Slingshot discussion thread

jobasha11

jobasha11

Joined
Oct 9, 2013
Messages
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Alright I'm not sure if this has been done in the past but there is some shown interest in the subject over in prac tac. This is the place to show and talk about slingshots. Maybe your newest acquisition or your recent build, cuss and discuss it here!:D

I'm not very good at starting conversations so i'll just let someone else start (I started the thread, I cant do all the work can I?:rolleyes:)) and add my two cents when I can.

Mods, I wasn't sure where exactly to put this so feel free to move it if necessary.
 
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What kind? The newfangled stretchy shooter thing, or the true sling/sling staff that requires a fair bit of skill to use without hitting yourself? (I don't have that skill yet, btw. :D)
 
I'm a pretty late commer to the slingshot party. I have been pretty big on archery for a long while but slingshots were really little more than a passing interest. Now I shot more slingshots than bows by a long shot. Everything from pickle forks, to Hathcock hunters to bearback shooting and some stuff inbetween. :D There was a fairly substantial thread a while back about slingshots and had pics of some great collections and handmade forks. That might be worth digging up for a look see as welll. :)

I'll fire up a few pics of some gear later when I get home.....
 
Haze said:
I'm a pretty late commer to the slingshot party. I have been pretty big on archery for a long while but slingshots were really little more than a passing interest. Now I shot more slingshots than bows by a long shot. Everything from pickle forks, to Hathcock hunters to bearback shooting and some stuff inbetween. :D There was a fairly substantial thread a while back about slingshots and had pics of some great collections and handmade forks. That might be worth digging up for a look see as welll. :)

I'll fire up a few pics of some gear later when I get home.....
Click to expand...

I found I also like slings quite a bit more than archery but the fact that slingshots are sooo much less expensive of a sport might play into that decision:p
I found the thread your probably talking about. Took a few pages to get past the wrist bracers and into the good stuff. I loved the guys collection of homemade hathcocks. I tried making one once but turned out lopsided from me freehanding a drawing then cutting it out. I'm gonna need to use either a template or CAD to make one right.
 
This is a few randoms from my box. They are all made and not bought. The band at the bottom is my "bear back" sling. I have been getting quite into forkless shooting as it's so easy to just throw the band in your pocket with a few 8mm steel balls and have at it. :):thumbup:

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Haze said:
The band at the bottom is my "bear back" sling. I have been getting quite into forkless shooting as it's so easy to just throw the band in your pocket with a few 8mm steel balls and have at it. :):thumbup:
Click to expand...

I don't think i'll be trying that anytime soon. Ive opened my hand up a couple times just trying to get used to a dankung luck ring:o
 
I have only hit my hand once in what must be hundreds of shots (I'm going to do it again now that I've said that, no doubt...). It did hurt of course, but it wasn't sore enough for me to never try it again. :p The bear back sling does lack the power with accuracy one would get with a full buttefly pull on regular set up but it is good with arrows. :D
 
I've been using slingshots since I was a kid in the 50s. First ones were made from tire-tube rubber, back then almost all tires ran tubes and tubes were made of real, stretchy rubber, not the modern non-stretchy butyl stuff.
Anyway, I graduated from home-made items to the "Wham-O" commercial numbers with the gum-rubber bands.... Good shooters.

I got a 'Wrist Rocket" shortly after they came out... I went to a local sports show and they had a booth. You could shoot one at gallery-type targets.... I was impressed.
The only problem with the design was that you couldn't put it in your pocket. Now, I have a Daisy model that you can; it folds up.

They are great fun. Principal of shooting is the same as archery.... Consistent release and good form. Marbles make good, cheap, consistent ammo and old blankets hung from a rope make a great backstop.
The big advantage of the wrist-brace design is that it eliminates the chance of you whacking your thumb. Painful.....
 
I have had a couple of the aluminum wrist rockets that were a lot of fun. If you practiced enough, it became intuitive to hit the target rapidly.
 
The inexpensive hardware store from the "Harbor" has Daisy slingshots for $6, just doesn't have the forearm rest. Still shots accurate.
 
I personally hate wrist braced slingshots. I'm far more comfortable with a pich grip slingshot, like the Hathcock style. The technique for the pull lines up your wrist and arm and, for me, it's a far more natural and intuative way to shoot. :)
 
Haze said:
I personally hate wrist braced slingshots. I'm far more comfortable with a pich grip
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Definitely agree on that. I find that if someone likes wrist braces then they probably haven't tried a good (by that I mean not from walmart) slingshot.
 
My friends and i all had wrist rockets in the 70's and we were lethal with those things, we would go to the train tracks and pick up iron ore pellets that had fallen off the train cars and fill our army jackets with like
40lbs of them each[we waited till fall and the leaves were off the tree's] because they were rounder than rocks but cheaper than marbles or ball bearings and would fly fairly straight.

So me and my friends would go to the local park and have "contests" to see who was the best shot... birds, rabbits and squirrels were the main targets and whoever came out at the end of the day with the most was the winner.

We would then sell the pelts, needless to say after a while the "parkies" the local park employees did not look kindly upon this and tried to bust us but we would stash our wrist rockets on our sides under our coats, they fit perfectly if you turned them sideways and was never caught with them.

I still live in the same neighborhood i grew up in and walk my dog daily in that very same park and i can't believe how much wildlife has "returned" since we were kids...

Ahhhh... memories!
 
Instead of starting a new thread, I'm just reviving this one.

I had a chance to mess around with my slingshot this morning. We had some old automotive clear coat that needed to be disposed of so we hardened it in the can and this morning, cut it out of the can. What you end up with is a block of jelly that is kinda crumbly but looks like ballistic gelatin. It is softer and while it moves like a jelly it actually crumbles and breaks apart very easily.

First, my high end ball bearing and pea gravel shooter:

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I replaced the yellow bands with the higher strength black bands.

Todays results:

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Shot from only ~15' away but fun anyway. :p
 
Nice!

I've been messing around with slingshots again, here's a little PFS style shooter I made (design copied with permission from MetroGradeGoods) from 1/4" HDPE and is set up for shooting BB's. This will puncture a can at 15 paces too!

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Also made my son a natural fork shooter from a branch in the back yard, he's only 5 and just getting the hang of it.

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I've made a couple patterns to try in 1/2" or 3/4" HDPE and hope to get those made soon.


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
Nice!

I've been messing around with slingshots again, here's a little PFS style shooter I made (design copied with permission from MetroGradeGoods) from 1/4" HDPE and is set up for shooting BB's. This will puncture a can at 15 paces too!


Also made my son a natural fork shooter from a branch in the back yard, he's only 5 and just getting the hang of it.

I've made a couple patterns to try in 1/2" or 3/4" HDPE and hope to get those made soon.

-Xander
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Xander.

I've got a science surplus near my house that sells latex tubing but no flat bands. I think I'll stop by today and see if they have some thinner stuff. That BB shooter sounds like a fun little project.

I still have the unused yellow band from the picture above and might try to bend up a home made model similar to yours.
 
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