Installing sling studs by hand: pilot holes, angles, and shortcuts

Finishing a sling install is one of those jobs that looks intimidating until you watch someone do it by hand. In a video from Iraqveteran8888, the creator wraps up a customized single-shot shotgun build by installing front and rear sling studs and fitting a vintage Finnish M39 rifle sling, using nothing more than a hand drill, a vise, a punch, and careful eyeballing.

Key points

• Pilot hole sizing: He drills to the screw's minor diameter rather than the major diameter, settling on a 5/32-inch bit to avoid splitting the stock while leaving enough material for the threads to bite.
• Stud orientation choices: He explains you can run studs perpendicular to the stock's bottom line, angle them to the top line, or counter-sink them, and says the difference barely shows once the sling is attached.
• Rear stud angle: He opts for a slightly angled rear stud near the toe of the stock, arguing it gives a stronger connection when the sling is pulled.
• Hand-tool technique: Without a drill press, he drills by feel, starts the stud with a punch, and tightens it in like starting a cup hook, working off a vise or his lap.
• Pro vs. hobbyist caveat: He notes that for a paying customer he'd use a proper fixture for precision, but for his own "redneck shenanigans" build, hand-drilling is good enough.

Quick take

This is a solid walkthrough for anyone adding sling studs to a budget or project gun, with the creator's honest acknowledgment that a shop job calls for more precision than his garage method.

Watch the full video: Iraqveteran8888