Slingshots?

[W.R.Buchanan]

Since we don't have a slingshot forum I figured it would be OK to place this thread in here.

I have been an avid Sling Shootist since I was 8 years old. I got my first BB gun when I was 8 and spending the summer with my father in Bath Michigan. However my Mother would not let me bring it back to California with me at the end of summer. Since I was a Latch Key Kid, (no one there after school until mom got home at 5:30) she considered that a BB gun would just get me into trouble. (probably would have)

I was pretty bummed as I had saved my allowance for 8 weeks that summer to get that gun, a Daisy Golden Eagle, and it was a pretty big deal to me. When I went back the next year my Dad's second wife would let me shoot it as her father had "Accidentally" shot himself in the head and killed himself while cleaning his .22 cal Rifle? I don't know how you do that accidentally?

As a substitute, my Mother bought me a Whamo Slingshot for $1.50 and I started shooting it daily after school. She figured that what harm could I do with a simple slingshot? The Slingshot actually came with some instructions showing how to hold the thing and how to aim it. I got good real quick and with an endless supply of marbles I shot more birds with that slingshot than I ever got with my BB gun when it finally showed up 4 years latter looking like it had been well used by someone else. Found out she was the one shooting it virtually every day shooting starlings that invaded the farm . I still got it but it is in serious need of restoration.

I still have the sling shot as well and all it needs is new bands> I tend to hold onto my favorite toys for along time. 62 years for this one, and the BB gun.

Anyway I still shoot slingshots frequently and the reason for this thread is at the SHOT Show earlier this year I found something that was really cool. It was a sling shot by an outfit named Simple Shot https://simple-shot.com/slingshots/ It is by far the best one I have ever had and that includes many I have made.

It was by far the best thing at SHOT 2020! It is a simple U yoke style sling shot with no arm brace and it is easily the most accurate one I've ever had. I got it and a backstop that catches the steel balls and started shooting it frequently about 2 months ago. I am up to the point where I can hit a 3"dia target about 8/10 times at 10 yards in my shop. In my earlier days I could hit a beer bottle at 30 yards just about every shot with my Wrist Rocket. It had 1/2" surgical tubing and a 35 lb draw weight and I was shooting Lee 240 gr .44 call SWC's which flew sideways! Had a big impact on a guys butt who was rifling thru my car one night. I can't even hold it at full draw now.

I am shooting mostly 3/8" steel balls and they are running about 250 fps out of this new one. But I also shoot 1/2" balls as well and I can assure you that at 125 gr. they are running about 225 fps and getting smacked between the eyes with one would surely ruin your day. New materials for the bands and new designs that allow you to repeatably hold the bands at the same length which is the key to pinpoint accuracy.

Been carrying this thing as my CCW in my jacket pocket because it is not considered a Lethal Weapon and I can't carry a gun in CA. So far I haven't seen any need to bring it out at Walmart or other places we go to forage for food and supplies, but due to the current climate you never know who is going to get froggy and inside 10 yards I can deal with a threat with enough force to disrupt them and give me and mine a window to escape stage left.

This may sound ridiculous to many, however I assure you that this sling shot is powerful enough to do some significant damage and if with some Divine Guidance I can hit the guy right above the bridge of the nose between the eyes, he is going down. This will give us time to either further deal with him somewhat brutally or split!

Anyway I just thought I'd tell you what I do for fun.

Randy

[MUSTANG]

Haven't had a Slingshot in over 50 years. Thanks for bringing the "Ole Sling Shot" back for discussion.

Which is the best sling shot projectile Cast or Swaged?

[W.R.Buchanan]

A .50 cal ball weighs 175 gr. and with the right slingshot would be lethal inside 10 yards. Cast is fine. Although my LGS has swaged Round Balls for Muzzleloaders in about every size known to man. $10 for a hundred.

Randy

[MusicMan]

try https://slingshotforum.com/ or https://www.slingshotcommunity.com/

[country gent]

I just received the Wood crafters e-mail the other day and they have a new sling shot kit now on sale. It a very nice looking set up would be a lot of fun to build and with a fancy wood would make Dennis the menace jealous. :grin:
I have made them for the 2 older grandsons ( not this one but a simple sling shot using heavy rubber bands) not super powerful but then the daughter buys them marshmallows to shoot from them. Their dog loves that.

[GhostHawk]

I have a lyman .455 round ball mold. Makes a very impressive WHACK when it hits my backstop.

They sell 50 foot boxes of rubber tubing for exercise. They are not that expensive.

I like the longer rifle type slingshots using a 2-3 foot stick, pvc, etc with forks at the far end and a good handle.
You can get pretty accurate with some practice.

No primers, powder needed, just need a good bullet catch. Reuse till they are banged up then remake them round again.
Truly thrifty.

Also less than lethal. A hit into muscle mass will hurt like heck, disable, but not kill.

[Conditor22]

I also shot slingshots since about the day I could walk. I started using rocks and dirt clods the graduated to "mining" (digging) clay out of a ricefield, rolling my own projectiles. I would dry the clay in the shade and when it was almost dry I would roll the balls again on polished concrete giving them a reflective shine.

Would buy rubber and leather at the store, cut a forked branch out of a tamarin tree and carve it to the desired shape. then I'd tie everything together with rubber bands. I was deadly with that those things.

https://i.imgur.com/mJbVbuu.png

[Tripplebeards]

We might as well add a blowgun form to!!! I need to go pick up one of those cold steel’s at Cabela’s The next time through. I can still remember as a kid I would pull back my slingshot too far and have a few of those rubber bands slap me in the face when they broke. Yeeeeoooouch!!! I still have the slingshot that I won in Boy Scouts back in the early 80s. It’s got a gray swirl plastic handle on it. I believe it’s the same one as the picture of your third one from the left. I strung a new replacement rubber sling on it a few years back.

[OldBearHair]

Right on W.R. Buchanan. I also imagine that 125 grain lead ball would do great damage just about any spot on the torso that it hit at 225 fps. I shudder to think about a hit on the Adam's Apple or even mid sternum. Maybe a collar bone. I shot a possum once with the same 1/2 lead ball with trajectory about the same as my hunting bow. The ball hit behind the front shoulder and traveled forward about five inches taking the hide into the hole with the ball. DRT. It would ne nice to see some penetration tests on Ballistic Gel. Stay safe now and God Bless.

[OldBearHair]

Last time one broke and hit the corner of my mouth, I made the statement that if I ever shoot one again, it will be from the hip.

