Lone Gunman said:
Are you able to use a one-point sling to steady your hold, like you can with a two point?
No, a single-point sling is a carrying strap and nothing more. Usually it is attached to the rear of the received on an AR15 (which often means you have to buy a sling mount and dismantle the stock to add it to the rifle). It is great for very dynamic environments where you are switching sides often but may still need to let go of the rifle suddenly; however, because it has only one attachment point the rifle can swing and pendulum during movement. Another common thing I see new shooters do with single points is bend over to pick something up off the deck and drive their muzzle into the ground. Basically it is just a single loop of nylon that goes around your body and through the single sling mount at the back of the lower receiver. Some single-points attach to the end of the stock as well; but I don't use them as it tends to make the barrel-in-the-ground problem worse by hanging the rifle even lower.
Here is pic of me standing around during the recent Intermediate Carbine class at
Tac-Pro Shooting Center. It demonstrates how the rifle hangs on a single-point sling quite nicely:
Also, what is african carry?
African carry is simply carrying the rifle over your shoulder like a traditional sling; but with the muzzle pointed down. You keep your hand near the forearm when walking and grasp the forearm and pull forward to present it. There are a couple of benefits to it - you can push the rifle forearm back and step your opposite foot forward and conceal the rifle with your body from someone coming at 12 o'clock. You can also present the rifle quite quickly; yet still use the sling for hasty support just by grasping the forearm and pulling forward on it. It also works quite well with the sling you already have.
The major downside to it is you can't use it in an environment where you have to make a sudden transition that frees both hands. It takes more time to sling the rifle back up and if you are using both hands, the rifle tends to want to slip off your shoulder. So it is fine for walking around the land; but not so great for more active movement. The range I shoot on is big on controlling the rifle muzzle at all times, so I typically do transitions to a sidearm with one hand any way and just tuck the rifle under my weak elbow - this kind of pistol transition works just fine with a normal two-point sling.
The compromise between a single-point sling and a normal USGI two-point sling are slings like the Viking Tactical and VCAS.
I've got this one attached to the end of the rear receiver and the receiver end of the float tube; but you can attach them anywhere on the rifle there is a sling mount. These hold the rifle in front of you in a ready position. You can also go two hands free and the rifle muzzle just points down and to your weak side. If you drop the weakside arm out of the sling, you can also shoot the rifle from your weakside for movement and barriers; but it drags the excess sling material across your neck and isn't exactly comfortable or as easily managed as a single point. If you drop the rifle from the weakside position, it is basically a single-point sling looped around your neck.
The other issue I have with this sling is that when you release the rifle for a transition to sidearm, it points down and to your weakside. In many of the classes I have taken, where we are all in line together, that means the muzzle is bouncing around and intermittently covering the guy to my left as we move. On ranges where they want positive control of the muzzle during sidearm transitions, it is difficult and slow to do it with this sling.
If you need the maximum amount of flexibility, a single point is the way to go. For example, here is a drill we did in a recent Intermediate Carbine class where we would move and engage a target to our weakside while walking parallel to the target. When we reached the end of the range, we would turn around and walk back the other direction - this means you have to switch the rifle to your weakside at some point. I was really humbled by this exercise because I hadn't spent a lot of time shooting my rifle from my left side and what time I had spent was all stationary. As a result, I didn't have a good cheekweld in muscle memory and with the rifle bouncing around from movement I would constantly lose my sight picture through the ACOG (a red dot would have been GREAT here). You can see a bit of the awkwardness in my stance as a result; but with the single-point sling I can make the transition easily and the rifle is still supported.
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Using a standard two-point sling, I would have to let the sling dangle to do this. Using a VCAS two-point, I would have to drop my left arm out of the sling loop to do it and the excess sling material would be pressing against my throat as I went to the weakside. (Pictures courtesy of
Tac-Pro Shooting Center. )
On the other hand, the VCAS does everything the single-point sling does with the exception of the few issues I mentioned, and it provides better stability and can be used for support as well. If I am not shooting with a bunch of other people around or doing a lot of weakside shooting, I actually prefer the VCAS.
