Neoprene Slings Offer Outstanding Field Performance

Several Butler Creek models—all made of wetsuit fabric—are better than traditional leather and nylon products, we think.

The Butler Creek Comfort Stretch Slings proved excellent for use during the hasty sling shooting position.

Rifle slings, like spouses and Rodney Dangerfield, don’t always get the respect they deserve. One fact of life often overlooked by rifle hunters is that they must first get their weapon to the action before they can put the rifle to good use. That usually means using a rifle sling. In addition to being a carrying mechanism, rifle slings are also excellent accuracy aids for those who know how to wrap into them. In sum, they are invaluable parts of accurate field shooting equipment.

But which rifle-sling materials offer the best performance for big-game hunters, who need comfort, durability, and flexibility in the straps they strap to their backs? Traditionalists will always prefer the look and tone of leather; functionalists like the no-nonsense appeal of nylon. Then there’s stretchy, soft, neoprene, long a staple of diving wet suits.Can that material offer benefits not available elsewhere? We decided to find out.

Leather Rifle Slings
For many years, leather slings—especially the 1-inch military-type two-piece straps with brass-plated D rings and hooks—were what hunters used. There were two reasons for this: The leather products were all that was available; and many hunters of a generation ago got their rifle training in the military, where wrapping into these sling types was literally drilled into them. There are a myriad of different leather rifle slings makes, models, and designs available today, including the old two-piece military slings. The fanciest complement the looks of rifles stocked with fine wood, while others are no more than a 1-inch piece of leather. There’s no doubt all will work as a carrying strap, but are they the best choice for serious big-game hunters today?

I used 1-inch military-type leather slings exclusively for many years. When I bought my first .375 H&H Magnum, a beautiful Whitworth Express with a fine piece of English walnut, over a decade ago, I added one of the newest leather slings at the time, a Padded Suede Cobra model from Uncle Mike’s. This sling featured a then-new 2-inch shoulder pad, and the rough suede leather helped it cling to my outerwear. It was also adjustable using the traditional brass keeper-and-screw system.

The Uncle Mike’s Padded Suede Cobra sling ($26.95) is one of the best such products being offered, in our opinion. It is a functional leather sling for those who want to dress up their wooden-stocked rifles with the look of leather. The 2-inch-wide shoulder strap helps spread the load, provides a wide, comfortable brace for hasty sling use, and the rough leather finish helps prevent slipping on the shoulder when walking. On the downside, it adds unnecessary ounces to the carry weight of the gun, and there’s no give in the sling, which means you’ll feel the full weight of the gun every time you take a jarring step. Also, the sling doesn’t respond well to wet, cold conditions. Mold grows on it, it becomes slick to handle, and in very chilly climes, it stiffens and becomes uncomfortable.

That’s why I reserve this sling for use on the Whitworth in dry climates like Africa, or on early-season hunts in North America when conditions are expected to be dry and walking kept to a minimum. There are plenty of other ways to be uncomfortable in the field.

Nylon Rifle Slings
When nylon rifle slings became available, they had advantages over leather that quickly became evident. They were lightweight and impervious to bad weather. They were long-wearing without requiring the treatment leather did. I used them for a while, but I never really liked the early versions. Their slick surface always seemed to slide off my shirt or backpack straps, making carrying them something I had to constantly monitor, a real problem when mountain hunting.

Still, there have been a great many improvements in nylon rifle-sling design since the first 1-inch-strap versions were offered, though many nylon products like the 11/4-inch Uncle Mike’s Mountain Sling ($18.95) are popular. The $11.95 Uncle Mike’s Ultra Sling, for instance, features a 21/4- by 111/4-inch padded Cordura nylon shoulder pad that’s cross-stitched for strength, utilizes heavy-duty metal buckles and keepers, and incorporates a 1-inch-wide nonslip strip on the back of the shoulder pad which runs the length of the sling. This strip grips both outerwear and backpack straps well, but it would be more effective if the carrying area were at least another inch wider.

In addition to the plain version of the Ultra Sling, also available is the Ultra Cartridge Sling. It adds six vertical standard-caliber rifle cartridge loops to the standard black Ultra Sling. This version does this job well, though if you try to use it to carry large magnum cartridges you’ll find that the cartridge loops are very tight and prone to splitting.

Items like the nylon Uncle Mike’s Ultra Sling and Mountain Sling are better than leather, in our opinion, but these slings do not provide the shock-absorbing cushion of neoprene slings, which makes them less comfortable to use in a full day of hunting.

Neoprene Rifle Slings
After trying the early versions of nylon slings and finding them less than perfect, I went back to leather slings briefly. Then I stumbled upon neoprene rifle slings from a small Montana-based company named Butler Creek.

