Tactical Intervention Specialists has made their name by producing some unique and high quality slings for the tactical rifle community. To base an entire business on the concept of the rifle sling seems to be a bold move and should be an indicator of their confidence in their product. We received an M24 sling for evaluation and to see if their slings were really that much better than any other sling out there. In reality, there is only so much that can be said about a rifle sling as the it really is a pretty simple concept, and how many ways can one really differ from another?
The M24 sling is so named because of the US Army contract to supply them with the M24 Sniper Weapon System (SWS). Anything that is adopted by the Military for use with the infantry needs to be well built and durable and these slings really are. Everything about the slings is very well built and designed. The one we reviewed was in OD green and the webbing material used for construction was very durable and all the stitching and construction was well done. The metal swivels are very robust and high quality. The webbing/sling is 1.45″ wide and is available in black, tan or OD Green.
So, besides excellent and durable construction, what is so unique about the M24 slings, as well as their other sling designs? The one really unique thing about the design is the “Quick Cuff” feature. The average Joe views the sling as a means of carrying the rifle, but for the sniper, and probably even more so, the competitive shooter, the sling is a means of providing a more stable unsupported shooting position. The cuff that is a part of these slings straps to the weak arm of the shooter and has a Fastex buckle on it. You literally buckle the sling of the rifle to the off shooting arm. Provided you have the cuff already in place on your arm, it is very quick to get into firing position and it really does work. For testing purposes we were shooting at targets up to 300 yards in sitting and prone unsupported positions with excellent results. According to Mike Miller, the owner of Tactical Intervention Specialists and designer of the sling, the design stems from many years of experience in both competitive and tactical shooting, and in our opinion, it does work.
The one obvious thing that can pose a problem is the requirement that the cuff be in place on the arm, and this takes time. Yes, it is very quick to get into shooting position once the cuff is in place, but it takes time and fitting to get the cuff adjusted comfortably, and I can see wearing it full time being an issue while stalking or doing other duties, even with the Velcro cover in place over the Fastex buckle. The cuff could be sewn into your ghillie suit or other field jackets/uniform and that may work better. But for it to really be useful to assume quick shooting positions it would require the wearing of the cuff at all times while in the field which may take some getting used to.
I will mention at this point that TIS also makes a “slip cuff” design that has a cuff that you simply slip your arm through instead of wearing a cuff at all times and buckling the sling to your cuff. The slip cuff design may be more desirable for field use depending on your team’s preference. They both work very well and both give a nice unsupported position.
All and all, we were very impressed with the overall quality and design of the sling and will ourselves be using them fairly often. It will take time to get used to the cuff in place full time, but the benefits will be worth it. The aditional support provided by the sling is quite impressive and even using the sling without the cuff would be useful. We would recommend these slings to any tactical team or competitive shooter.
Sniper Central
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