Slingshots?

[Bigscot]

Anyone try casting a round ball for shooting in a slingshot. My son and I enjoy playing with slingshots from time to time. Paint balls are really fun.

Bigscot

[BD]

We used the .44 cal round balls and a wrist rocket for chasing off stuff we didn't want to kill until my daughter got her first BB gun for christmas. Now we use that instead. BD

[Buckshot]

.............When we had our horses I always carried a pistol when we rode. My wife, when she rode with her girlfriends carried a slingshot! A Wrist Rocket to be exact. Having had at one time a Ruger Old Army cap n ball, I had a DC mould for .457" RB's and cast her up a big bunch of'em. For several weeks after she got it she'd practice with it off the deck shooting at 1 gallon plastic plant pots. She got kinda good with it, but I never ever saw her shoot it again.

................Buckshot

[beagle]

Aw man..... We're talking juvembers here now, huh?

The best ammo I've found for them is once fired solid .38 wadcutters ( not hollow base) from the police range back when they were sing .38 Specials and .357 Magnums.

Then for charging targets of opportunity, I've used recoverd 230 grain FMJ .45 ACP bullets. You have to use a magnum charge (rubbers) with these though as that added weight takes something to get them started. But, the remaining kinetic energy is awesome./beagle

[Willbird]

Actually for wrist rockets I always preferred 5/8 glass marbles, they show up nicely in flight to about any range (tracers) and the size gives you a nice grip to hold and fire them.

If there is a glass fiber plant nearby there is usually a nice supply of them to be had.

Bill

[StarMetal]

Ball bearings...plenty of them in the junk yard and they're ready made, no casting.

Joe

[beagle]

Joe, where's all the fun in that?/beagle

[StarMetal]

beagle,

I reckon in breaking the races apart to get the ball bearing out.

Also getting to scout around the junkyard for chevy parts.

Joe

[Jumptrap]

You can't beat a marble.....'marvels' as we called'em. Go to Dollar Tree and get a sackful....probably be 50 in it for a buck or less. They're easy to find except in tall grass and unless you bust one, will always be nice and round, fly perfect and will knock the **** out of whatever they hit. Heaven forbid wasting Pb on slingshot balls! We also used to shoot iron ore pellets we scavenged from the railroad tracks....they were lopsided a hair and flew in sideways arcs, but still a lot of fun to shoot. A marvel will kill any sitting rabbit with a good hit. We called sligshots a 'gumsling'.....because that is what our daddy called them, because that is what his daddy called them....back when inner tubes were made from pure gum rubber and had lots of stretch. We used surgical tubing....get it at the drug store for cheap back then. Dogwood forks makes the bestest, Bend up in a good 'U' and tie it in place and then stick it in the oven for awhile.....then they'll stay that way. Tongue from an old shoe makes a good pouch or pocket whatever you want to call it. I'll never forget the first 'factory' gumsling I ever saw.......it was a Whamo and used big wide, flat black rubber bands. Wasn't worth a hoot compared to what we were making...but the shaped grip was nice.

[Willbird]

The Ole wrist rocket was my constant companion when I was a kid, My Dad and I were walking one night and he spied a rabbita LONG ways off, he hyper elevated the wrist rocket and fired a way......the marble flew...it looked good, it looked DARN good.....it looked BETTER......*wack*....Mr rabbit started a floppity floppity death dance, by the time we paced off the 200 long paces he was still, we did not find a mark on him but he was stone dead.....My dad told me to remember that because nobody would belive him if he told the story, Dad passed in 86 so only I remember it now.

aimed up at 45 degrees I would have to guess a wrist rocket with 5/8 marble is good for 500-600 yards...we used to just barely be able to get them into the chrysler plymouth dealer's back lot from our backyard and that was a far piece off.

I also shot a hole in another kids plastic batting helmet with one, he was coming over a chainlink fence to beat the tar out of me with a wiffle ball bat, he changed his plans real quicklike, and only He, I, and GOD know today that he is still alive because it hit right where I aimed. *sheesh* the crap kids get away with.

