Slingshot For Survival?

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I'm wondering about the feasability of using a slingshot in a survival situation. How is their range, accuracy, and best ammo.

My parrents wouldent let me get one when i was young cause they thought i would use it on my little brothers.:D
 
To avoid firing a gun in the neighborhood, I use one on the rabbits that like to eat my garden. I have the kind that goes over your forearm for stability and has surgical tubing.

At 20 or 30 yards I nail those critters about 50% of the time. Steel ball bearings or marbles are my favorite things to shoot. They fly straighter than rocks.

One other note - they do not always kill the rabbits. Sometimes it just knocks them over with a big THUD. After a few seconds they get up and painfully make their escape before I get off a second shot.

Since some of the critters get away, I am considering a bow. The range is greater and the accuracy is better. The only concern is that if I miss - I am in a neighborhood. An errant arrow could be a problem.
 
I've spent a fair amount of time in remote parts of Northern Canada, where there are often grouse and snowshoe rabbits. I was shooting them with .22's, but the local trappers thought that was wasteful. They usually took them with slingshots because even .22 ammo isn't cheap or easy to get out in the bush.

I have several slingshots, ranging from home made to the fancy Marksman model with the huge wrist brace, pulleys, etc. One of my favorites is the Saunders Double Eagle (a folder). Unfortunately, I don't think they offer it anymore. In any event, I've used everything from 1/4" steel ball bearings to 54 cal. lead musket balls. The best ammo really depends upon the power of the slingshot, the range at which you will be shooting, your own strength, and the toughness of the game you are trying to knock down. You just have to experiment. That said, I've found 3/8" steel balls to be a good general compromise. Once you select a preferred ammo, stick with it because consistent practice is the key to accuracy.

You need to be careful where you shoot because in many cities it is illegal---even in your own backyard. Also, many of the rules applicable to firearms should also be observed: Especially knowing what is behind your target. A powerful slingshot with heavy lead balls can do a great deal of damage.

Best of luck!
 
DanielL,Yes I would becareful shooting an arrow at things one the ground around houses.At a low angle its easy to "skip" an arrow.You may have to shoot those rabbits from up on the roof.;)

I shoot my bow in my yard which is in a tract,so I have my targets up against the house(only one hole in the house so far:D )or I shoot out of a stand I put up in my yard.I ahve shot squirrels on the ground in my yard till one day my arrow"skipped" right on down the street,not good.
 
I've used a slingshot in the field many times. I, too, prefer the 3/8" steel shot for most hunting applications. I use the 1/4" shot wrapped and tied into a gun cleaning patch and doused in a scent-du-jour to lay a scent screen when deer hunting. I made a detachable arrow rest from a piece of heavy gauge coathanger wire, which are used with some very light aluminum shafts and field points or light broadheads for heavier game. It takes some practice, but within 10 to 15 yds, look out!

Mike
 
Lone Hunter -

I know what you mean about the skipping. Fortunately, I live on a hill and my garden is 10 or 15 feet lower than my back door. If I missed, the arrow would likely go into the ground. Also, behind my garden is a solid wood privacy fence to stop any skippers. Unfortunately, it's my neighbors fence and I'm sure they don't want holes in it. But you're right - you have to be careful of what's behind your target.

You are doing good to only have one hole on the side of your house. When I got my first bow at the age of 12, I had a large straw target against the side of the garage. Being a beginner I missed the target on a regular basis. Needless to say, there were a lot of holes in the side of the garage and even a few arrow tips that I could not dis-lodge. The fun part was the day that my father noticed all of the holes in the side of his garage!!
 
I've had a Wrist Rocket slingshot (the original wrist-brace slingshot) for just about ever. I shot them as a kid, and lost them, and then replaced them. I NEVER got any good with them, though.

Still, I thought they would be neat for a survival kit. The only problem is that Wrist Rockets, and any other kind of braced slingshot (even the folding kind like I have) are just too big ot fit in a pouch easily. So, I took a hacksaw to the folding wrist brace and removed it. This allowed me to shoot the slingshot in a proper upright manner, which the brace hadn't allowed; I was always shooting the thing cocked over to the side, and was unable to get a consistent sight picture. To replace the brace, I used a piece of 550 cord, tied like a lanyard in the hole where the brace had been. My slingshot is now MUCH more accurate and easier to shoot, and will also fit into a small pouch easily.