[Outpost75]

Bean Shooters Are Best For Boys - Memories of Rabbit Stew and a Slingshot


259074

When I was a kid growing up in Northern Virginia in the days “before the beltway,” boys learned at Dad's knee the fine art of building and using the lowly “beanshooter” or “bean-flip”. Ours were cut from the crotch of a dogwood tree, slung with natural gum latex rubber bands cut from bike inner tubes or 3/8 surgical tubing bound to the upright forks with braided nylon fishing line or dental floss, then varnished. I still have mine, pictured above, which has taken a pickup load of rabbits, birds and other small small game for the pot. The mere thought of Mom's rabbit stew with Southern milk gravy ladled over biscuits hot from the oven still warms my heart even after all these years.

It was Dad’s rule that boys could not hunt unsupervised with a gun until old enough to get a driver’s license, and drive to town to the hardware store on their own without an adult. (I still think that is a good rule). At 16 we could buy .22 shells for $0.78 per box, if we also carried the required note from Dad stating that it was OK, and we used our own money. But .22 rifles are a story for another time...

Dried green peas or tiny round creek pebbles were our usual practice ammunition, all that was allowed by Dad for use by boys until the age of 12. At 12 we graduated to glass marbles, because they flew more true and hit harder, but had to buy them out of our allowance. As teenagers, after we had proven our ability to bring home "rabbits killed with a cat’seye” we were entrusted with cast lead 00 buckshot, or .36 cal. lead round balls from the Colt mold which came with Great Grandpa's 1851 Navy which he used in the War of Northern Agression. Dad's admonition was that LEAD was "killing" (hunting) ammunition, so practice at a backstop was OK, but no random shooting where we weren't sure where it would go! (Also a good rule!)

Dad as a farm boy in West Virginia had helped feed his family with a bean flip during the Great Depression. The buckshot and pistol balls we cast in the barn over a WW2 Ranger stove was our preferred, hard hitting and effective slingshot ammo. We mostly hunted rabbits in Mom's kitchen garden, less often raccoons attacking the garbage cans behind the back porch at night or groundhogs whenever we could “Indian-up” upon one along our fence and wood line in the back pasture.

As kids we were taught to eat what we killed, and learned how to prepare game for Mom’s stew pot, salting the hides, cutting the prime cuts into serving pieces and grinding the bones and guts for chicken feed. NOTHING was wasted.

But today times have changed. Kids think hamburger grows from a seed planted under the plastic film over the Styrofoam meat tray in the Food Lion. Few kids own slingshots, let alone make their own! Aren’t those something made in China? Indeed many urban areas restrict the sale of “wrist rockets” and such because they are often used as “gang weapons.”

But in difficult times, which we could easily see again soon, you can do much worse than to make your own slingshot. With diligent practice you can actually feed and defend yourself with it. If the leftist Commie domestic enemies in our country ever get their way we could be reduced to that unless you are willing to die with your gun held in your cold dead fingers...

To carry a “loaded” slingshot in your overalls back pocket so that it is handy for a fast shot at Mr. Wabbit or Dingus the Drug Dealing Dirtbag (with practice you can draw and shoot a pop can, or a dirtbag in the head at 20 feet in 2 seconds), a single glass marble, 00 buckshot or cast lead pistol ball, either .36 or .44 cal. is centered in the leather pouch, which is LIGHTLY greased with Vaseline, and retained by a rubber band doubled and tucked snugly around the pouch. When the slingshot is drawn and released, the rubber band discards, sending your buckshot, lead ball or marble on its merry way.

“Bunny wabbit with biscuits tonite Mom!”

A decade later a high school classmate of mine who shall remain nameless discovered that 9/16" ball bearings from the jet engine maintenance shops made safer ammunition to recon strange noises along the airfield perimeter at night than his issue M16. Whenever a scared 19 year-old touched off a round at night it was certain to initiate search and traversing, interlocking fields of fire from multiple M60s, accompanied by 81mm illumination rounds, and nobody'd get any sleep... A silent, hurled ball bearing would effectively drive off the bats and monkeys and ease the night terrors of a scared kid on his first tour in a combat zone.

But full disclosure I must tell "The Fable of the Golden BB." Only once during a 9-month tour a hurled ball bearing was answered by a loud "thud" and a weak moan, followed by dead quiet...
The watch changed without incident. The K9 handler patrolling the perimeter fence at dawn found a sapper hanging upside down in the wire, very dead, bleeding profusely from a head wound. He called the command post on the radio asking the Sgt. of the guard if there had been any firing last night? "Negative Kilo Niner, silent night, all was right." He then clarified "Then we must have some MACV spooks visiting here hunting with night vision because we got a Double Delta (Dead Dink) at Charlie 57 head shot with a .45 and NOBODY heard a f*&$ing sound..."

[nagantguy]

Avid slingshooter here guys; made a few bought many. Mr. Buchanan I’m real familiar with Bath MI. Not to far from my grandparents farm, I killed the biggest whitetail doe I’ve ever seen right across the street from the historic marker for the Bath school bombing. Thanks for posting this while I’m home during WhuFlu I’ll break out the sling shots and maybe make one for the boy.

[Multigunner]

I put some large diameter surgical tubing on a wrist rocket frame I found. Draw weight was pretty stout. Incredible power when using .375 lead round ball ,but the recoil working through the arm brace nearly broke my arm. That's about the only limiting factor with these.
A better arm brace that spread the recoil force more evenly could allow a truly lethal velocity with heavy lead slugs.

Perhaps a brace that ran under the extended arm to near the elbow and held down by a Velcro strap might do the job.

I have a couple of medical fore arm braces with metal inserts, been using one as an arm guard when using my bows.
Hadn't thought about it till now but it might be adapted.

[rockrat]

I have a couple of wrist rockets. Been using a slingshot since a teenager. I use "atomic fireballs" candy as ammo. Biodegradable.

[rking22]

I have been playing with them for decades too! I found the Simpleshot website several years ago due to some BEAUTIFUL slingshots that they used to feature. Custom made works of are. I bought one of their small simple flips and some bands. Got me a lee buckshot mold and began to shoot it again. So many toys so little time. I lives in the console of my little truck for passing time or????
Well can’t find what I was talking about, many another site??? Anyway Simpleshot makes some nice simple flips and good bands. There were some nice ones from antler, I found a couple sheds last weekend, well working from home can be good.
Outpost75, you always have the most interesting posts that remind me of my youth but always bring even more!!! Awesome “disclosure” there!

[MrWolf]

In NJ we weren't allowed to have them. They are considered weapons of mass destruction and you would be charged with a felony, same as a gun. Even a bb gun required a Firearm Identification card. Nice stories folks.

The link didn't work. Correct link is:
https://simple-shot.com/slingshots/

[PerpetualStudent]

I've been working my way slowly through "Hell, I was there" and Elmer Kieth talks about using a slingshot in self defense as a boy. Took out a few teeth with it if the story is to be believed and bought enough time for escape.

I actually made one for my eldest daughter and now that spring is here she'll get to use it more. Crushed up balls of foil for her ammo.

