[Ernie9mm]

My son went with his Grandfather to a family reunion and he won a blow gun in a raffal. its about 3' long and came with about 12 darts.
What I was wondering is where can we order new darts for this?
And most important where can I get one for myself?:)

[Jim March]

Somewhere in New York, Bill Clinton is reading this forum and at the thread title, his ears perked up...

:neener:

[Bruz]

Remember blow, not suck! :what:

Feeling creative? http://www.geocities.com/blowgunhunter/

[Kingcreek]

I bought one years ago from an ad in the back of a magazine more or less as a gag. Then I found out how accurate and effective they can be. I used to climb around in the barn at night with a flashlight and shoot the roosting pidgeons and sparrows. sometimes "pinning" them to the rafters and roof boards. The darts were a bundle of spring steel wires that you cut to desired length and a string of plastic beads that you poke the heated wires into and let setup.

[Sir Galahad]

"Pinning" them to the boards....real "charming" enterprise.:rolleyes: I've run across songbirds in public parks with these darts in them and removed them. Makes me sick to my stomach. Last guy I caught doing this had just shot a cardinal and he no longer has that blowgun because it's in a million pieces. It's your barn, but let's not encourage this sort of thing.

[dustind]

My brother has a dart gun, I think the darts are the same diameter as BBs since his gun shoots both. I could be wrong, the darts seem to be about 6mm in diameter, give or take. Do they have skinny points in the front, then expand instantly to full size, with little fiber hairs in the rear to stabilize, and the fiber comes in different colors? If so you can buy more.

[444]

Just do a search, there are tons of blowguns and accessories for sale on-line. I see them all the time at the gunshows.

I had two of them, years ago. They were a blast to shoot in the basement. It is hard to believe how accurate they are. I got the same one that I believe Kingcreek is talking about. "35 pound anteater killed without poison". That ad ran for decades in all the outdoor magazines.
Oh, and I never shot an animal with them.

[Okiecruffler]

Don't ask, just take my word for it.:(

[Ernie9mm]

Thanks guys. I did a search and found plenty of options.

Okiecruffler I'll try and remember that :D

If anyone is interested here they are

http://www.stun-guns-pepper-spray-ect.com/blowgun-catalog.html

http://www.blowgunsnw.com/

http://www.libertees.com/libertees/blowgun.html

[Sunray]

Up here you can get 10 years for having a blow gun. They're prohibited same as a machine gun. So are morning stars, nunchuks and shuriken. Too many knighted, ninja, pgymies robbing variety stores. I'd bet you could make darts out of those bamboo kabob skewers. Bit of something fluffy on one end and you're set. Wouldn't stick into wood the way the original wire darts do though.

[JShirley]

Dustind, the ones you're speaking of are made to be single-loaded into bb or pellet guns.

Sir Galahad: not to offend your sensibilities or anything, but by "pinning", I think a transfixing shot is being described, not necessarily leaving live prey to die in writhing pain. If one is taking pests in a area that would prohibit the use of firearms, blowguns might be a good choice, or if one even just wants to because they darn well like using a blowgun, as long as they use responsibly, fine. I think just about everyone here can agree that we all want to take live game as painlessly as possible.

There are two basic kinds of dart bases, one a cone shape, and the other, a simple bead. Either will be just small enough to fit inside the 'gun tube. There are both wide hunting tips, and the steel spring described.

A blowgun can be easily made with appropriately sized conduit, cone-shaped paper water cups, and small screws. Slice off the end of the cone cup, then slice vertically near the very tip. Screw the screw into the tip. Works very well.

[Sir Galahad]

Actually, JShirley, a blowgun is one of the cruelest things to shoot ANY animal with. See, what people don't realize is that the native peoples who use the blowgun use POISON (curare) to make the weapon effective. Without poison, the dart is about as effective as a sewing needle. In Hawaii, there were some folks who thought it was great fun to shoot pigeons and other birds with these. Seeing birds walking around with darts transfixed through their necks, slowly starving to death because they cannot swallow food. Boy, what sportsmen!:rolleyes: :fire: Being bird owners, some neighbors brought us several small birds with darts in them, wounds full of pus, still very alive. It was really disgusting to think of the type of person who gets his jollies shooting living animals just to watch them suffer. These are the folks who are just a hop, skip, and a knuckledrag away from doing this to other beings who cannot defend themselves: children. Blowguns are a very poor choice for anything above large insect. And the mentality of people who think shooting living beings to watch them suffer is not far above large insects. Having seen first hand and rescued several birds from a lingering death because of these wonderful "toys" or "weapons", I can state for a fact that these are NOT effective for taking ANY game, period. Unless the darts are poisoned, which is why the natives who invented the weapon learned thousands of years ago to use poison. In most locales, poisoned projectiles and blowguns themselves are prohibited for any hunting. The people marketing the "hunting darts" for this POS are unscrupulous liars and complete scumbags.

I am a hunter myself. This is NOT a hunting weapon.

[JShirley]

Hell, brother, I'm from Alabama. If it can't kill cleanly, it ain't worth hunting with.

Now, I can't speak for your experiences, but don't imagine that, just because you can't do, or have not experienced something, that no-one can. I was never much into hunting with them, but I've seen animals (birds) taken with blowguns. And we rednecks sometimes have nothing better to do with our time than get good at killin'.

