TargetTalk

I am looking to purchase a new sling for my son for one of his Christmas presents. I am looking at the Kurt Thune ATL Sling. Does anybody have pros and cons to this sling and/or a different sling that they would recommend?

Thanks

Part of the answer here depends on a discussion about what level your son is shooting at and how much experience he has and perhaps even what sling he has right now. While you can obtain good quality gear you cannot buy tens, the gear can only help you find them.

In the past couple of years we have seen the advent of the twisting sling, first from MEC, now from Thune. Some time before that I think it was Sauer that had the first micro adjust sling.

All of these slings are good slings and with the technology properly sorted out should help to improve shot to shot and target to target consistency of the shooter. The qualification here is "properly sorted out" With each advance in sling technology there is another buckle or plate to work out the best position for or perhaps an auxillary strap that needs to have the length set. This requires a shooter that is in touch with their position and how well it is working. What started out as the simple sling is now a pretty complex piece of gear. The more complex a piece of gear becomes the easier it is to get something out of whack. If you get something out of whack and don't figure it out, your equipment may end up working against you without you knowing it. That is your "con" and it can apply to almost anything.

Now, on the "pro" side I own and shoot a KT Classic Model II sling. It is about 20 years old. It is a quality piece of gear and while I have not touched an ATL I have no reason to believe that the ATL would not be of the same level of build quality. I have played with but not shot the MEC "supersling" and it too appears to be a quality piece of gear. (Note the MEC sling does not work with any old handstop so some caution for application is in order if you consider one of those.) Again, Sauer also makes quality stuff so you can't go wrong there. Those are your "pros"

In this whole sling discussion it is also interesting to note that Sergei Martynov the current Mens Prone World Champion shoots with what appears to be a Soviet Military Surplus cloth sling. Clearly, not having the latest piece of high tech equipment is not holding Sergei back. In fact I am not sure I have seen any of the top international prone shooters shooting a twist sling. Now that does not mean they are not useful or that come next September after the Olympics all the top shooters will not ditch their current sling for a twist model, I doubt it though.

Where I am going with this long winded answer, if your son has several years of experience or already has a European style target sling then something like the ATL might be a nice upgrade and something to try. If your son is a little more toward the beginner end of the spectrum and trying to build up a solid kit of ISSF legal gear then something more akin to the Thune Classic Model 1 or 2 might be a better bet.

Good Luck
'Dude

I have one of these slings, and at the moment I am using it without the swivel bit.
Also instead of a double strap to the rifle I have reduced it to one as I find that it hurts the back of my hand as the sling material is very stiff

In answer to some of the questions:

* Right now he is using a basic Champion Shooters leather sling.

* He shoots around a 540-550 in 3P smallbore and around a 360 in air.

* My son has been competitively shooting for a little over a year now and is shooting monthly at state and CMP events.

* How hard is the sling to set up?

I want to buy him the best that I can afford but I don't want to be the typical father who buys the best and most technologically advance sling even though he doesn't need it?

Thanks

The only downside to the adjustable slings is that a very, very small number of people may have issues with the adjustment screw making contact with the stock if they are using a VERY low prone position and a standard/position style stock. (Unfortunately, I used to be one of those people, and the Sauer sling made contact with the stock when I tried it). It looks like KT has the adjustment right up at the arm, so this is even less likely to be an issue.


Beyond that, I see no reason not to buy the sling. You can still set it and forget it just as any other, without fiddling with all the adjustments. When he's to a point where his position is refined enough that he needs that adjustment, he'll have it. The main advantage I see to those slings are when traveling to many different ranges, some of which do not have the target heights consistent from range to range. Having that knob is great for making small elevation adjustments.

Compared to the Champions leather sling most any European sling has closer hole spacing on the main adjustment strap. This can make finding "just the right length" easier before you ever worry about twist or micro adjustment features.

If this is the Champions sling I am thinking of the buckle for the main adustment strap uses a single pin. Especially with leather all the force taken up on a single pin can make the sling seem a litte more stretchy. (All the European slings I am familar with use two pins on the main strap buckle.)

To that end, pretty much any synthetic European Sling, is going to help form a more solid support than his current sling.

Looking at the 540-550/600 half course scores your son has some experience but may not be able to effectively experiment with the nuances of sling position on the arm and how that works down to both sling length and the where the sling wraps along the arm. Is this conceptually difficult? No, but it is time consuming and requires careful notes and patience.

As was alluded to by WarWagon you can run afoul of the jury if part of the sling (hardware or strap) touches the rifle at any place other than the attachment point on the rifle. With more bits and pieces it is possibly easier to get cuffs too tight or buckles digging into the arm which can transmit pulse bounce or just be uncomfortable. The more parts on the sling the more patience that is required to get it all sorted out but no one single adjustment would be considered "difficult" or "hard".

Also GaryD brings up a good point about KT slings, the material does not stretch much but is also STIFF and until well worn in can be somewhat uncomfortable to deal with in the traditional double thickness.

My 2 cents this afternoon.

Cheers,

'Dude