[Win94ae]

I have 2 wrist rockets on the shelf behind me, just got new bands for them. I have lots of 44cal balls, marbles, and ball bearings to shoot. I also shoot the old time sling, I use large rocks with it.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Mr. Wolf: Thanks for the correction on the link. https://simple-shot.com/slingshots/ I changed it in the OP as well. Sorry about the "Fun Police" in NJ, we have them out here too. In fact your state probably got their gun control ideas from us.

For info the one I got from them was the "Scout LT" and I got some extra bands and the backstop as well. I got the SHOT Show discount and my total was around $65 total.

The actual Slingshot is the best made one I have ever seen and it uses flat bands rigged over the top and cut to 7:1 pull ratio. 6:1 is considered max. This is the ratio between your draw length and the length of the bands when relaxed. The new Latex material they use promotes faster acceleration rather than brute force like Surgical tubing does. If you need more power you just double up on the bands. I got one set that has two bands per side, but I won't use it for a while as I won't be able to hold it at full draw. The band sets are pre rigged and are better than anything I have made in the past and they are only a few bucks, so no need to reinvent the wheel.

Randy

[Biggin]

Cool thread!! I haven't had one in years though It has crossed my mind. I tried making a simple sling last year but couldn't never get it to work like I wanted. I'm gonna have to get one thanks for the idea. You old guys rock!:grin:

[rking22]

Flipping out slingshots was the one I was thinking about, Simpleshot no longer sells them but they have a farcebook page. Don’t know if they still sell, I don’t have Facebook account.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Biggin: if you are talking a Sling like David used to slay Goliath then you are looking at literally years of practice to get a projectile to go where you want it to. I have never been able to get anything to even go in the general direction desired.

Keep in mind that 3,000 years ago if you were a goat herder you had alot of free time on your hands. So guys like David who were essentially stranded with the herd for weeks at a time had plenty of free time to figure out the sling. Not to mention any meat they might get to eat had to come from their hunting with said sling.

The one advantage of the sling was its ability to throw big rocks. Goliath got drilled with at least a golf ball sized rock at less than 25 yards, and by the time the Goliath thing happened, David probably had 15-20 years of practice under his belt. A 4 foot long sling could probably generate 200-300+ fps with a 1 lb rock, so getting hit by one would seriously ruin your day. Getting hit in the forehead with said Rock,,, would seriously end you! Case in point.

Were lucky to have really neat latex rubbers to work with now, and as such it makes getting good with a slingshot relatively quick and easy. "Simple Shot" also produces a bunch of training videos that you can watch to help you get there faster. Once you can hit the end of a beer can 10 times in a row at 10 yards you are good to go. I'm at 8/10 right now and working to close up my last two.

Randy

[Biggin]

Biggin: if you are talking a Sling like David used to slay Goliath then you are looking at literally years of practice to get a projectile to go where you want it to. I have never been able to get anything to even go in the general direction desired.

Keep in mind that 3,000 years ago if you were a goat herder you had alot of free time on your hands. So guys like David who were essentially stranded with the herd for weeks at a time had plenty of free time to figure out the sling. Not to mention any meat they might get to eat had to come from their hunting with said sling.

The one advantage of the sling was its ability to throw big rocks. Goliath got drilled with at least a golf ball sized rock at less than 25 yards, and by the time the Goliath thing happened, David probably had 15-20 years of practice under his belt. A 4 foot long sling could probably generate 200-300+ fps with a 1 lb rock, so getting hit by one would seriously ruin your day. Getting hit in the forehead with said Rock,,, would seriously end you! Case in point.

Were lucky to have really neat latex rubbers to work with now, and as such it makes getting good with a slingshot relatively quick and easy. "Simple Shot" also produces a bunch of training videos that you can watch to help you get there faster. Once you can hit the end of a beer can 10 times in a row at 10 yards you are good to go. I'm at 8/10 right now and working to close up my last two.

Randy

Yessir that's what I was trying to accomplish. The local farm store sells the Daisy sling shots in several different flavors I just haven't been there when money and thinking about it has crossed paths. I too used sling shots as a young child. It's on my gita round to it list.

[rking22]

259117Flipping out slingshots was the one I was thinking about, Simpleshot no longer sells them but they have a farcebook page. Don’t know if they still sell, I don’t have Facebook account.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Rking22: what I got appears to be an evolution of what you posted.. It is rigged with the bands over the top or you can rig it with the bands around the sides as the band clamps work both ways. It really has some good features and is very comfortable to hold and draw.

I'd think someone who can work wood could easily make one of those as they are just not that hard. If you want to make a bunch you simply make a plastic template, double stick tape it to the wood you want to use, and cut them out on a Router Table.

Randy

[Nueces]

Man, what a neat thread. As a lad in the outskirts of Washington, DC, I made a walnut slingshot based on the Whammo design. Surgical rubber bands, patch from a Lee Jeans label, windage adjustable sight (!!) and a butt trap holding quarter inch ball bearings. Long range shots were taken with round lead balls from a Dixie Gun Works 58 caliber mould.

The sight worked. As a test, I attempted a shot at a tall, straight pine trunk, at maybe 80 yards. That lead ball made a loud thwack upon impact. I was the best armed kid in DC Northwest.

[Ramguy]

I remember... as a teenager growing up in northern Indiana, I helped Dad around the farm after school. I ran an open cab Oliver 1800 and pulled a 5 bottom plow with a packer on the very back. I wasn't much into farming back then, I would rather be shooting stuff with my BB guns or .22 when I had money for shells. I noticed one time while running the plow outfit that I was plowing through some material that looked a lot like clay. Well, being a young and dumb teenager, on my next pass, I got out of the tractor seat, climbed out onto the plow, walked the beam and the packer tongue and jumped off, yes, the tractor was moving. I collected some big clods of this clay and then retraced my steps back onto the packer, up the tongue, down the beam and back into the tractor seat. Then I started rolling this clay into balls and laid these balls up against the engine and "fired" them. They got pretty hard and since I had my slingshot in my pocket, plowing kinda became fun for me. I would shoot mostly grackles or starlings, sometimes mice, all pretty challenging from a moving tractor. I would collect some of my bounty and take it back to the farm and throw it to our barn cats who much appreciated the meal.
Dad never liked the tractor stopping, so that was why i did the stupid thing of climbing across the moving equipment.... Lord must have been watching over me a lot back then seeing as how I left the farm with all my appendages intact.
I really like the idea here of using lead balls for ammo, I rarely used anything other than my clay balls or rocks. Marbles were too valuable a commodity, since we played for keepsies as kids.
Later in life when I was working as a LEO, we had a company in our town that had a large punch press and they punched out different sized holes in metal bars. There were always piles of these knockouts laying around their trash bin and we started using the knockouts as ammo in our slingshots which we carried in our briefcases. Our favorite targets were the city pigeons that made such a mess in their roosting areas. This was all back in the day when "community service" meant a lot of different things. Glad cell phones and cameras weren't around back then or we probably wouldn't be collecting our pensions today.... I am sure someone would have complained about our community service. Thanks for bringing back these great memories Mr. Buchanan.

