Sling options and the dropped rifle....

[shibbershabber]

So, I was up late messing around with stuff when I decided to sling one of my rifles.

I attached the mount to the handguard, attached a sling..... and then slung it....


The clip nearest my shoulder broke away, and the rifle which was muzzle up, swung to the ground and hit the concrete floor muzzle first.

Now this was an AR and the muzzle brake took a chip out of the floor, but the barrel itself didnt sustain any damage.

Heres what we're looking at...



Its a Wilson bull barrel 223Wylde, mounted on a Rainier Arms flat top upper. Scope mount is unbranded, the scope is an older Nikon side-focus.

While everything looks fine, and this is some pretty solid gear... it did hit pretty hard into concrete. I assume that heavy barrel absorbed a good deal of the impact. Scope still 'looks' okay.

I guess I have two questions.

1. Any risk of unseen issues from that kind of impact? I would assume that a battle rifle platform would be able to sustain some droppage... but what about the weight of a 20" bull bbl basically doing a nose dive from 5' up into a cement floor?

2. What do you all use for slings, on heavier rifles... this thing is probably 8-10lbs

Thanks

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[Andy54Hawken]

I'm not sure if this sling will work ... But I really like the Montana sling.
www.montanagunslings.com
It is heavy duty leather and if you get the one with swivels , the swivels are also very stout.
The slings and swivels are both made in the USA.

As a side note I have seen issue M16A2's dropped and or abused fairly hard during some deployments and they seem to still work as intended.
I'm glad every thing looks okay ... I guess just give it a really good look over and take it out and see if it still shoots good for you.
Andy

 

[Medic!]

Oh no. That's bad.

It looks like you knocked the forward assist off!

 

[Joe13]

Never had a sling or clip break on my hunting rifle and its in the 8# range.

I just got on of the Bimart shelf with padding for about $20.

The one I have for my .22mag is just webbing but the gun probably only weighs in at 4-5#'s.

Sound like a freak thing.


I'd assume if there isn't any visible damage then your rifles good to go.

 

[Member 5605]

My preferred sling method was using a single point at the buffer tube plate. You seem to not be able to do that so well though with your setup.

Blackhawk bungee type single point.

 

[PaulB47]

I use a standard kind of sling. Even use plastic swivels some times because they are quieter than steel, especially when it rusts (in rainy western Oregon). No problem so far, cross my fingers...

Go out and shoot the gun, make sure it works.

There was one company that used to throw their scoped rifles out a second story window to show how strong it was. That's a bit much for me but you are probably OK.

 

[MountainBear]

Confirm the zero on your scope, I would recommend going as far as to run a box drill with your scope off a rest to make sure the impact didn't cause any issues to it. The optic is generally the weakest past of the system. Check the torque on the mounts, run a square, put it back to zero. Assuming the rifle is functioning, then I wouldn't worry about any damage there. After the scope, the gas system would be my next worry, but from the looks of it, I wouldn't be too concerned, I would just use it as an excuse to go out and shoot it (to confirm function).

As for slinging the rifle, it all depends on what the sling is used for. If it is used to steady yourself in various shooting positions, then you will want to put on a floating handguard so the strain doesn't affect you POA/POI. If the sole purpose of the sling is transportation of the rifle, then I would get another mount for the current handguard and sling away. Sounds like a freak accident. I have always been fond of the Vickers blue-force gear sling. I don't generally care for the single point slings as the tend to move and bounce a bit too much for me.

 

[IheartSig]

I've seen Marines drop rifles from far higher into far worse terrain and still retain BZO. I think you will be ok.

As for the sling options, I prefer a single point attachment myself, because it gives one the ability to sling and slide the rifle to weak side to draw a secondary from strong side. I would suggest looking at a QD or plain swivel type attachment to go on your endplate.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

its highly unlikely to be but please make sure the barrel isnt obstructed when you go shoot it. check scope mounts to see if they came loose too

 

[Boboclown]

What sling were you using?

 

[Ura-Ki]

The rifle is probably just fine. I dropped mine about 80 feet down a cliff in the mountains of Afghanistan, and it went tumbling end over end, all it did was bend the buffer tube slightly, but it still ran fine! Even the ACOG still worked fine! I wouldn't be too worried.