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.
Book review
Video Book Review: Japanese Rifles of WWII, by Duncan McCollum
If you need a resource on the incremental changes to the major Japanese rifles over the course of WWII, Japanese Rifles of World War II is just the thing for you. Focusing on the Type […]
Prototype
RIA: Japanese ZH-29 Copy by Tokyo Gas & Electric
The Japanese military experimented with self-loading rifle designs through the 1930s, and had 4 major rifles in testing during that period. One was a new design by Kijiro Nambu, one was a Pedersen copy made […]
Bolt Action Rifles
RIA: Japanese Type 100 Paratrooper
The Type 100 (sometimes called the Type 0) was one of the initial Japanese experiments in paratroop rifles. Manufactured from standard Nagoya Arsenal Type 99 rifles, the Type 100 used a set of interrupted lugs […]
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.