[besk]

A homemade slingshot was my weapon of choice back in my youth and I was pretty good at it.
Last year my son-in-law was shooting a wrist rocket at a pie plate (and missing) at a good 25 yards. He asked if I would like
to try. One shot and I centered the pie plate. He was impressed.

He wanted me to shoot more but I demurred. Didn't tell him but didn't want to push my luck plus had pulled a muscle in my 76 year old shoulder in the process.

[roadie]

I find slingshots very interesting, played with them as a kid, but never really kept it up.

What is the best, most accurate way to hold a slingshot? Without taking a chunk out of your hand while shooting it? I was tagged a couple of times, never fun.

[trebor44]

Started with a flat band Whamo and on to Wrist Rockets. It is indeed a weapon. Practice makes it awesome! I prefer .32 caliber round balls store in a pellet can or pill bottle. Lots of options for 'ammo' and as long as there are 'rocks' you won't have to worry about panic buying!

[Jedman]

I too am a former sling shootist. Still own a couple that need new bands, can't get rid of stuff like that. One shot that stays sharp in my memory is knocking a pidgeon out of the air with a marble and leading it just like wing shooting and watching the marble in flight and the puff of feathers and seeing the dead bird tumbling to the ground.
May need to start playing with one again.

Jedman

[Jedman]

I too am a former sling shootist. Still own a couple that need new bands, can't get rid of stuff like that. One shot that stays sharp in my memory is knocking a pidgeon out of the air with a marble and leading it just like wing shooting and watching the marble in flight and the puff of feathers and seeing the dead bird tumbling to the ground.
May need to start playing with one again.

Jedman. SORRY FOR THE DOUBLE POST ? With this iPad you don't know why things just happen ?

[W.R.Buchanan]

When I started, the instructions that came with the Whamo Slingshot said to hold the thing with your thumb and fore finger straddling the yoke, your other 3 fingers wrapped around the handle. Then when you'd draw it and hold it at a 45 degree angle aiming over the corner of the top leg.. I carried this over to the Wrist Rockets and my Folding Wrist Rocket,, called a "Pocket Rocket" became my primary slingshot from age 25 until recently.

With this new one I am holding the yoke at 90 degrees and aiming over the top of the upper leg. This allows me to make sure the bands are equal length before firing. This is critical to accuracy because the longer leg will have more force and throw the shot the opposite direction, but in this case that becomes an elevation error which is more desirable than a windage error .

Like Archery, it is necessary to keep your upper body strength up with frequent practice. I find that after laying off for a few months it became hard for me to hold the Wrist Rocket at full draw with surgical tubing bands. When I was younger the material I used yielded a 35 lb draw weight. I'm lucky to do 20 lb. now. I switched to the premade bands that are available at Big 5 or Walmart. They come in yellow and black with the black being the strongest. Biggest problem is the limited band life due to UV destruction of the bands. I can get about 6 months out of a set unless you keep them in the dark..

This new flat band material is cut so the bands are tapered from widest at the yoke down to about 3/8" wide at the pouch. Theraband is the material of choice if you make them at home. Kind of challenging to get a strait cut in the stuff as it likes to move around but with the right tools it is doable. Still it is much easier to just buy the band sets premade from Simple Shot and they even come in UV protected bags so they don't go off before you use them. The advantage of this new bands is that they accelerate the payload much faster that surgical tubing does. Mine will do 250 fps with a 3/8" steel ball which is big enough to take down anything up to a squirrel or a dove. I've been carrying 5ea. 1/2" balls with me during my outings right now simply because a prospective target would be a person and I want to make as big an impression as possible with the first shot. Believe me, You never know what you will run into at the Walmart in Oxnard CA, and ethnicity does play a role in most altercations we've seen. We've had to leave that store twice due to scuffles that took place involving others to avoid the chaos before the cops got there. The Parking Lot can be hazardous day or night with Bums Panhandling and other no goods approaching you looking for handouts, you need your head on a swivel every time you go.

Another story: When I was 12 my family went to Las Vegas for a vacation. This was 1962 when Vegas was still cool. At Circus Circus me and my step Bro weren't allowed in the Casino proper so we had to hang out in the Carnival Midway where there were all kinds of games like darts, shooting galleries, coin tosses etc.

Well one of the games was shooting Beer Bottles with Whamo Slingshots with marbles at 10-15 feet. I could do this with my eyes closed! and it really wasn't even a challenge.

After I cleaned the place out and every little girl in the Midway had a Giant Pink Panda Bear, I was banned from the game and had to sit on a bench until my parents came out of the casino. I won 6, 3 foot tall Teddy Bears that day with a total cost to me of $1.50. (6 tries.) and if you hit all three shots they gave you 3 more and after 9 consecutive hits you got your choice of prizes. I didn't miss one shot that day and the next day they remembered me and wouldn't let me play! I even offered to stand another 20 feet behind the line and they still said no! It was fun to mess with them and about every hour or so I'd go back to see if there was a different guy there.

I have more tales of the slingshot.

Randy

[rockrat]

Used to make my own slingshots out of whatever wood Grandad had. Even made one in shop class. Had one break one time, one of the arms broke off when I was at full draw. Thought I had lost a few teeth when it hit me in the cheek. Only blood, but man, that thing hurt!!
Even had a pocket slingshot made of 3 rubber bands per side and a small piece of leather from an old wallet. got pretty good shooting BB's with that thing. Would loop one rubber band over the thumb and one over the index finger. Was a learning experience as I hit the web of skin between the two finger a few times with a BB. That really hurt!! But I learned quickly. Could hit a can at 10 paces easily.

[roadie]

I spent most of last night watching videos on shooting slingshots, and there are some guys who really know their stuff. Consistently hitting small targets from 25 yards.

It seems the current way of accurately shooting is holding it sideways and sighting down the band while using the top of the post for elevation. I can see an anchor point being needed for windage, same as archery.

[Nueces]

Now, I'm reminded of the 'berry poppers' I used to make from bent up coat hanger wire (used to be stouter material) and rubber bands. Some sort of shrub offered hard little berries in the Spring, so ammo grew on trees! Could safely shoot buddies with one and properly engage birds and bumble bees.

Now that I think back on it, it was nice to always have a projectile weapon on me that was silent and could be used nearly anywhere.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Roadie: Slingshots have alot in common with Conventional Archery. The anchor points are virtually identical, as are methods of sighting.

