I noticed it almost by accident, my groups looked a little different depending on whether I was shooting slung up or not, and it turns out there's a real reason for that. Sling tension travels through the stock, into the action and eventually into the barrel itself. It matters most on a barrel that isn't free floated but even a free floated barrel can pick up some of that tension through stock flex.
The takeaway is pretty simple, you need to actually know how your rifle behaves both with and without the sling attached, because they might not be the same rifle in terms of point of impact. And if you're planning to hunt with a sling on, your hunting zero should be established with that sling attached too not just whatever you zeroed at the bench without it. Who has checked whether their rifle does this?
The takeaway is pretty simple, you need to actually know how your rifle behaves both with and without the sling attached, because they might not be the same rifle in terms of point of impact. And if you're planning to hunt with a sling on, your hunting zero should be established with that sling attached too not just whatever you zeroed at the bench without it. Who has checked whether their rifle does this?
