a solution, and I did. I've got the piece of kit I need right now, but no room between the BoreLock collar and the handguard. But since I have the dreaded Dremel Tool there's no limit on what a man can achieve in his life!

    Snip, snip, slice, slice, -It's marvelous! Like a plastic surgeon...



    After cutting with the Dremel tool a few moments with a file to smoothen the cut, then some baby poop brown and dark green to paint over the extra shine. Lucky these modern paints dry in a matter of few minutes.


    Now there's an even gap between the collar and handguard...



    And voilà, there lies the front sight bolted on the barrel, don't need to worry about barrel harmonics since this isn't for obvious reasons a long range DMR weapon for sure. The sight is a left over from a Bushmaster Varminter from 20 odd years ago I bought from a friend. Never attached it to the Varminter and now it found its place on my 12 incher.

    Flip up...




    ...in the event of me getting bored at looking at the co-witnessing front sight, flip down.



    And no, the front sight will not block the laser illuminators at all. Now there's nicely room for my support hand to grab the handguard from a lot wider area depending on how awkwardly I have to try to bend my body to be able to take the shot.


    Still I do find ways to improve my kit. Have I ever mentioned anything about 'never ending journey?'


  6. #1226
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    With all that equipment at the front do you not find the rifle a bit front-heavy?
    Maybe include a photo of the whole rifle please.

  7. #1227
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    An excellent question: I don't feel this rifle is yet too front heavy. Now that you asked I checked the centre of gravity with a full magazine inserted, and it is right in front of the RDS mount. That would be almost exactly between my support and shooting hand, which isn't bad for stability. For fast lateral movement further back would be preferable, but then again you'd lose some ability to hold the weapon motionless when taking a longer shot.





    With the 3X magnifier the COG moves a bit further to the back, just about to the centre of the RDS mount.





    My support hand grip is with a weapon like this one, something like a C-clamp grip, but not quite, but the support hand is partially under the pile of junk at the front. Alas it moves a lot depending on multiple variables completely without thinking about it. And add low energy situation to the math and I'll end up holding the weapon directly from underneath to conserve my energy to other things than looking good in Instagram... which is, of course, very important in 2022AD and critical if you want to be an internationally recognized instructoroperatortoughguy.



    I am used to run front heavy rifles in different AK and AR configurations, but this one doesn't feel nose heavy at all, not even with a Silent Steel Streamer Micro suppressor. This pile of stuff on a 20" or even 16" rifle feels quite different. Add Ase Utra length-of-railroad-track suppressor on those and the fun might begin to evaporate with you sweating your energy down the drain.

    Cheers, a good question as I said

  8. #1228
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    It is a fine piece of equipment by anyone's standards, drool worthy. I'm happy you are happy with the project.

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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    AK, do you carry your AR with a single point sling or...?
    Please post some pics and explain why you think which is best

  10. #1230
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    Default Re: Meanwhile back in Finland...

    Baie dankie Sean, this one is my all time favourite utility AR. Until the next one


    And another excellent question which doesn't have a simple or short answer, except for the obvious non-answer: it depends.




    Lets dwell into the mystique of the single point sling. Note: I am not referring to a single point sling which loops around your body.

    Pros:

    - it's very simple, not many moving parts you can overload your brain with when in haste
    - it can't really snag to anything
    - freedom of movement, almost like carrying your main weapon without a sling
    - releasing your weapon from the sling and your body is simple (obviously depending on the mechanism)
    - usually the retaining mechanism breaks before the stuck rifle pulls you into the MBT track killing you with horrible pain and agony during the process (unlikely, but I'm scared to death with the thought. OK, call me a coward if you wish)
    - usually the retaining mechanism breaks before the other guy can grab your weapon, pull and yank you to the ground and kill you with a crushing knee choke (more likely scenario)
    - quick transitioning from one shoulder to the other
    - you may attach it on either shooting hand or support hand side
    - if you attach the sling on the shooting hand side, you may shoot using advanced (i.e. awkward) positions like Junk Yard Prone or Brokeback Mountain Prone with ease
    - if you attach the sling on the support side, it will hang clear from your secondary weapon
    - if you attach it to the center neither side is blocked by the hanging weapon and you may shoot easily from either shoulder
    - generally allows you to just let go off the long gun with possible cons