The biggest variable I can find is having the yoke perpendicular to the bands when at full draw. One of the strengths of the Wrist Rocket design, is the fact that it captures your forearm and holds the relationship between the yoke of the slingshot and the bands at full draw. This minimizes the deflection caused by the yoke being canted one way or the other in relation to the bands, and thus throwing the shot away from the longer band.

With an Unsupported Slingshot it is up to you to insure that the bands are at an equal draw length before you loose. This is where the practice comes in, as it is strictly muscle memory to be able to hold the proper alignment each time, when you're not thinking about it.

It's kind of like Golf. Small variances make big differences.

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Now that I think back on it, it was nice to always have a projectile weapon on me that was silent and could be used nearly anywhere.

My thinking also, hence my current carry option.

Randy

[Nueces]

Even earlier, say 5 years old, in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, the neighborhood gang was armed with crossbow sorts of slingshots. My favorite was about a two foot long piece of 4x4, with a pair of large nails up front to anchor the bands, and a common wood clothes pin nailed to the 'butt', with the jaws extending above the top surface with the nails at the other end. A few bits of gravel could be held in the patch and pinched off with the clothes pin. Squeezing the clothes pin handles would release the charge, usually toward a wasp nest high in a nearby date palm. Escape was by unshod feet pounding the pavement.

[Martin Luber]

Gotta come back to this thread and read it all! Had one as a kid, had to beg my parents for it, still have it. We also cut out leather pocketbooks to make a real sling to throw 5# rocks into the fieldstone piles. Smaller slings for gravel. Golf balls and rope to make bolos. Declined on a real one while in Argentina. Wouldn't end well for someone. gawd we were dangerous as kids! No one was ever hurt tho

[Cap'n Morgan]

This thread brings back fond memories!

My father made my first "real" slingshot with the fork made from two pieces of 3/8" cobber tubing brazed together. The rubber cut from red inner tube (Black tubes were Butan rubber and not elastic enough) His plan was to use it to keep stray dogs out of mum's garden, but I quickly took possesion of it and carried it everywhere I went. Ammo was pebbles or steel "wads" - the leftover from hole punching at the local farm machinery plant. Those days I was always wearing an anorak (my mum sewed them for us) and the extra large breast pocket would hold a large ammo supply.

For some reasons I always shot the slingshot holding the fork with my right hand, whereas I shoot the bow holding it in my left hand. A couple of years back I took up slingshot shooting again, but can't seem to hit anything when I trying aiming using the top of the fork, like the eksperts (whose skills I envy greatly!) recommend. I think part of the problem is my right arm is not as "stable" as my left arm. When letting go of the sling my hand will jerk and spoil the shot. More practice is certainly called for.

This is one of several designs I've tried so far:

https://i.imgur.com/Il4QLx2.jpg?2

[besk]

I made my own from forked bushes. The leather from old shoe tongues were used as pouches. After the early 50's you couldn't find red innertubes. I discovered that extra large rubber bands from the office supply stores were better anyway. (Never heard of surgical tubing until I was an adult.)

Even made a long gun using the sling shot principle complete with trigger. We would put "cherry bombs" in the pouch, light them, pull the trigger and up and away they would go. Great fun at night in the neighborhood.

[nelsonted1]

When we were little Dad used to make slingshots out of branches and inner tube for us. we had one sitting on floor when the neighbor kids came around. THey were in beast mode that day stuffing a brother in our drier then turning it on, ran up one stairway across the upstairs and down the other steps screaming at the top of their lungs, pulled down upstairs curtains, while their mother sat at the table and didn't notice a thing. Until an older brother shot another brother with the slingshot and a marble directly into his head from about a foot away. This was after shooting a penny through the curtain downstairs. Mom got mad and snatched the slingshot away. Mom is becoming senile but will never forget that visit. We decided we learned not to have marbles, pennies and slingshots out in the open on the living room floor

[nelsonted1]

Sam woods outdoors has been making arrow- slingshots for years- not really slingshots but do use bands or rubber tubing. He can do miraculous things with them. One day he shot an arrow through a beer bottle.
He also does slingshot demos. Here he is throwing up a paint ball and hitting it with his slingshot. He uses gumballs for ammo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzFnzMYuYNs&list=PL2tZ71M6OCCZpFcY20nBJz-yGio9Jn0h9&index=13

He has a wedding day video with his best man, wife and himself. She is in her wedding dress. After the wedding they went out to a barn they knew had raccoons in the rafters. He climbs up and shoots the coons with his pistol. His poor wife is having hysterics. The best man is encouraging him. He yells out best wedding ever!

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK I guess it is about time to turn you guys onto Jorge Sprav. He is a German guy who is the purveyor of the "Slingshot Channel" on Youtube. Jorge is absolutely Full of Enthusiasm !!! for anything related to slingshots, catapults as referred to by the English, and any non firearm weapon. He has done alot in this arena and Nathan of Simple Shot is in his inner circle. He has a list of videos on these subjects on youtube that is a mile long. Here's the pilot episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia0wYvmEGkU,,,,

and Like I said Jorge is "Full of Enthusiasm !!!"

Good way to pass the time while locked up in your home .

Randy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Capt Morgan: Do you own a Machine shop or something? You do nice work.

Also another Dane worthy of note is this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyzYDip9JTM He goes by Torsten on Youtube and shoots slingshots using the Butterfly or Albatross method. You will note in this video showing his technique that the velocity he is getting is 141.7 mps which converts to roughly 465 fps! Also note the size of the target box he is shooting at? Somewhere there is a video of him shooting at beer can bottoms at 60 yards! I think he uses 8 MM or 5/16" steel balls.

With accuracy and velocity like that he is equal to, or better than most of our airguns. Something to think about?

And if you think you are too old or feeble to shoot a sling shot or can't learn how to do it then you really need to rethink this. It costs very little to get into this sport and it is very rewarding and it ain't that hard to do, and you've got plenty of time to do it right now.

Lets actually accomplish something useful during our time in the box!

Randy

[elmacgyver0]

When I was young I stretched a large rubber band across the handlebars of my 350 Honda and used steel fence staples for ammo.
Pretty formidable piece of artillery.

[Cap'n Morgan]

And if you think you are too old or feeble to shoot a sling shot or can't learn how to do it then you really need to rethink this. It costs very little to get into this sport and it is very rewarding and it ain't that hard to do, and you've got plenty of time to do it right now.

Well Randy, I've decided to take you up on your slingshot challenge...

After watching some of the pheasant killer Joefe's youtube videos, I noticed how he angles his wrist forward to place the strings close to the line of pull, and at the same time stiffen up the wrist. I tried the same thing and noticed a much improved horizontal accuracy. Luckily, I still have a reject 16 cavity mold lying around. Gonna fire up the ol' dripper, cast a bunch of #0000 buckshot and get some more practice in the noble art of slingshot shooting.

https://i.imgur.com/fxeNEvE.jpg?1

[W.R.Buchanan]

Capt: one thing I learned from Simple Shot is about band length. IE: how far you stretch the bands for optimum power.

