Introduction:
Gun slings, referred to as gun slings, may be the earliest accessory that appeared after the emergence of firearms. When humans need to carry firearms and free their hands to complete other tasks, the need for firearms portability arises. What developed from the short gun was the holster. As for carrying long guns, there are various gun slings.
The firearms application itself covers many areas, such as hunting or competition - and in these areas, there are also many very distinctive gun belts. But in this article, we’re going back to our roots and discussing “tactical” gun belts or military slings.
Gun belts have shown rapid development since 2000. Many different types of gun belts have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, trying to meet various needs and showing a state of "squandering and becoming more and more charming".
There are also various discussions and various opinions about gun belts on the Internet, as well as various "best" and "worst".
Some people think that a gun belt is just a strap, and a webbing or even a rope can do the job. It costs dozens or even a few dollars, so why bother talking about it in such a long way? Some people say that old-fashioned gun belts have been used for many years and there are no major problems. Why do they put so much effort into research? There are also some people who claim that a certain big shot has launched a new gun belt, and that a certain type of gun belt should be thrown into the trash and never used again. Some people also question how it is a waste of money to sell a gun sling for hundreds of dollars, etc. In the following, we will do our best to cover relevant content, discuss related issues, strive to "eliminate the false and preserve the true", bring you powerful information, and explain clearly the basic qualities of a gun belt.
1. Basic principles
Before we start discussing gun belts, we must first explain a few basic principles:
1. Gun slings are accessory equipment and obey the basic selection principles of equipment.
2. There is no best, only the most suitable! Choose the sling that best suits your mission, tactics, and equipment.
3. Any equipment must have accompanying usage methods and training.
4. All function selection conditions must be based on reliability, and designs and materials with insufficient reliability will not be considered.
It sounds like everyone understands the truth, but in real life there are always many boring jokes about "horizontal comparison", such as Americans laughing at the Soviets for not using gun slings. Shooting range shooters or "weekend warriors" who never consider situations such as standing guard, crawling forward, self-rescue and mutual rescue, etc., laugh at PLA soldiers for using "canvas gun belts" that are "really useless", etc. There are countless examples. Regarding this situation, we try our best to expand everyone's horizons through this article, and stop being a "frog in the well" and stop taking jokes and artistic processing seriously.
2. Basic uses
There are three basic uses of a gun belt.
1. Carrying Tool : The main job of a gun sling, as mentioned above, is to carry the firearm and free your hands, making it easier to complete other operations and reduce fatigue. It would be a life-threatening situation for our infantry brothers to march for a day without a gun belt.
2. Auxiliary shooting : Improve the stability of the weapon when shooting. The detailed operation method will be explained later.
3. Other uses : It is a job that a belt can do, whether it is strapping or extending. , whether it’s an emergency tourniquet, a backpack strap or even a pants waistband. Of course, also has those unusual uses of . For example, Spetsnaz’s Uncle Sonny used a gun belt to control prisoners as a “mobile hostage bunker.” (Actually, even if you can’t block your body, you still can’t aim)
Of course, don’t forget, this is only for rifles. For shotguns, the gun sling itself can also be an ammunition carrying tool.
More uses will be expanded by mission requirements and your imagination - the satellite is in the sky, there is nothing you can't do but you can't think of it
Life is good if you free your hands and think about it
3. Basic structure
The structure of the gun belt It can be divided into three parts: carrying structure, fixed structure and adjustment structure.
1. Back structure : The gun belt completes the carrying and other functions and is in direct contact with the human body. Since there is currently no flexible material that can surpass fabric in terms of performance and cost, we can temporarily define the fabric part of the gun belt as the backpack structure.
2. fixed structure : the connection part between the gun belt and the weapon. The relevant part of the weapon can be called the gun belt hanging point. As the modular development of modern weapons becomes more and more in-depth, many fixed structures are not installed when the weapon is delivered, and the shooter needs to make installation adjustments based on his own situation. Therefore, we will introduce and discuss the fixed results of weapons together.