The contemporary look of these new slings matched the new synthetic rifle stocks that were fast becoming popular for hunting in inclement weather. I bought one and placed it on one of Remington’s then brand new Model 700 KS Mountain Rifles with a gray Kevlar stock and chambered for the .280 Remington cartridge. That year I took it on several hunts, including lengthy trips to Botswana and Alaska. I was impressed. Soon, almost all my big-game rifles were wearing the new neoprene slings.

The reasons for choosing neoprene are many. Called Comfort Stretch Slings, they are featherweight light, adding just a few ounces to overall firearm weight. Their functional design omits nothing that could aid them in their job. The slings attach to the rifle stock with two 1-inch-wide nylon web straps which work well with all standard sling swivels. The closed-cell neoprene shoulder pad measures 14- by 23/8 inches, and is sewn to the web straps after being backed by a 11/2- by 113/4-inch stretch nylon backing. The neoprene pad is comfortable regardless of the style, material, construction, or bulk of your outerwear.

The stretch backing is a key component. It allows the slings to give as you walk, acting as a shock absorber with each step that cushions the weight of the rifle off your shoulder and neck muscles. The positive effects of this cushioning becomes more and more evident with each mile covered on shank’s mare. The stretch property is also valuable when you must rapidly wrap into a hasty sling position for shooting, eliminating the need for the old military-sling type adjustments and permitting a snug, secure fit regardless of the bulk of your outerwear. It’s easy to wrap into these slings now regardless of the shooting position required—and it’s quick and secure as well.

The latest version of the Comfort Stretch Slings have a series of small nonslip grippers (176 in all, set in 22 rows of eight grippers) in the upper one-half of the neoprene shoulder pad. These grippers help keep the sling from sliding off your shoulder when carrying the rifle, even when wet. With slick nylon outerwear, however, they will still skid some. They will also slip when riding on the shoulder straps of most backpacks, though not nearly as bad as leather or nylon slings. They grip securely to fleece shoulder straps. The early versions of the slings did not have the grippers, and adding them is an improvement.

Three basic rifle versions are available—Rifle, Alaskan Magnum Rifle, and Highlander. The Rifle sling is a plain, no-frills version. The Alaskan Magnum has four vertical individual cartridge holders sewn into the nylon stretch backing, making quick reloading easy—a very comforting thought for grizzly and brown bear hunters. These cartridge loops work well with both standard and magnum rifle cartridges. The Highlander is the company’s deluxe version, featuring leather panels top and bottom, and the stretch backing is hidden beneath a solid neoprene panel. Colors available on the Rifle and Alaskan Magnum models include black, brown, and a light brown-and-green camouflage. The Highlander is currently available in black only.

Uncle Mike’s $15.95 Easy Rider Stretch Sling is another sling of this type. It features a similar foam-backed stretch-knit fabric shoulder pad that gives a little with each step, though not quite as much as the Butler Creek slings. The Easy Rider also does not feature the nonslip grippers on the back of the shoulder pad, as do the Butler Creek slings, but it still rides very well on your shoulder with a minimum of slipping, except on slick nylon-like outerwear. It’s available in black only.

PFS Recommends
There are many considerations to ponder when choosing a rifle sling for big-game hunting. These include the type of hunting to be done, the conditions under which it will be done, and the type of rifle to be used. Cost may also be a factor, especially when we’re talking about tooled-leather slings built more for show than go.

For serious big-game hunting, where the rifle must be carried over the shoulder mile after mile, day after day, up and down steep terrain, dragged through brush, and where the weather can turn nasty, we’ve found neoprene and nylon slings offer advantages over leather that cannot be ignored. Moreover, we think the neoprene products are better than nylon slings as a class.

Our favorite neoprene slings are models in the Butler Creek Comfort Stretch Sling line. They get the job done with a minimum of weight, bulk, and ineffective frills. They are excellent both for carrying the rifle afield and wrapping into when shooting. The cushioning provided by both the neoprene shoulder pad and stretch backing is significant in terms of reducing user fatigue, and this give helps the shooter wrap tightly into the sling when things are happening in a hurry and you don’t have time to get everything just right. They also keep slippage from the shoulder while walking to a minimum. They are impervious to water, and can take a beating. The very first of these slings that I purchased in the mid-1980’s has traveled with me around the world more than once, as well as through the North America’s toughest country for hundreds of days and is still functioning flawlessly. With very few exceptions, the Butler Creek neoprenes are all I use for big-game hunting today. These slings can be found in most well-stocked gun shops or ordered through mail-order houses like Cabela’s.

Also With This Article
Click here to view "Contacts."

-By Bob Robb