Bill

[carpetman]

One night on Johnny Carson there was an older, overall wearing fellow from the Carolinas that was a sling shot expert. He carried his sling shot in his sock.(He was in the upper income bracket for the Carolinas as he wore socks). He was going to do a precision shooting demonstration,so I expected he would have uniform ammo--possibly ball bearings. Not so. He had a plastic jug full of rocks of all shapes. Didn't seem to matter. They had plates,eggs and other breakable stuff set up for his targets. He would tell which target and I don't think he ever got the slingshot higher than his waist--no sighting,just instinct shooting and he didn't miss. He made his own slingshot and I think hickory was his preference. He had made one he gave Johnny. His slingshot was always with him and he said most of the time when he walked home from town,he got his meal--rabbit squirrel or something. We didnt call them slingshots when I was growing up in Texas.

[StarMetal]

Ray,

Maybe he was picking up roadkill hahahahaha.

So what did you Texans called them?

Joe

[Scrounger]

One night on Johnny Carson there was an older, overall wearing fellow from the Carolinas that was a sling shot expert. He carried his sling shot in his sock.(He was in the upper income bracket for the Carolinas as he wore socks). He was going to do a precision shooting demonstration,so I expected he would have uniform ammo--possibly ball bearings. Not so. He had a plastic jug full of rocks of all shapes. Didn't seem to matter. They had plates,eggs and other breakable stuff set up for his targets. He would tell which target and I don't think he ever got the slingshot higher than his waist--no sighting,just instinct shooting and he didn't miss. He made his own slingshot and I think hickory was his preference. He had made one he gave Johnny. His slingshot was always with him and he said most of the time when he walked home from town,he got his meal--rabbit squirrel or something. We didnt call them slingshots when I was growing up in Texas.

There was another name for them in Indiana, too; probably the same name. Joe, the name is now considered politically incorrect...

[mroliver77]

I have a .313 RB mold for the .30s I use in the sling shot. It is fun for a while but I get tired of it quickly. My dad was a railroader for 30 years on the Detroit Toledo & Ironton RR. He used to bring home rabbit a fellow worker would shoot in the yard with a sling shot. There is a glass factory in the area and glass balls were plentifull back then. After that fellow was gone the ole man bought a Benjamin Franklin air rifle in .22 to bring the meat home. It shot .22 lead RB and would penetrate 1-1/2" pine with 12? pumps. It was very accurate too. Somehow I lost it. The ole man "put a toe in my ass" with gusto! Jay

[Willbird]

I assume your Dad must have had to wash his toe quite a bit MrOliver :-)

I shot out the side mirror on my dads car by accident once, he did not get really mad, he just told me "just wait............"

about 5 years later I got my first car.......No lie dad said "NOW where is that slingshot"

He didnt shoot out my mirror....but in his own way he had made me pay hehe

Bill

[carpetman]

Know what a ball bearing mouse trap is called? A tom cat.

[Logan]

carpetman, I beleive that they are also a ball bearing backstop.

[Bigscot]

I liked that one Carpetman.

I have heard slingshots called bean shooters and flips.

When I started this thread I was curious about casting some ammo for a sling shot. Now I'm just enjoying the reading the stories about everyone's experiance using them.

Bigscot

[Willbird]

MAN,this reminded me of the MOST fun I had when I was a kid hehe, we discovered that you can shoot walnets with the green rind intact from a wrist rocket, and launch them 200 yards or more, the fun came in when we started launcing them onto a pole barn style roof on a shelter house at the local park, this racket greatly disturbed the people eating lunch and drinking beer there, they could not for the life of them figuire out where they were coming from.

we also used to fire crab apples at the guys in the outfield at the softball diamond, we did not aim to hit them, we were across a creek in the crabapple tree so they too could not easily detect the source of the missiles.

My next door neighbor this sour old woman had a slate roof, it doesnt take long to figuire a trajectory that lets stones fall on that slate "WACK" :-)

Bill

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Somebody has got to make a crossbow for lead ball, which would overcome their biggest disadvantages, namely the cost of bolts and ease of losing or breaking them. Stonebows (actually most often used with lead or clay pellets) were in use from Shakespearian times at least, until the 19th century.

There are now fibreglass crossbows, at least in Britain, which have two separate limbs to the bow, and fire the bolt through the centre with minimal friction. It would also be possible to use two bows, with a shallow X-shaped string. A single-stage trigger would hzve to be complex and expensive, but it should be a natural for a double-set trigger.