3. adjustment structure : used to adjust the backpack structure to suit different shooters and different situations.
Common materials and structures will be introduced in the second half of this article.
4. Basic requirements:
When designing standard firearms, the main considerations are reliability, accuracy, durability, stability, mobility, economy, and serviceability. So the main impact of the standard gun belt as a gun accessory is...all the above aspects, but also to increase compatibility and safety, and even concealment.
Yes, incorrect design and use of gun belts will affect the accuracy of the gun and may also reduce the reliability of the gun. Incorrect material selection or design will increase the cost of the weapon and affect the economy. After all, the production of basic equipment like rifles The number may exceed one million, and every penny more is money. This is not a shocking legend, and we will not give a simple explanation that is easily misleading here. Instead, we will explain the specific issues in detail when introducing each type of gun belt. In this chapter, we first describe the basic requirements.
Reliability
Gun belts, especially military gun slings, require the same strict environmental testing as firearms. Although the gun belt itself does not have a relatively complex mechanical structure or optical structure, it still needs to be able to "live and die with the gun." ". The adjustment mechanism generally has a partial metal or plastic structure, which needs to be similar to the material used in the firearm itself or refer to its standards for selection. The backpack structure is mainly made of fabric, which needs to take into account many characteristics and requirements of military textiles, such as wear resistance, tensile strength and high temperature resistance. Resistant to moisture!
Concealment
Concealment is basically considered from two points, visible light concealment and infrared concealment, which are basically consistent with the requirements of military uniforms. Visible light concealment is easy to understand. As long as the contrast is not too large, it can basically pass. However, the infrared concealment properties are ignored by many people, especially "military fans" who do not have night vision equipment. Military gun slings must have anti-infrared (IR) properties.
Compared with the 95 gun sling, a certain type of tactical gun belt looks like a fluorescent belt under infrared irradiation.
Serviceability/Security
The common understanding of serviceability is whether it is easy to disassemble and assemble, whether it is easy to organize, and whether it is easy to maintain. But why should we discuss it together with safety? Because people usually think that the stronger the fixation and combination of the gun belt and the weapon, the better. The reason is very simple. As long as the gun is not held in hand, all transportation needs to be completed by the gun belt. Unexpected release or damage of the fixing mechanism will definitely cause the weapon to be damaged or even lost. Not acceptable. Therefore, the development of gun belts is basically in line with this understanding. People have invented various simple, cheap and strong fixing methods, but the price paid for this is that the gun belt and firearm cannot be "quickly" detached.
Even for rifles like the Xiang 81 or 03, as long as the barrel and lower receiver do not need to be disassembled during disassembly, the gun sling can be put aside directly without disassembly. However, the development of modern warfare and weapons and equipment has put forward higher requirements for the gun belt itself. The following typical scenarios require the gun belt to be released quickly.
1. When disassembling and maintaining a weapon (weapon structure changes), you need to take off the gun sling.
2. To complete field "repair", it is necessary to assemble different parts, quickly combine A's upper receiver with B's lower receiver, re-"pair", and complete the repair through replacement, all need to be quickly disassembled and reassembled.
Of course, you can also adjust the weapon configuration according to the mission needs. For example, the AR series rifles can be adjusted by replacing the upper and lower receivers. At this time, the gun strap also needs to be reconnected with different receivers (unless a single-point strap has been used), or even Replace the gun sling.
3. When encountering an accidental fall into the water, a vehicle overturning, or the gun strap itself being accidentally hooked with the vehicle, the gun belt fixing mechanism needs to have the ability to quickly release, and it is even necessary to consider that the fixing mechanism will fall off on its own under certain conditions, so as to Protect the shooter. The gun belt is most likely the equipment closest to the outside. If the gun belt cannot be quickly released, the quick release of other equipment will also be ineffective.
When the gun belt is extended, it can easily wrap around the body equipment. You can't escape without taking off the gun belt.
In the daily use of weapons, in addition to the above-mentioned convenience requirements for disassembly and assembly, it also involves the troops' needs for internal affairs. In the war zone, more consideration is given to technical and tactical performance. Officers and soldiers are short of time and have heavy tasks, and internal affairs are put second. A contradictory position. The equipment arrangement of many "military fans" is also similar.
