Sling Mounts
To attach a gun sling to your weapon, you need attachment hardware called sling mounts. Today, the market is full of various solutions suitable for mounting a sling on any firearm, whether it is AR-15, AK-47, or Ruger 10/22. Manufacturers also don’t forget about aesthetics and make sling mounts that look like a part of a rifle.
Rifle sling mounts provide several attachment options to secure a gun sling. Depending on a sling design (single-point or two-point), stick to the following most common points of attachment.
- Foregrip/Handguard - Rails and studs help to install front sling mounts
- Buttstock - Mind that some stock designs already have built-in mounts for sling attachment
- Under receiving plate - A hole behind a foregrip
- Receiver extension tube - The point where the tube is closed by buttstock
Before purchasing sling mounts, take a close look at your weapon. If you are going with a two-point gun sling, check the stock and the handguard. Modern sling mounts are made to be compatible with standard rails. If you are looking for AR-15 sling mounts, check if your handguard already features attachment points because it’s a common case for those rifles.
So what sling mounts can be found on the market?
One of the most marketed types is quick detach or quick disconnect (simply QD) sling mounts. Unlike any standard attachment, with QD sling mounts, a sling can be easily taken off and on without any tools in a matter of seconds. The mechanism is simple: you push a spring-loaded button on the mount, and it pops off.
QD mounts can employ swivel and locking design of studs. Swivel QD mounts allow for more range of motion and prevent a sling from wrapping itself up. On the other hand, due to the attachment mechanism of studs, they can be pulled off when too much force is applied. That won’t happen to locking mounts. However, such mounts don’t rotate.
Clip and hook mounts make somewhat in between swivel and locking designs as they allow for some degree of rotation and can be detached faster than locking mounts.
Eng plate sling mounts are commonly used with single-point gun slings. They can feature either standard or quick-detach designs. Modern AR-15 receivers allow for centralized attachment opposite to one-sided. That’s why there are lots of eld plate mounts that are ambidextrous.
Gritr Sports have gathered a whole lot of the best sling mount designs suitable for AR-15, AK-47, and other rifles. Our sling mounts are made by such trusted firearm brands as Magpul, Midwest Industries, Troy, and others.