Those of us who carry a rifle for work have most definitely experienced the inevitable sling snagging on every conceivable surface as you attempt to exit a vehicle with your rifle in hand.
If you’re like me, you’ve tried everything you can think of to stop, or at least limit, the chance of this happening. I’ve used a silicon wrist band to hold my sling in place. I’ve seen officers fold their sling together toward the front sling attachment and use a paper clasp to hold it in place. These methods do hold it tight to the rifle and allows for rapid deployment, but even then, I still find myself getting snagged on the rifle rack, arm rest, MDT or anything and everything else that sticks out more than half an inch.
I was recently put in contact with Wynn Atterbury, president of WMD Guns. This Florida-based company has been working on a fix for this frustrating, and more important, dangerous problem, and I think they have hit it out of the park with the SlingStock, which was created by law enforcement for law enforcement.
WMD Guns has developed two models, the SS and the Elite. The main difference between models is that the Elite comes with a rail on the bottom of the stock and a quick detach clasp making it fast to go from a one-point to a two-point setup without having to get a separate quick detach (QD) mount. The company’s website has some great demonstration videos.
Installation
The SlingStock is user-friendly and simple to install. After I removed my current stock, I just slid it over my mil spec AR buffer tube and depressed the latch lever. Pushing the SlingStock forward until I found the desired length of pull, I released the latch lever. Further adjustments can be made by either pushing down or pulling up on the latch lever and sliding the stock to the position you need.
Deploying the sling
The SlingStock is designed with both left- and right-handed shooters in mind. The company achieved this by putting the spool latch on the center line of the stock.
To deploy the sling in a one-point configuration, push the spool latch up and forwards to lock it in the free spool position. After doing this, take your support hand and slide your thumb through the loop, pull the sling down and forward, and then using your strong hand, catch the sling to hold it while you press the spool latch backwards to the locked position. Then simply put the loop over your support shoulder and head. Once the sling is on, press the latch to adjust the length of the sling.
To go from a one-point to a two-point setting, press the latch and push the rifle away from your body to extend the sling, release the latch and, using your support hand, unclip the quick detach clasp and reattach it to the picatinny rail on your handguard. At no point while deploying do you need to take your firing hand off the gun. To return the sling, detach the quick detach clasp from the handguard and reattach it to the base of the SlingStock. This can also be done without removing your firing hand, but to ensure the sling does not kink or twist, guiding the sling with one hand while you press the spool latch with the other is the preferred method.
Overview
I have been running the SlingStock Elite for several months now and my first impressions haven’t changed. This is a hoofing (Bootneck speak for awesome) bit of kit. I have loaded, unloaded and deployed from my patrol vehicle at least 50 times with the SlingStock attached and the rifle has not snagged on anything. Running the sling all day on the range was comfortable and it functioned perfectly every time.
The SlingStock is constructed of rugged material and utilizes high-quality components. It’s hard to find equipment with moving parts that does not make a bunch of noise or work 100% of the time. The SlingStock mechanism is silent and the sling retracts quickly. Like any new equipment, it takes time to get comfortable using it, but if sling catching is an issue for you, give it a try.
This combination of sling and stock is well worth the money with an MSRP of $210 ($169 LE) for the Elite and $169 for the SS ($125 LE). A Blue Program with reduced pricing for LEOs and agencies is available. I honestly think this is a must have for anyone carrying an AR rifle who wants to eliminate getting hooked up.
Train hard, fight harder!