Internal affairs requirements in war zones are almost bureaucratic and not close to actual combat.
In non-combat zones or non-combat conditions, the troops will make internal affairs requests. For the People's Liberation Army, which makes everything neat and tidy and treats all obsessive-compulsive disorders, it must also be comprehensive and uniform, standardized copy and paste in this regard. This is an existence that leaves many streets behind in many countries. The overly complicated gun belt is also very troublesome to organize.
The chief is here. The gun belt is still in a mess. Please sort it out quickly.
Compatibility:
Let’s discuss a completely non-joking content, which is compatibility. It can be generally believed that incorrect installation of the gun belt is likely to interfere with the work of other accessories on the gun or even the gun itself. Not only that, it will also cause unnecessary interference with other equipment on the body, causing hooking or difficulty in use.
The picture below is a very classic example of interference. We can see most of the equipment that may interfere with the gun belt, including:
1. night vision device /stand
2. Goggles
3. Headphones / Headset microphone
4. Backpack chest strap
5. Backpack main strap
6. Water bag straw
7. PTT/related cables
8. Walkie-talkie antenna
Don’t think that modern equipment/PCs will not be so neat when they are developed. It will interfere with the gun belt, and the true colors will be revealed immediately when rescuing a wounded person.
But don’t forget that there is also NBC/diving equipment that is not commonly used but very important.
The first thing to bear the brunt is the head equipment. Whether it is a classic military hat or a high-tech four-eye night vision device, the gun belt only needs Passing through the top of the head will interfere with the head equipment. As long as the head circumference increases (significantly increases when wearing night vision goggles, etc.), this problem will become more obvious.
Even if your equipment is so refreshing, as long as there is a transparent mask, it will have a great impact on the use of the gun belt.
The second-ranked item is the rucksack. The following three points of the rucksack are also the three major obstacles that limit the use of gun slings:
Volume, weight, and various straps of the carrying system
These three points will really make people scratch their heads, not only The chest strap, even the amount of length adjustment under the shoulder strap, may interfere with the use of the gun belt. We will introduce the details in subsequent articles.
The third one is the carrying equipment, which is the carrying equipment around the body. In the past, soldiers' equipment was basically carried around the waist. Even when chest slings (bullet pouches) are used, gun belts are rarely used in combat, and the interference problem is not serious. However, many modern gun belts are used without taking off the gun belt during combat, which naturally inevitably conflicts with the carrying equipment of the equipment.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the ultimate application question -
Even if you pass five levels and kill six generals, it’s not over yet! The development of modern weapons is more focused on accessories, especially rifles.
"Christmas trees" have been developed for several generations. The laser sights, visible light lighting equipment, switches, and rail interfaces have all been replaced by more than one generation. Therefore, how to install the gun belt and how to "coexist harmoniously" with these accessories is also a question. Questions worth thinking about.
Human-machine efficacy:
In short: comfortable and easy to operate. Although the description is simple, it may not be the main contradiction of the strap design, but it is the first consideration for users.
The edge of the strap stabs (not stabs!) the neck. Difficulty adjusting length. This may be the most common complaint about straps that we have heard. How to solve it will be discussed in separate chapters introducing strap materials, adjustment structure and fixed structure.
5. Basic rules
After taking care of all the previous "concerns", the impact of the gun belt on the weapon is reflected in the stability and maneuverability of the gun.
The greater the number of connection points (hanging points) between the gun sling and the gun, and the further apart the points are, the stronger the control. The mobility is worse. vice versa.
Yes, single point belt basically has no control ability. Unless some special operation methods or supporting equipment are used, we will introduce them in subsequent articles. The stability of the
gun can be understood as: the ability to control (limit) the movement of the muzzle pointing and position of the long gun under any circumstances.
The mobility of a gun can be understood as: the freedom of movement in the pointing and position of the muzzle of the long gun under any circumstances.