[KB291]

In early 50's my brother and I and one of the neighbor kids would take cherry bombs, pack wet clay around them and let it dry. With a modified pouch, as in oversize, one of us would draw back and the other would light the fuse. Played hob with the squirrels. Timing was VERY critical.

[Bret4207]

Where I used to live my neighor had a miniture stud horse. Nasty little bas****. Of course her idea of fencing was rather liberal, as was her idea of "clean". So when one of my mares would go into heat he would be in my yard constantly. Got so I could hit the little pr...., I mean fellow on the run on a regular basis with my Wrist Rocket and 44 cal balls. The final straw was when the stud ran a horse we were boarding through a fence and cut her up. The lady next door and I had a very loud, one sided conversation. The stud horse left shortly thereafter. I always liked the Wrist Rockets, which BTW are illegal in NY state. Rumour has it gang members were using them. They are still for sale oddly enough. The rubbers rot and I replace them with heavy gauge surgical tubing fron Brownells. I got so I could hit pine cones or individual maple leaves at 50 feet or so, which I felt was good. I'll have to find mine as I haven't seen it since my son "borrowed" it.

[waksupi]

Brett, that reminds me of a friend who passed away a few years ago. On his place, the bighorn sheep would come down and winter on his place. He had fruit trees in his front yard, and the rams would rub thier horns on them, killing some. He finally got fed up with them, and got out his bow and arrows. He put one of the big rubber blunt tips on and arrow, and waited on the front porch until one started rubbing again.
His intention was to hit it in the ass or the ribs, which ever presented itself. As things were, he had a rear end shot.
He drew back, and let fly. And hit it square in the scrotum, from a 65 pound bow.
He said it dropped like a rock, and lay there quivering (I would have too!). He was afraid he had killed it somehow, and was somewhat panicked, as it was right along the highway, and he didn't want a F&G guy coming along finding a dead trophy ram in his front yard.
He was ready to drag it around the side of the house out of sight of the road, when he saw a rear leg kick. Then a couple more kicks. And finally struggled to it's feet.
He said all this didn't seem to bother any of the other bighorns in the vicinity, but he had definitely got this ones' attention, and didn't catch that one rubbing any more cherry trees.

[imashooter2]

In early 50's my brother and I and one of the neighbor kids would take cherry bombs, pack wet clay around them and let it dry. With a modified pouch, as in oversize, one of us would draw back and the other would light the fuse. Played hob with the squirrels. Timing was VERY critical.

"Here, hold my beer and watch this!"

[shooter575]

BiS
Allways thought a siege crossbow using a leaf spring off a truck and steel cable would be fun.Need a come a long to cock the thing. 1/2 or 5/8 re-bar for bolts. 16 ga for fletches. Only thing that scared me is the cable breaking.Would cut a man in half.

[wills]

There used to be a writer named Daniel P Mannix who wrote for True magazine back in the 60’s (and for all I know others). One of his articles dealt with building old siege engines and if I recall correctly he did in fact build a crossbow with truck springs and cable. I think his bolt was pretty big, something like a crowbar.

[Bigscot]

Bret,
What size tubing did you get from Brownells? I may have to order some. Did you just tie it to the pouch?

Bigscot

[carpetman]

Bigscot--Surgical tubing can be obtained at hospital supply houses,many pharmacies also have it. Wrist rockets use the tubing. For slingshots that use the flat stuff,you can go to an office supply and buy big rubber bands. Commercial made ones have connectors that the tubing slides over to attach things. If you don't have connectors, fold it over and tie it down with fishing line.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Aha!!!! Here is an eBay auction for harpoon gun rubber tubing, which should be better than surgical:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1300&item=7148813648&rd=1&tc=photo

We don't have a rule against promoting auctions, I trust? Very sensible, for in this field they often represent information which others would like to have while it's usable. I'd guess that this seller auctions the same things regularly, though. The way to secure it would be to squeeze in the largest waisted plug that will enter, then apply a very tight binding of yachtsman's nylon whipping thread, or someone's kevlar, and lacquer it with epoxy or superglue.

The classic book on building early crossbows and catapults is Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey's "The Crossbow", and www,bookfinder.com is packed with inexpensive reprints. There is nothing like a good hobby to keep a man out of mischief.

