People tend to think of quick-detach slings as the stuff of nylon and fast-ex buckles, but these things have actually been around for a long time. One example is this Japanese Arisaka sling. Using two wire clips to attach to sling swivels, it is very quick and easy to detach from the rifle. We don’t know exactly who these were intended for, but they ended up being used on a wide variety of rifles. In particular, they appear to have been fairly popular on the Type 2 Paratrooper model of the Arisaka – although they were made before that rifle was adopted.
Prototype
RIA: Japanese Type 4 Garand Copy
Partway through 1944, the Japanese Imperial Navy began a program to provide their infantry units with better firepower than was afforded by the bolt action Arisaka rifles. The initial experimentation was based on rechambering captured […]
Bolt Action Rifles
Prototype 7.7mm Arisaka Type 99 Carbine
The Japanese military made the decision to move from a 6.5mm infantry rifle to a more powerful 7.7mm cartridge in the 1930s, with specifications for the new rifle proposed in 1938. In response, the Nagoya […]
Uncategorized
Japanese Type 97 Naval Flare Pistol
Yesterday we received an email from a reader named Michael, asking for information on an interesting rare piece he has – a Type 97 Japanese naval flare pistol: For folks who aren’t familiar with Japanese […]
Looks like a clever Joe could just get some pliers and bend it down just enough that it would hold a little better under spring tension.
Ian is the actual sling rubber impregnated webbing?
I always considered the web sling for the M1 Garand from WW2 to be a fairly quick detach sling.
How about Hi-Speed Lo-Drag in 1890s? QD rear sling clip on the Mauser Gew 98 (similar used on German GPMGs)?
A QD sling would make sense on the Type 2, due to its takedown arrangement.
However, I seriously doubt that using it as a shooting sling would improve accuracy, as the Type 2’s two-section setup would probably be even more vulnerable to the barrel being pulled to one side by sling tension than a conventional “one-piece” barrel/receiver structure would be.
cheers
eon
I am not very well-versed in the infantry tactics of WWII but AFAIK
a) I am not sure that using a shooting sling was ever taught by the Japanese Army
b) I am relatively sure that even American troops did not use their sling to stabilize their guns all that often.