The ratio between Draw Length and Relaxed Length is what we are talking about. Max power is at 6:1 however that also creates the quickest deterioration of the bands.

With a 30" draw if your bands were 5" long relaxed then you'd hit 6:1. On my Simple Shot bands I trimmed them to 7" OAL which yields about 6" over the top of the yoke. My draw length is 29" so that yields a little less than 5:1 which so far has been yielding good velocity with both 3/8" (9.5MM) and 1/2" (12.7mm) steel balls. When I say "Good Velocity," I mean enough punch at 10 yards to do significant damage with a head shot with 1/2" balls.

In other words the combo is strong enough and accurate enough to drop a guy at 10-15 yards. The 1/2" steel balls weigh right at 125 gr. and they hit hard.

On your Slingshot with the "Spaghetti Bands," you might look at shortening them up a bit to increase your power.

The main variable when shooting a "Yoke type Slingshot" is getting both bands exactly the same length at full draw. If one is longer than the other then the shot will go away from the longer band. This takes practice to get consistent . It is what I am concentrating on as I shoot and I am constantly looking for some way to index the yoke repeatably which so far has eluded me. I can get close but can't seem to do it the same way every time. However, my misses on my 2" target are close and would still be decent head shots.

With the Wrist Rocket style of sling shot the yoke is held in place by the wrist brace and then it is just a matter of drawing the same way every time. It is harder to twist the yoke with that style, but the back side is that they are not as concealable.

So there are trade offs and knowing how to use both might be a good idea.

How much will your cast balls weigh?

Randy

[rockrat]

In grade school, some of us would have a rubber band or two in our pockets. Would put it over our thumb and index finger and at school there was a vine that we would cut off a piece and fold over and shoot with the single rubber band. Those little pieces of vine hurt. I was on the receiving end of other kids attack, at first, but little did they know I had been shooting slingshots for a few years. Tide turned really quickly as they missed often and I didn't miss much. They respected my aim and found other targets. Teachers started watching us so it ended quickly.

[Martin Luber]

Somewhere out on the intertubes is a video of an interview of a southern gent who makes and shoots them. A country setting with a feller in overalls. He shot instinctively without aligning to his eye. He could hit anything any where. Have to see if I can find it now. Thinking it was in yhe 1990s to early 2000s timeframe

[Cap'n Morgan]

Martin, no doubt you're thinking of "The Slingshot Man": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te_atiSlMPQ
Watching that video is what got me started on the slingshot again.

Randy
Interesting you mention the draw length, I've already shortened the "spagetti" bands some 3" and I may have to shorten them even more. I have gorilla length arms (78" from fingertip to fingertip doing "the fish that got away" gesture) and shoot a 32" draw length bow. I couldn't quite make up my mind to begin with, whether to shoot the slingshot with the anchor point below the jaw or way behind the ear as some of the pros do. With the "long draw", accidentally moving the yoke sideways doesn't seem to influence accuracy as much as the short "draw to the jaw" - which makes good sense from a geometric viewpoint. I'll try setup another slingshot with long single bands and compare results, but It will probably be the short draw that wins.

My cast balls weigh approx. 80 grains. I will try them later over the (shielded!!) chrono to test band pull length/speed.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Martin, no doubt you're thinking of "The Slingshot Man": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te_atiSlMPQ
Watching that video is what got me started on the slingshot again.

Randy
Interesting you mention the draw length, I've already shortened the "spagetti" bands some 3" and I may have to shorten them even more. I have gorilla length arms (78" from fingertip to fingertip doing "the fish that got away" gesture) and shoot a 32" draw length bow. I couldn't quite make up my mind to begin with, whether to shoot the slingshot with the anchor point below the jaw or way behind the ear as some of the pros do. With the "long draw", accidentally moving the yoke sideways doesn't seem to influence accuracy as much as the short "draw to the jaw" - which makes good sense from a geometric viewpoint. I'll try setup another slingshot with long single bands and compare results, but It will probably be the short draw that wins.

My cast balls weigh approx. 80 grains. I will try them later over the (shielded!!) chrono to test band pull length/speed.

Capt: How big are your balls. like 8MM-10MM ? 3/8" steel balls are 52 gr.

I figure draw length by holding a Tape Measure in my left hand and drawing the tape out to my cheek then locking it. I get 29" every time.

I just broke my first set of bands. The pouch came loose, so I didn't get smacked in the chops.

The "Torsden" guy on youtube has about a 70" draw length using his butterfly technique. he's getting over 450 fps!

Randy

[Cap'n Morgan]

Capt: How big are your balls. like 8MM-10MM ? 3/8" steel balls are 52 gr.

The 16 cavity mold in the previous post is .375" (9.52mm) But while digging out the lawnmower from the shed I found another mold I totally forgot about. This mold has 12 cavities of 10mm (.394")size and was made strictly for casting slingshot ammo (fill one row, turn mold upside down and repeat). I think I will try casting from both molds and see what difference in speed half a mm in size will result in. The weight difference will be around 20% so the .375 ball should weigh around 64 grains.

With my lack of skill I highly doubt my accuracy with the slingshot will benefit from using ultra-round, polished steel balls compared to cast lead balls ;)

https://i.imgur.com/InIcM0i.jpg?1

[W.R.Buchanan]

The whole point is they are close enough to round. Both should be fine for relearning how to shoot a sling shot.

Everyone thinks shooting rocks is a good idea. And if you had nothing else, it could work but you'll never get any repeatable accuracy from rocks.

Just start out at 10 yards and work up from there.

Randy

[Alferd Packer]

Biggin: if you are talking a Sling like David used to slay Goliath then you are looking at literally years of practice to get a projectile to go where you want it to. I have never been able to get anything to even go in the general direction desired.

Keep in mind that 3,000 years ago if you were a goat herder you had alot of free time on your hands. So guys like David who were essentially stranded with the herd for weeks at a time had plenty of free time to figure out the sling. Not to mention any meat they might get to eat had to come from their hunting with said sling.

The one advantage of the sling was its ability to throw big rocks. Goliath got drilled with at least a golf ball sized rock at less than 25 yards, and by the time the Goliath thing happened, David probably had 15-20 years of practice under his belt. A 4 foot long sling could probably generate 200-300+ fps with a 1 lb rock, so getting hit by one would seriously ruin your day. Getting hit in the forehead with said Rock,,, would seriously end you! Case in point.

Were lucky to have really neat latex rubbers to work with now, and as such it makes getting good with a slingshot relatively quick and easy. "Simple Shot" also produces a bunch of training videos that you can watch to help you get there faster. Once you can hit the end of a beer can 10 times in a row at 10 yards you are good to go. I'm at 8/10 right now and working to close up my last two.

