MohawkSlim
Expert
I removed the barrel bands on mine because I'm lazy and it was "one more thing" to take off whenever I needed to remove the stock. Since all the other 10/22s don't need a barrel band I figured my cheapo carbines didn't need them either. I chose not to affix the sling to the band because it's made of plastic and typically, unnecessary plastic pieces on a rifle are never a good idea. (Suck it, Magpul!) Even the older ones made of metal aren't ideal because mounting the sling to them puts it all the way out at the end of the stock. I'm short and stout so reaching all the way out there puts the sling too far forward for me to get a good angle on it.
As for the accuracy debate there's no reason for 99% of modern shooters to debate which gear makes them more accurate. A wise man once said, "You can't buy skill in a bubble pack in aisle 9." That's true for the most part. Do bipods, scopes, drop-in triggers, shooting jackets, etc. make most shooters more accurate? I'd say no. Those pieces of kit simply make the shooter more stable. They take some of the movement out. That has nothing to do with the inherent accuracy of the platform the operator is operating. That's why we see some of the hot shots in this thread shooting 2moa from factory equipment.
Can we get more accuracy by being smart about mounting options and technical issues? Sure. But, in this case, it doesn't really matter. Bending a barrel through sling tension is something that happens so seldom it's almost unheard of. We might as well argue the Coriolis Effect has moved those .22 projectiles .000284 inches in the 25m they've flown. It just doesn't happen. And if it does, you'll know.
I'd posit the folks at RR (and similar) events have chosen to mount slings on places other than the barrel bands because they simply didn't want to buy the mount and/or they had some studs laying around. I'd further posit the majority of them have never even heard of nor considered the possibility of their sling tension warping the barrel to the point of causing accuracy issues. Like Coriolis Effect, it's something only "super good shooters" feel the need to talk about.
As for the accuracy debate there's no reason for 99% of modern shooters to debate which gear makes them more accurate. A wise man once said, "You can't buy skill in a bubble pack in aisle 9." That's true for the most part. Do bipods, scopes, drop-in triggers, shooting jackets, etc. make most shooters more accurate? I'd say no. Those pieces of kit simply make the shooter more stable. They take some of the movement out. That has nothing to do with the inherent accuracy of the platform the operator is operating. That's why we see some of the hot shots in this thread shooting 2moa from factory equipment.
Can we get more accuracy by being smart about mounting options and technical issues? Sure. But, in this case, it doesn't really matter. Bending a barrel through sling tension is something that happens so seldom it's almost unheard of. We might as well argue the Coriolis Effect has moved those .22 projectiles .000284 inches in the 25m they've flown. It just doesn't happen. And if it does, you'll know.
I'd posit the folks at RR (and similar) events have chosen to mount slings on places other than the barrel bands because they simply didn't want to buy the mount and/or they had some studs laying around. I'd further posit the majority of them have never even heard of nor considered the possibility of their sling tension warping the barrel to the point of causing accuracy issues. Like Coriolis Effect, it's something only "super good shooters" feel the need to talk about.