    Cons:
    - you need an attachment point on your kit
    - if you remove the piece of kit with the attachment point, you need to replace the sling with another one
    - if you attach the sling on the shooting hand side and let go of the weapon it will end up on top of your sidearm you may just be transitioning to, unless you hold the main weapon with your other hand
    - if you attach the sling in the center of your body or on the support hand side, shooting from advanced positions may prove to be hard unless you lengthen the sling considerably thus making it hang uncomfortably low when you let go of it
    - if you attach it to the center and start moving rapidly, the long gun will hit your knees and junk and may cause damage and ponderable discomfort


    Single point sling attached to the shooting hand side backpack webbing




    Shooting from Junkyard Prone with the sling attached to the shooting hand side. This would be hard or even impossible with the sling attached to the other side. Note: I do not promote using this position unless the opposite side dude is totally oblivious to your presence and you are sure you'll get him with the first shot...



    A compromise: the sling attached to the center...



    When running with the long gun hanging from the center, the gun will hurt your dingdingdong... And knees. And chin or teeth when you first hit the barrel with your knee and the weapon bounces uncontrollably up in your face. Oh, how do I know this?




    The sling attached to a plate carrier on the support side. This is my current configuration with every piece of kit after a long evolution with trial end error.



    When you let go of your long gun it will end up hanging on the support side out of the way of your secondary weapon and your genitals.






    But then again: why and when might one want to use a single point sling with its obvious disadvantages?


    When patrolling on an area with high probability of hostile contacts thus you don't want to let your main weapon hang useless from a two point sling. I find this mode of carry best suited for me in such situations, other's opinion may and will vary.



    When you carry a high load of kit hanging all around you, add a backpack or a Bergen and you'll be happy to notice your sling doesn't snag into something every time you try to manipulate your main weapon. Carrying the long gun at patrol ready position like in these pictures, your hands won't tire too much since the sling carries most of the weight, but you can engage a threat with a split second reaction time.



    The speed and snag-free ease of weapon manipulation are the main reasons I use a single point sling under these circumstances, entry operations is a good example of one of the most demanding one. During entry you have to make quick decisions under a huge amount of stress and have a quick hindrance-free access to your secondary or less lethal weapon, thus the single point is my recommendation for ops like these.

    About those single point slings which hang on a loop around your upper body? Bluntly put: a useless dangerous to the user piece of kit. I do strongly suggest to stay away from them and get a two point sling if you can't attach the single point directly to your webbing or elsewhere on your kit. They are a solution to an non-existing problem and have all the previously mentioned negative points combined, plus a couple of more, like they won't stay put but rotate around your body, snag to literally everything, are a choking hazard and the fact that those loops of death block your blood circulation to your brain which isn't really a preferable side effect.

    I have them, have used them and think they are garbage. Are they good for anything? Yes they are. If you mainly use them on a square range shooting mostly static, or moving only when holding your main weapon with your hands just for having fun with the boys, they may serve you well and they come in many forms, most of them with a very reasonable prize tag(*). And they make one look cool on Instagram, which to the most of the recreational high speed guys is the most important factor and I'm genuinely 100 % OK with it. If it's not your profession, it's a lifestyle and something you do for the fun and for meeting people you like to hang out with. But for professional use? Nope for the reasons stated before. There's really only so little they do better than a two point sling. Or a three point sling for that matter. The cons outweigh the pros this time.

    I've seen many private sector security workers use the looped single point with casual looking kit, it makes one look menacing since you have to hold the weapon practically all the time so it may serve as a problem inhibitor. Now there's one more 'pro' to the both iterations of the single point sling.

    (*) I payed $10 each for two slings (CAS i.e. Cheap Ass Sling, made in USA) and made a couple myself from bits and pieces I had salvaged from here and there. It doesn't always need to be expensive to be good enough for professional use.



    I do use two point and even three point slings. Why and when? Later about them.


    Please do participate in the conversation if you guys have ideas, questions, educated or uneducated guesses concerning the single point sling and its usefulness or the lack thereof.

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