When you think about customizing your AR15, the first thing you think of is probably not the sling.
But your choice of sling makes a difference…
…Especially when it comes to home defense, because you might have to be opening doors, carrying your kid, bringing Poopsie the Poodle with you, or whatever.
No matter the situation, at some point your hands are going to be occupied.
You’re going to have to let go of the weapon and then very quickly bring it back up to reengage.
I see guys down at the local range who look like they just stepped off of a Black Hawk helicopter.
They’ve got these high speed, low drag slings.
Is that really what you need?
Do you need a sling at all?
I spoke with my friend Ox about this, and here is a run-down of what he told me.
3 Reasons You NEED A Sling On Your AR15!
A lot of the gear you see people using on the range is something they’ve seen on television, in movies, and in magazines.
These setups are mission-specific.
Unless your mission is the same as the mission of the guy in the picture or in the movie, his setup may not work for you.
That’s something you need to consider.
You, do however, need a sling on your rifle, regardless of what you end up choosing.
Here are three reasons why:
#1: Your AR-15 Rifle Sling Is A “Holster”
With a pistol, when you’re not using the pistol you can put it back in the holster.
With a carbine, you don’t want to lay it on the ground.
So your sling acts as a holster.
That could be if you’re rendering first aid to someone or you just need to use your hands for something.
Because of that I’m a big fan of a two point sling.
Two point slings let you quickly adjust the sling from being cinched up against your body tight enough that you can jump and climb and do whatever, to being loose enough that you can switch from shooting right-handed to left-handed without having to put the sling over your head and switch sides.
One modification that you can make to it is to put a Magpul quick release clip on the front attachment point.
What that will allow you to do is, within a second or two, switch from having it be a two point sling to a one point sling.
It gives you the best of both worlds.
#2: Your AR-15 Rifle Sling Aids In Retention
A second reason a sling is so vital is for retention.
If you’ve got your carbine slung and somebody tries to grab it from you, it’s not like snatching a pistol from your hands.
It’s wrapped around your body.
You’ve got a couple hundred pounds of mass attached to that gun.
Your attacker has to figure out how to overcome that in order to get control of your weapon.
That’s a huge safety issue.
This is especially true in a home-defense scenario.
A sling makes it harder for the invader to take your weapon and use it against you.
#3: Your AR-15 Rifle Sling Improves Your Long-Range Precision Shooting
The third reason a sling is important is that it can be used for long-range precision.
(You may have seen pictures of people doing this.)
You can loop the sling around your arm and up tight against you to create an extra point of contact.
This allows you to brace the weapon against your body for better long-range accuracy.
This isn’t something you’d typically need for home-defense.
In any situation where you’ve got to make a difficult shot, though, a sling will help you do so more accurately.
For these three reasons, you NEED to have a sling on your AR15.
In fact, you really can’t afford not to.