As for ammo, I've been using .22 and .30 ball bearings latley, and was shooting against a target backstop made of a carboard box stuffed with old magazines and covered in duct tape; very tough target that I use to stop field points from my bow. The .22 and .30 ball bearings punch into the box, no problem. I don't know how far they're penetrating, but I would guess that they would shoot through small game (rabbits and birds)pretty easily. Marbles are by far the cheapest ammo, and give good results, although you're looking at blunt-force trauma, since a marble won't penetrate. But a marble in the head should put a rabbit down nicely. I haven't tried the 3/8 (about .40) ball bearings, due to cost, but I may get some to put in my kit. They sound like a good "compromise ammo", as has been pointed out.

The only downside of using a slingshot in a kit is that the bands rot awfully fast. I can;t seem to get a pair of surgical tubing bands to last over a year or so. Does anybody have any "tricks" to keep their bands from rotting?
 
The bands will last longer if you minimize their exposure to sunlight. The UV component will degrade the rubber.
 
Thanks, Howard. I was wondering if maybe UV wasn't the culprit here, at least the MAIN culprit. I think one of these days I'll try a test, and wrap a brand new set of bands in a piece (doubled for total light-exclusion) of black heavy-duty gaqrbage bag. Then further seal it with duct tape, so that there's no way light can get in. Then stick it in the bottom of a pouch for a couple of years, and see how it fares. Who knows, I may end up needing an extra set of bands on the trail someday, and hopefully I'll have them in good shape. Of course, it'll be a while before I could report on this project. :~}
 
I have used the slingshot included in the Aitor JK1 since about 12 years ago and still works fine. You can take mostly invertebrates with it, mice and other small rodents (maybe a rabitt is too big, or it may suffer before dying).
Anyway, I recomend you to keep the rubber in baby powder all the time, and it will last years. For sure.
 
What about using sling of the type that is two strings and a pouch, that is spun around and the missle is hurled by centrifugal force? Like the one David slew Goliath with in the Biblical story. Has anyone used one of these? Anyone know where to get one, how to use one, etc.? I know they were once common weapons for hunting and even military use (like in Biblical times), but you never here about them now. Was/is this a practical thing to use?
 
I made several using leather from old wallets and either leather strips or nylon cord. I made one big enough to toss half a brick. Of course, that was just testing the outer limits of projectile size.

With some practice I got to the point where I could hit a man-size target at 20-30 yards. Some of my friends did a little better. However, none of us practiced enough to where we could have reliably hit small game at that distance. I'm sure it can be done, we just didn't have the dedication. Nonetheless, it was a heck of a lot of fun. Just make sure that when you are teaching newcomers, you have observers stand behind something solid. When someone is first learning, you can get some pretty wild releases!
 
Hi everyone!
I used to as a kid back home in Kenya, E. Africa go out on a limb literally with my friends make make sling shots. We made a day out of it by first going down to the local gas station where we asked for old used inner tires that were no good to anyone yet gold to us at the time. Once we got the inner tires we would climb up on a tree and with our fingers make a peace sign. using this we would cut a limb at its fork looking like a V. it would have to be about maybe an inch in diameter. we would than take the inner tires, cut it into one inch strips and coil it round and round starting at the base, as though one would do a mummy. leaving to open ends at the top, we would take a small peice of leather (highly prefered as would not degrade, or rip) cut that into a rectangle about two or three inches long and put two holes on each side of its width. the base would look like it had a ball within it in reality it had spare strips of rubber just incase our strip would rip or tear.
Now were were officially hunters and would go out hunting pigeons, small birds, and ptarmigan. sometines fish. We always ate what we shot. these things are so powereful that we shot birds about 100 to 200 feet up in the trees. its accuracy being homemade was awsome.
Ide like to point out why rubber degrades so fast. down here in california it degrades at ta much faster rate that it would back east becuase of cfc and pollution levels. the oxidization rate is much higher. one would no imagine how much of a hassle it on our windshield wipers. not a prob in the summer but when winter rolls around, its a big mess.
thanks all. Later on i'll discuss how we made sling guns. that were so easy, ide prefer those in a survival situation anytime!.
 
If you’re in a survival situation with a lot of small game, a slingshot can be a pretty effective weapon. When I was younger making a shot approaching or even exceeding 30 yards was considered to be very reasonable. I would often get two of my friends together with their slingshots and we would have one guy throw a can or something similar in the air and the other two guys would shoot it. The first shooter to hit the can would get to stay the next round and shoot again while the other guy had to become the thrower. At a distance of about 15 yards, I could hit whatever was thrown about one time in three. We used marbles because they were very cheap to buy and provided a good amount of accuracy for the price. Another option for a relatively easy to pack, silent weapon would be a blowgun. Anything less than five feet long is not recommended (I use six), but you can buy/make takedown models so you only have to carry two 3 foot lengths of pipe. The advantage of blowguns over slingshots is that at moderate ranges, the blowgun is more accurate. The advantage of a slingshot, though, is that if you run out of ammo you can always resort to using rocks, whereas with the blowgun it is much more difficult to improvise ammunition.
Also, for the guys talking about arrows skipping when they shoot, have you ever heard of a Zwickey Judo point? Here is a pick:

30-4.jpg


I have come to swear by these points for stopping short once they hit the ground and I can’t remember ever losing an arrow with one of these points attached. The metal arms do an excellent job of catching grass, etc. and should solve your skipping problem.
 