I'm familiar with the use of curare. Used sometimes in operations. You can also make a good poison from tobacco...

As far as hunting ethics go, see my earlier post.

[telomerase]

I think the salient point here is that sharp/poisoned things can kill, but not painlessly. The gun is a tremendous humanitarian advance over sharp things (including wolves' teeth), and REAL naturalists used to know that. None of this is aimed at this thread (and blowguns won't blast holes in the chicken house when you're killing rats), just at the fact that no one thinks about how deer used to die before guns were invented.

>Too many knighted, ninja, pgymies robbing variety stores.

Holy cats! And to think that I was considering a Canadian trip next summer! I'd better just stay in the highest-crime city in the US instead!

[Okiecruffler]

to clean the mice and rats out of the feed in the barn. Had these little plastic broadheads on the tips. Seemed to kill quick enough, and mom was happier not having air rifle pellets in her chicken feed.

[JShirley]

Ah! Thanks for reminding me.

Add "stunning" blunt tips and paint balls to the list of blowgun projectiles.

[Okiecruffler]

My favorite was just the orange plastic ball itself. Used to use those on my brother's bum when he was being annoying.

[Sir Galahad]

JShirley:

First, having seen lots of animals wounded by this "weapon", I speak from experience. Know why I, in your words, "Can't" use a blowgun? Because I won't. You are aware of the difference between "can't" and "won't", aren't you? It is not a hunting tool, period. Most hunting laws do not allow its use. My point remains.

Perhap you have nothing better to do than sit around "getting good at killing". But I can think of lots of better things to do than sit around and take lives for giggles. If you can't, well, I feel sorry for you. Must be bleak to measure one's life with the amount of lives one has taken as the zenith of accomplishment.

[JShirley]

Sir,
I know what I know, including the fact that penetrating into a brain will kill animals DRT. As I have already pointed out, because something may not be within your capabilities or experience, does not mean it is not within someone elses.
Check your messages.
John

[Sir Galahad]

John, I have never seen a blowgun dart that was effective. All of the blowguns I have seen were in the hands of teenagers who didn't get enough leather applied to backside as children. Perhaps you may have seen some blowguns that were effective. I am saying I have not. But, don't take my word for it, John. Why not post for us here all the many states that approve of a blowgun for use in hunting small game? Show us the game laws that say this is an approved weapon. I'll save you a bit of time on one state. Arizona prohibits the use of poisoned projectiles. However, they do make a provision for "pneumatic weapons" for taking small game. Now, is this air rifles only, or does this cover blowguns? Wouldn't it be interesting to find out how many states approve of the blowgun for small game hunting? Of course, pellet rifles are abused the same as any other weapon. My initial point, John, remains, that this is not, in general, an effective weapon in most of the hands it is currently getting into. I'm not here advocating banning it, I am here saying that most people are going to wound animals with it. In somewhat of a defense of the blowgun, the same thing happens with bows. Some slob hunter goes and buys a MagForceSuperSlamWhamBamBuckBustingQuadSuperPlusChuckieAdams compound bow and thinks this is all he needs. He shoots about 12 arrows to practice, doesn't tune his broadheads, and then proceeds to take a 75 yard shot at a deer. Deer walks around with an arrow embedded in it's flank, or gutshot. Same thing happens with rifles, too. I think that our common ground will have to be that if one is to hunt, then one owes an obligation to be proficient with that weapon, regardless if it is a blowgun or a .700 Nitro Express and kill cleanly. The future of hunting depends on what we do today. Check the frozen foods section of your supermarket. Those vegetarian meals didn't appear overnight. The mindset of many Americans is starting towards the thinking that we don't need animals for food anymore. Being able to pass the heritage of hunting (and the ideas of self-sufficiency that accompany it) depends on the stewardship we exercise with the wildlife and the land. We live in an age where state initiative ballots give 51% of the voting population the ability to deprive the rest of the people of their rights, priveleges, and heritage.

John, no insult was intended with my previous post.

[JShirley]

Kevan,
My initial point, John, remains, that this is not, in general, an effective weapon in most of the hands it is currently getting into. I'm not here advocating banning it, I am here saying that most people are going to wound animals with it.

Okay, I think we are in 100% agreement, then. I have seen two people who had great skill with blowguns. One was my older brother- who spent many hours each week practicing (and perfecting the tool itself; bro spent several weeks just determining optimal point lengths for penetration at different ranges) with whatever his current tool of choice happened to be- and my mother's stepfather. He won quite a few bets on construction sites with his conduit/paper cup blowguns. (Not aware of grandfather killing anything besides boards, though he could generate the power and accuracy needed for head shots.)

I was just making the point that it's hard to be dogmatic, sometimes. I, for instance, cannot prove there are no purple dragons on Planet Earth, though there are none within eyesight.

I am in favor of ethical hunting, and if one is not skilled enough to employ whatever weapon one has, one should practice more, or find another weapon. Firearms are great because they enable greater ability with much less practice than most other weapon systems.

[hillbilly]

I have made a blowgun as well as played around with the commercial variety.

The little wire with the bead on the back is not an effective hunting tool for squirrels and other small game.

The 20 inch long 1/8 inch thick dowel rod with an exacto-knife broadhead tip can be.

Just like guns and bows and crossbows, it comes down to shot placement.


hillbilly