The speed at which a crossbow (or, I think, slingshot) will accelerate a projectile, isn't in perfect proportion to its power, or in perfect inversion to projectile weight. A steel bow, for example, will only reach a certain speed, no matter how light the projectile is. Glass or carbon fibre will be faster, and I think this is partly because of their elasticity, as well as the reduced weight of the bow, which is itself a non-productive part of the load. In practice a weight of bolt will be found which gives the optimum velocity and energy with a given bow, and departing from it in either direction will reduce the performance. I think only a really enormous steel-bow crossbow MIGHT be best with solid steel bolts (and if I thought so, I would use smooth rod, not rebar, and cover them with electrician's heat-shrink tubing to prevent damage to the guides.) For most crossbows wood or aluminium tubing, with a steel point, is about right. If you find you can get more penetration and no serious trajectory loss with more weight, a lead slug inside the tube behind the point is probably the way to do it. This weight distribution would enable you to trim the flights of the bolt slightly, reducing air friction.

The bow breaking is indeed an intimidating prospect. I had a fibreglass crosshow long ago, which broke, perhaps due to use in very cold weather, and that was a very reassuring greenstick fracture. This might not be the case with carbon, and certainly not with steel. A British seller on eBay offers kevlar braided sleeve, which could be used as a sort of unlaminated sock for safety.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1300&item=7148813648&rd=1&tc=photo

The trouble with trucksprings is that the two limbs would have to be made exactly identical in thickness, curvature and temper, since a scraping of the string across the rear of the bolt would be very bad for accuracy. If you add the fact that it should be a concave rather than straight taper, to give strength close to the point of maximum stress near the centre, it is an intimidating grinding or forging job. I often look at my massive belt grinding machine, but it is a far bigger job than an octagonal barrel. I would sooner laminate one, using a number of thicknesses of glass or carbon cloth which reduces towards the tips. I would make the curve by a saw-cut through a large length of wood. One half would be used as a mould, and the other clamped on to squeeze out all but the irreducible minimum of resin.

For a rubber-powered device, there is an interesting effect from the distance apart the fixed ends of the rubbers are. In a slingshot, the distance the rubbers can move the projectile is equal to the amount they are stretched. But if the attachments are further apart, like a sort of non-bendable crossbow, the stretch is several times the projectil movement. This gives a mechanical advantage, like gears, and should be better with a heavy projectile.

If we could find a way of launching a 16g. lead ball at archery velocities or greater (why not?), we have an instrument that could do things. In British law we would have the interesting situation that it isn't a firearm (which needs a barrel and lethality, though not necessarily combustion). It is therefore subject to no controls whatever on construction or possession, although carrying it is public is contentious. It might even scrape through our prohibition on using a crossbow to hunt any living thing, though that would need a lot of checking. Oblige me by think about a 4g. for a couple of minutes...

[wills]

Bigscot--Surgical tubing can be obtained at hospital supply houses,many pharmacies also have it. Wrist rockets use the tubing. For slingshots that use the flat stuff,you can go to an office supply and buy big rubber bands. Commercial made ones have connectors that the tubing slides over to attach things. If you don't have connectors, fold it over and tie it down with fishing line.

Academy, a big box sporting goods store has the replacement elastic tubing complete with the pouch for $1.99, so it is probably available other places too.

[longhorn]

Auto supply stores are a dependable source for rubber tubing. I use almond M&M,s for biodegradable ammo for discouraging roaming varmints at relatively close range. Of course, you have to sort for the best aerodynamic capabilities; personally, I eat the rejects.

[45nut]

That is the responsible thing to do Longhorn.. Personally I prefer the Peanut M&Ms and find only the red ones accurate,that leaves many of the unsuitable ammo colors completely suitable for immediate consumption. [smilie=l:

[HTRN]

Let's see.... My brother put a water balloon through my Mom's front window from a block away when we were kids using one of those water balloon slingshots...:shock:

You want a fun project? Build a mega slingshot. Next time you change garage door springs, save the old springs, and get yerself a large funnel. Drill two holes 180 degrees apart and attach one end of each spring into one of the holes.. See where I'm going with this?:mrgreen:

If you get caught doing something stupid with it...[smilie=1:


HTRN