The slingshot (I have a wrist rocket) is my favorite indoor winter practice weapon. I put a shoe box up on the wall (couple of tacks) with a pillow stuffed into it. I then pin a small target like a button to the pillow. My "range" permits me to get back as far as 25 feet. While I don't hit the small button all that often, I never miss the pillow at least. I've found that even .25 cal. balls are too rough on the pillow and will shred it after a while. I've gone down to 1/8" pellets for target work. On the other hand, .33 cal. or so are best for hunting small game like squirrel, rabbit, etc. Another sling shot I own is much more powerful than the wrist rocket. Its problem is that its time-to-reload is also much longer and that can be bad too. But it will shoot .50 cal (1/2") steel balls with ease, and so is even better for hunting if you hit right the first time.

As for the sling, I taught myself that weapon some years ago, but never good enough for hunting. They are very easy to make, possibly the easiest primitive weapon out there to make, but one of the hardest to get "good enough to hunt with". There is a page and other links about them at: http://www.quine.home.sonic.net/sling.html

Have fun
 
Originally posted by DancesWithKnives
I made several using leather from old wallets and either leather strips or nylon cord. I made one big enough to toss half a brick. Of course, that was just testing the outer limits of projectile size.

With some practice I got to the point where I could hit a man-size target at 20-30 yards. Some of my friends did a little better. However, none of us practiced enough to where we could have reliably hit small game at that distance. I'm sure it can be done, we just didn't have the dedication. Nonetheless, it was a heck of a lot of fun. Just make sure that when you are teaching newcomers, you have observers stand behind something solid. When someone is first learning, you can get some pretty wild releases!
Click to expand...

When I was a teenager, I lived on my great uncle's in Ireland for about a year. I made one of the traditional type slings, and you can heft a large stone quite a distance. I could hit something the size of a car out at about fifty yards with a stone the size of your fist. Smaller projectiles are quite fast from this device, but my accuracy was always so-so. Seagulls were the target of choice (they harass the chickens, ya know), but virtually impossible to hit. It never ceased to amaze me how they could adjust their angle and speed to avoid a stone!

My preferred technique was: starting with the sling hanging down by your side, arm bent at the elbow. One full revolution, then crossing in front of you at chest height, extending your arm towards fully towards the target and releasing. This seems to get the best snap for me.

A few months after I moved back to the states, I tried slinging a few stones, but my accuracy was totally gone. This is definitely a weapon that demands constant practice.

Patrick
 
Like a bow, you would need practice a lot with the sling shot or have lots of opportunites at game. My Marksman sligshot had a advertised lobbing range of 220 yrd. I found that it can lob a 3/8" lead ball 200 yrd. Accuracy at that range is minute of acre (MOA).

Will
 
I would carry .36 cal black powder pistol balls as primary ammunition. You can use rocks when you run out.

I think Patrick is describing the "figure-8" sling swing that I use for the old David-and-Goliath type sling. You start with the pouch held in your left hand in front of you. You swing it down and slightly to your right--then back up behind your back--then downward and across your body to the front--then down past your left shoulder--then behind your head--then forward sort of over the top. The final forward part of your swing is a lot like pitching a baseball overhand. Accuracy is a real problem. One trick is to use a bunch of small stones in your sling at the same time. Maybe 5 or 6 stones a little under one inch diameter.

You can make slings like this by sewing together nylon cord and canvas rather than using leather for everything.
 
Hi Jeff,
That's a bit different from mine. Let me see if I can explain it better. I'm left handed, so you'll have to translate this to right hand (Don't complain, we have to do it all the time :D)

First the sling: I make mine with a leather patch and nylon cord thongs. One thong has a loop that goes over the middle finger, the other has a leather tab (a knot would do) that you hold between thumb and forefinger.

Holding the sling in the left hand, load with the right. Drop the sling so it hangs at your left side, arm slightly bent. I start the motion by swinging maybe 15 degrees back, just to get it going. From here, I spin one full circle (360 degrees), up in front, overhead, then down behind. Just after the sling reaches the 360 degree point, I start the baseball throw part (good description, Jeff). For me, more than one swing tends to decrease the accuracy, and doesn't gain any additional velocity.

I've used stones up to half a fist size.

Patrick
 
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