I've only tagged myself with a sling swivel once, that was enough. It was with my .300 WM, which has a rather short fore-end. I promise, it hurts a bit. That rifle has a CF wrapped barrel, so a barrel band isn't an option. The rifle doesn't recoil too badly, but it was my first time practicing with it off of sticks, so it was a learning experience. I'm a bit more cautious now, but that helped push me toward barrel-mounted swivels for the bigger rifles.
Being left-handed, my levers are either on the bolt side or the turret side. This time I chose the bolt side and I think I prefer it. Whatever scope ends up on this rifle long-term, probably another GPO 1.5-9, will be illuminated, so the illumination control will be on that side. Right now the levers point straight up which seems ideal for this specific setup. Once I have a different scope on it I may adjust the levers.
