My bolt gun shot differently depending on whether I had a sling on it

[blockhead]

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?

 

[Laser eyes]

Sling tension can absolutely change POI depending on stock design and how rigid everything is. Zeroing the way you actually shoot it makes all the difference in the field.

 

[nksmfamjp]

I have. For most stuff, I wonder if the sling affected the rifle or the shooter’s support of the rifle. What happens in dry fire? Same or different?

 

[Stan]

I’d never thought to check that before. Now I’m going to dig out the target from last weekend and compare properly.

 

[Stan]

I have. For most stuff, I wonder if the sling affected the rifle or the shooter’s support of the rifle. What happens in dry fire? Same or different?

Hmm good question. In dry fire, a sling can still affect things depending on how it’s set up and how much tension it puts on the rifle. It can change how the shooter naturally supports and stabilizes the gun, so you may see differences compared to an unslung position...