It’s the 5th of May, 1980, approximately 1923. You’re a SAS Trooper stacked up with a team of other SAS troopers. Two teams of SAS men are primed to launch Operation Nimrod. The Iranian Embassy has been sieged, and hostages have been killed. It’s hot and muggy in your chemical protection suit, and you can barely see through your gas mask. The German-made MP5 sits tight to your body, secured by a three-point sling.
The stock is collapsed because the gas mask doesn’t allow you to shoulder the gun. Little do you know you’re about to create history in many different ways, including introducing the world to the SAS sling method for firing a stockless weapon. “Go, go, go!” someone says, and you breach.
Seventeen minutes later, five of the six hostage-takers are dead, but so is another hostage. The SAS is propelled to the limelight…
Today we are talking about the famed sling method the SAS used to stabilize their submachine guns when the stocks could not be deployed. The SAS sling method, as it is commonly called, is a technique that uses the sling to apply tension to the weapon to ensure it can be controlled. It’s especially handy for non-stocked weapons.
Did the SAS invent the technique? Who knows, but they most certainly popularized it. We saw the technique used with guns like the Micro Uzi, the MP5K, and many other ultra-compact PDW-type weapons. Using sling tension to stabilize a weapon certainly isn’t a new idea and has been kicking around for well over a century. However, pairing it with an SMG or non-stocked weapon certainly provides a more interesting take on the concept.
Why It’s Relevant Now
Admittedly, the SAS Sling Method kind of faded away as the world embraced SBRs and braces on pistols. However, as you likely know, the ATF is once again asking you to give up more. They’ve specifically targeted braces, and there is currently a court battle going on with the braces. (Support FPC, SAF, and GOA, by the way.)
It’s unlikely that the ATF will win, and even the court is stating that the ATF is likely to lose the court battle. Even so, we don’t count our chickens until the eggs have hatched. There is a bit of an industry freeze on braces at the moment while it plays out, and new platforms like the PMXs don’t come with brace options on the market.
Large format pistols like the PMXs, the CZ Scorpion, various MP5 clones, and other firearms are a bit awkward to shoot free-handed. The recoil tends to carry them rearward quite a bit, exaggerating their muzzle rise.
Even with braces and SBRs off the table, the SAS sling method is very handy for super short platforms. Adding a brace or stock adds weight and length to the gun. A sling is quite light and easily out of the way or detached to keep the platform incredibly small and lightweight. Aligning tension techniques can easily extend your control and the effective range of your weapon.
How It Works
It’s all about tension. That tension does two things. First, it delivers a degree of stabilization to the platform. This decreases your shakes with the heavy, somewhat awkward nature of large-format weapons, making it easier to aim your weapon to take shots at extended ranges. This makes it something a little easier to shoot and more effective than your standard handgun.
The second thing the SAS Sling Method does is reduce recoil. Large-format pistols often have a lot of recoil, and this is especially true for blowback-operated guns like a lot of the 9mm PCCs. They tend to have lots of awkward recoil that pushes the gun rearward and upward, which greatly exaggerates felt recoil. Sling tension reduces recoil and keeps the gun on target and under control. We use tension for shotguns, and the same theory applies here.
From an ergonomic perspective, these guns are often heavy, and holding up anywhere from five to seven pounds without any support can be difficult. With a sling, that tension is holding some of that weight and making it way easier to simply hold up and aim.
While it’s not as supportive as a stock, it does give you a third point of contact for control. This makes it easier to switch targets by simply rotating your entire body. With the SAS Sling method, you’ll stay behind the optic as you transition to another target. This makes transitions faster and smoother.
How To Use The SAS Sling Method
First, we need the gun, and we need a single-point sling or two-point sling. Yep, a single point has returned to be useful once more. My suggestion would be either a Magpul MS3 or a Vickers MSG sling. Both of these are two-point slings that can quickly convert to a single point. This makes them useful for supporting and carrying the gun and then quickly converting to a single-point position for embracing the SAS sling method. I’ve become a fan of the two-point sling, but the single-point is very easy to embrace.
The SAS commando originally used 3-point slings. Likely, HK designed 3 points. However, we don’t need to get into one of those messes of straps to utilize a little sling tension. You will need to tighten the sling down a good bit, more than likely. You want it so tight that when you press your firing arm forward, it shouldn’t be able to lock out in full extension.
You want that to be tight so you can maximize the tension of the weapon and therefore maximize the stability of the gun. Your rear hand should push the gun forward and keep things tight. Your support hand should grip the gun normally with a slight press forward. Hold on tight to help reduce recoil and control the gun.
With this in mind, it takes some practice to master and use correctly. For a little practice, here are some drills I like to use.
Failure to Stop Drill
The old failure to stop is a great way to start. Start with the weapon in the low ready. Use a shot timer to measure performance. At the beep, aim and fire two rapid rounds at the chest of the target. Now transition upward and take a well-aimed headshot. It’s easy but does require both speed and accuracy.
VTAC 1-5 Drill
The VTAC 1-5 Drill requires five targets standing in a row. Mentally number the targets 1 through 3. You’ll start five yards from each target. At the beep, you will do the following.
- Fire one Round into target one.
- Fire two rounds into target two.
- Fire three rounds into target three.
- Transition back to target two and fire four rounds.
- Finish by transitioning to target one and firing five rounds.
This drill will challenge you to transition and place accurate, rapidly fired rounds into multiple targets. Without good tension, this will be an absolute mess of a drill.
El Pres With a Subgun
The classic El Pres drill is another great drill to work with sling tension. Set three targets up one yard apart from each other. We’ll need 12 rounds and two magazines. Load six rounds into each magazine. Assume a low-ready position at the 10-yard line, facing away from the threats. At the beep, turn and assume good sling tension.
Fire two rounds into each target. Now reload, and fire two more rounds into each target. For an accuracy challenge, you should be able to knock the black out of a B8 or the A Zone out of a USPSA target.
This drill is great because it requires you to go from no tension to tension, then release tension to reload and reassume that tension one more time. It requires target transitions, and accuracy, all good things to practice with sling tension.
Getting Tense
The SAS Sling Method is a handy tool for you to put in your box. It’s just one more technique worth mastering. Plus, if you aren’t challenging yourself, what’s the point? Give it a try, and let us know what you think.