Randy
A one lb. rock @ 7000 grains per and 300 fps would be approximately 1398 fpe.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>><<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>
If Goliath got hit in the head, face or neck he probably went down toes up.
If David rushed over and used a sword to decapitate the giant, well that's the story .I would think.

[Garyshome]

I have a bucket full of marbles just sitting around looking for a purpose...................

[GhostHawk]

I have been shooting .445 round balls from a lyman mold in my rubber powered slingshots for a few years now.

As to the other kind of sling. Golf balls make good practice ammo. I would go to the park early or late when it was deserted.
With a shower caddy with 30 or so golf balls and a sling. The key is to not try to do the Goliath shot right off the bad.

Load the sling, plan on a 3/4's circle. As it rotates past the vertical and approaches the 45 degree forward release.
Don't try to kill it. Just get it moving and let physics do the rest. With this approach at least some accuracy can be appearing in a few days instead of years. Your line of rotation determines where it will go left to right. Release point determines distance.

I have some that are heavier, being a putty type mixture packed into a balloon. Lets you roll it between your hands, get it nice and round. But if it hits something solid it will deform rather than destroy.

With anything, more practice, time spent doing = more competancy.

If you try for more speed/power do multiple swings you lose control. Which might be ok in a mob attack setting but pretty much is not what I wanted.

The good news about sling work is that while people may look at you a little oddly. They give you more room.
Ammo is cheap, all that is required is muscle power. And it gets you outside in the sun. All good things IMO.

[Scrounge]

Last time one broke and hit the corner of my mouth, I made the statement that if I ever shoot one again, it will be from the hip.

I assure you that there are things near your hips that you would much rather get hit in the mouth than THERE! Done that, did not enjoy it. That was at least 40 years ago, and I flashed on it reading your post. Made an impression, you might say.

[Scrounge]

Capt Morgan: Do you own a Machine shop or something? You do nice work.

Also another Dane worthy of note is this guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyzYDip9JTM He goes by Torsten on Youtube and shoots slingshots using the Butterfly or Albatross method. You will note in this video showing his technique that the velocity he is getting is 141.7 mps which converts to roughly 465 fps! Also note the size of the target box he is shooting at? Somewhere there is a video of him shooting at beer can bottoms at 60 yards! I think he uses 8 MM or 5/16" steel balls.

With accuracy and velocity like that he is equal to, or better than most of our airguns. Something to think about?

And if you think you are too old or feeble to shoot a sling shot or can't learn how to do it then you really need to rethink this. It costs very little to get into this sport and it is very rewarding and it ain't that hard to do, and you've got plenty of time to do it right now.

Lets actually accomplish something useful during our time in the box!

Randy

Would be good physical/occupational therapy for us old guys, too. Shoot ten rounds right handed, ten more left handed, for a balanced exercise, and if you're having more problems with one side, do a couple more on that side until things improve, then back to the balanced "workout." Start with one set each, increase as it gets easier. Or decrease if that's too much to start.

Bill

[Doubles Shooter]

After close to 50 years without a slingshot, I bought a few to give to the grandkids. My 7 year old grandson beeps the tree rats away from the bird feeders. I cast .36 caliber balls and PC them so they don't handle raw lead. I've even nailed a couple tree rats. Shooting one came back easy. You don't forget.
279560

[GregLaROCHE]

I had a couple as a kid. I was lucky to live not far from a heavy equipment manufacturer. It was easy to sneak into their yard after they closed. They had 55 gallon drums full of 1/2 inch slugs punched from 3/8 plate. They flew really well and much more consistent than any pebbles I found.

[rockrat]

I use "Atomic Fireballs" , the smaller ones about 7/16" in diameter for my ammo. Figure after a few months, they will dissolve. Biodegradable. Don't want to leave lead buckshot laying in my neighbors yard, in case of a ricochet.

[Mal Paso]

My slingshot is a magnum. 8 foot max draw. LOL

[dk17hmr]

When the rabbits are on their peak years around here I like hunting with a slingshot. The cheap $10 walmart sling shots are actually pretty impressive at killing things. I often have a slingshot in my pack while hunting just in case I run across a grouse.

[dverna]

Neat thread.

When I was 8-10 my dad made a sling shot for me. He used strips cut out of an inner tube. I never got that good with it but all I had for "ammunition" was small rocks. Once I got an air rifle, that was a game changer. Wish I still had the one my dad made.

Has me thinking about making one with our grandson.

[missionary5155]

We have had a wrist rocket around for years. Not sure how any crows we have dispatched from backyard trees when they decide to roost for the old months. Other critters are quietly encouraged to move along and bug some other neighbor.
I would not feel under armed at all to use one to help some vile 2 legged thing to move along

[W.R.Buchanan]

Don: if you do a little research you will find lots of info on how to make bands out of several different materials. Theraband Exercise Band makes excellent bands and once you learn how to cut the material and tie them you'll have an endless supply. Which you are going to need to keep the slingshot shooting. They do wear out, and you are looking at maybe 500 shots out of a good set of bands. Also UV kills them faster than anything else, so keep them out of the sun.

When shooting a slingshot the one most critical point of accuracy is that the bands must be the exact same length when you release. If they aren't the ball will go in the direction away from the longer band.

One of the little known points about Slingshot Design is the width of the yoke. Wider the yoke the harder it is to get the bands the same length at full draw. This is due to the tilt on the yoke when you release. The effects of this can be minimized by keeping the width of the yoke around 2-2 1/2" inside.

Also holding the slingshot sideways virtually eliminates the side to side error (windage) so all of the aiming errors result in elevation errors which are easier to compensate for.

That said shooting the Conventional Sling Shot is all about Muscle Memory. And the only way to get it is to practice!

Wrist Rocket style Slingshots allow you to control the tilt in the yoke easier since the yoke is locked in the same place on your arm everytime you draw. Also the design tends to make the bands draw evenly as you can't hold it out of alignment. It is kind of self aligning. Since your arm is locked into it they are capable of supporting much strong bands. When In my 20's and 30's my Wrist Rocket had 1/2" Surgical Tubing for bands and the draw weight was 35lbs! it would surely kill someone with a head shot which I could easily make out to 25 yards every single time.

At the time my primary ammo was 240 gr .44 cal. Lee SWC's and they flew sideways! (No gas check needed!)

The down side of the Wrist Rocket or even the Folding version originally called a Pocket Rocket (shown in my first post) is that they are less portable than a conventional style slingshot. That is where the conventional style of slingshot comes in. They fit nicely in a pocket and thus can be carried more easily.

Lots to know here, and it is a good addition to our gun hobby because they are just another way of launching a projectile. One more tool for your tool for your mental toolbox that appears totally harmless to the uneducated.

So many are uneducated nowadays !

Randy.

[rogn]

I used to get surge tubing from the HS them lab. It provided good power and when used with 000 buckshot it became formidable. We used to have guinea hens as watch dogs and bug eaters. They would proliferate to some degree and since they are quite comparable to pheasant on the table, it fell to me to collect an occasional one. They would take to the trees when disturbed and at 10-20 yds the 000 would take the head off of one of them.
The 000 would leave an impressive ding in a soup can, like collapsing one side.

[tigweldit]

Been shooting slingshots for 60+ years. I have used hundreds of pounds of ammo and more bands than I can count. My favorite ammo is cast lead balls of .400-.410 cal. I have found 00 buck works ok (just a little light), and .44 rb just a tad heavy for my taste. The .40 cal rb at about 95-100 grains gives the accuracy and energy that I like for small game and target practice. I prefer the standard style flat sling shot. I just never got as accurate with a "wrist rocket". I do prefer tube bands for the added velocity and flatter trajectory. Sling shots are fun to shoot and deadly with practice. A .40 cal will dispatch a large raccoon with a head shot at 25 yards.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Those of you without Airguns and wanting to shoot Iguanas, should realize that a Decent Slingshot will fill the bill jsut fine. You are a little more limited in range but can still be effective inside 25 yards.

Just something to think about?

Randy

[Capt Keith]

I carry one with me when I go fishing. I use it to keep the alligators spooked away. Forgot it yesterday, and had to beat an aggressive alligator with my fishing rod when I hooked a bass. BTW, I use beans as ammo.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I would not feel under armed at all to use one to help some vile 2 legged thing to move along

The most satisfying shot I ever made with my slingshots was shooting the guy in the butt that was rifling thru my Glove Box in my car. I was blinded by the sparks coming out of his butt as he ran away.

My Pocket Rocket had 1/2" Surgical Tube on it at the time and had @ 35 lb. draw weight. I was shooting Lee .429-240s without the gas checks that night, and was doing it Butt Naked ! Range was 10-12 yards and I know that one left a mark, and it probably left one on his Soul as well!

You only get a few of these experiences in a lifetime, best to savor every one. I remember it like it was last night and yet it happened in 1976,,, 45 years ago!

Randy

[WinchesterM1]

I just cut a bunch of gunslings the other day out of cherry Maple and elm, 281974

[chunkin lead]

Have owned a Wrist Rocket of one kind or another since 1969. One sits on my safe in an unopened package. As kids we shot green chinaberries, then moved up to marbles.

[Landy88]

Yes, the Pocket Rocket is a great gadget that has provided me a lot of fun and occasional utility over many years. I mostly used marbles or ball bearings for ammo, but those of you casting for your slingshots have a better idea. Slingshot balls could be a good use for zinc wheel weights, losing a little density compared to lead but conserving lead for boolits.

[358429]

I like 180 grain lead ball in my slingshot.
It strikes the pots and pans most authoritatively, lets the sound really ring out.


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[358429]

Here is a picture, I want a heavier draw slingshot.
Suggestions?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210626/a484c3bf0ca94e0136af6db01bd88a0f.jpg

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[pietro]

.

And here, I thought you were discussing the Polaris Slingshot...…. ;)


https://cdn.imgbin.com/13/10/3/imgbin-polaris-slingshot-motorcycle-polaris-industries-three-wheeler-ride-electric-vehicles-4dhN4EuqKaKFbp8JWSC7kB03M.jpg

[GhostHawk]

Here is a picture, I want a heavier draw slingshot.
Suggestions?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210626/a484c3bf0ca94e0136af6db01bd88a0f.jpg

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Instead of the yellow tube rubber you want the blue or black. Should be able to find it in bulk.

<Sorry ebay url removed>

[W.R.Buchanan]

I got a different type of Slingshot (shown in the OP) Been shooting Wrist Rockets for 50+ years but decided to try something different. I just rebanded my two Wrist Rockets a few weeks ago with store bought band assemblies, and found that they are not as fast as my new Flat Band Sling Shot from Simple Shot. The new one is much easier to hit with as well.

When I was younger I used 3/8" @25 lb draw and 1/2" @ 25 lb draw Surgical Tubing for my Wrist Rockets and got much better performance from them. The store bought assemblies use a tube that isn't very fast and they will get new Surgical Tube or that Theraband material to replace the Red and Black (not Theraband) material on there now. Luckily I can still use the pouches with the new tubing.

I have also made band assemblies from Flat Theraband which is what my new one uses. The Maximum/ Optimum draw length for bands is 6 times the relaxed length. You work backwards from your draw length to the relaxed length. This is where you get the most power from your bands, however 5X gives you more life from a band set.

Just some info to help out.

Randy

[fiberoptik]

I have a couple of wrist rockets. Been using a slingshot since a teenager. I use "atomic fireballs" candy as ammo. Biodegradable.

Noooooooooooo!!!!! Sacrilege! Fireballs are only to be eaten! Plain jawbreakers are for shooting! I found 1 left over from the early 80’s not too long ago. It wasn’t hot [emoji3062] anymore.....


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[GARD72977]

Last time one broke and hit the corner of my mouth, I made the statement that if I ever shoot one again, it will be from the hip.

I shutter to think what might get hit in that area........

[358429]

I've had a band break, hit me, maybe three times in my life. After the first one broke, I quit holding the pouch near my face, that time it happened the band came back and snapped me under my right eye, way too dangerous for me to shoot like that.

What I do now is draw it close across my chest, left hand stretched out holding the fork, right hand holding the pouch, almost to my right armpit.
It looks and feels very similar to drawing a bow.
The relearning process... Is a little difficult but once you figure it out then instinctive snap shots are great.

Pretty easy to have several projectiles in the right hand.

Carpenter bees do not stand a chance against acorn anti aircraft.

My favorite ammo for the slingshot are 95 grain Lee 380 bullets and 49 caliber lead round ball.

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[OldBearHair]

My nearly new supervisor came to me with a problem. He told me that a yellowjacket was in the bomb bay and no one could work in there on the F105 fighter bomber in the next stall. He asked for my advice and I told him that I would take care of it. Used a bigger rubber band with a 3/4 inch small electrical wire bent into a U shape. Went over and looked up the bomb ejection tube and the Y J was flying in circles above. Upon the release there was a smallish sounding zzzt and wings and other bits came floating down in the florescent lighting. Everyone present seemed to think it was a very impressive shot with my impromptu slingshot. LOL

[W.R.Buchanan]

Guys: Bands usually give up as you are drawing them back. If you keep the pouch away from your face while drawing, then move it next to your cheek when you are at full draw, you can avoid getting smacked in the chops with a band.

Randy