First slingshot

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troy fairweather

troy fairweather

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I've never had a slingshot, I've shot a few before. So I picked up a daisy powerline f16 today, can't hurt for under $5. This year of deer season got me thinking about all the squirrels I could have shot. At least 10 came with in 10 feet this year and I did not hunt much.

I know the daisy is nothing fancy but should fill my needs. Anyone here shot any game with a slingshot. I have some lead buck shot and lead 45 caliber round balls I plan to use.

I think I'll make some kind of a catch for the balls not to waist them.
Open to any tips.
 
The critters got to be small and you got to hit them right. Steel balls are good, never used lead - typically try to handle lead only as needed . I wouldn't expect squirrel skull penetration or a clean kill, might have to bop them on the head after you stun them. I screwed around when i was a kid zapping birds and squirrels with slingshots and you've got to be good to hunt ethically with them, i'm not that good.
 
My first was some manufactured wooden one in the 60's.

Seems I bought it from the back of a magazine or comic book.
Cool enough.

Then, being the child of my *age* I of course HAD to have a Wrist Rocket and as they say: There was no turning back at that point.

Squirrels an' such? After breaking one's leg or hip and trying to catch it to put it out of its screaming misery.... NO more slingshot projectiles to animals for me.

Absolutely a HOOT around a hunting camp-fire though.

Todd.
 
Gosh Troy, boy, did you put me in the "Way Back Machine"!
Back in the early sixties Dad made us our first slingshots.
Pictured are one he made and my first Wrist Rocket.
Tried surgical tubing from some re-hab on the old wrist rocket years ago, as one can see, it is now toast, but it worked at that time.
Oh, BTW, the rehab rubber exercise tubes were to be used at home for strength exercises due to a wrist injury. .LOL :)
Shot these hundreds if not thousands of times.
Used to collect iron ore pellets at railroad X-ings that spilled out of train cars carrying the ore to Lake Superior to be shipped to mills. Good size for slingin',
Fun, old, and young times in the last century, heck, LAST Millennium!
.
Happy New Year everyone!!!

upload_2019-12-31_20-51-0.png
 
Troy
Check out some of the youtube videos by Bill Hays and Gamekeeper John. With a decent slingshot and a bit of practice you will be amazed at how accurate you can be. Small game like squirrels, rabbits and some game birds are easy one shot kills. I got interested a few years ago and before the end of the summer could keep all shots on the end of a Pepsi can out to ten yards or so.
 
1976B.L.Johns. said:
Gosh Troy, boy, did you put me in the "Way Back Machine"!
Back in the early sixties Dad made us our first slingshots.
Pictured are one he made and my first Wrist Rocket.
Tried surgical tubing from some re-hab on the old wrist rocket years ago, as one can see, it is now toast, but it worked at that time.
Oh, BTW, the rehab rubber exercise tubes were to be used at home for strength exercises due to a wrist injury. .LOL :)
Shot these hundreds if not thousands of times.
Used to collect iron ore pellets at railroad X-ings that spilled out of train cars carrying the ore to Lake Superior to be shipped to mills. Good size for slingin',
Fun, old, and young times in the last century, heck, LAST Millennium!
.
Happy New Year everyone!!!

View attachment 881498
Click to expand...
Cool you still have them. I was never allowed to have one of a bb gun. Dad have us 22s when we started walking lol. I have to find them but I take the rubber things they use when they take your blood. I bet they would work, I may have to make me a slingshot I have some curly maple and one walnut sitting around. Happy new year.
 
denster said:
Troy
Check out some of the youtube videos by Bill Hays and Gamekeeper John. With a decent slingshot and a bit of practice you will be amazed at how accurate you can be. Small game like squirrels, rabbits and some game birds are easy one shot kills. I got interested a few years ago and before the end of the summer could keep all shots on the end of a Pepsi can out to ten yards or so.
Click to expand...
Ya they can make some impressive foot pounds I've only ever shot a few and I'm fairly accurate, thanks.
 
Yep! Made a few from forked branches before I could afford a wrist rocket. Still have it though the surgical tubing has long been dried and cracked. Took a fair number of rabbits squirrels and birds with it back in the 70s. Good times!
 
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I would only opt for hunting with a slingshot if my life was on the line. I'm pretty good. I can hit a 3"×3" from 15 yards 8 out of 10 times using .45 clay ball ammo. If I practiced with steel, I have no doubt I could knock a tree rat off a branch and hopefully end him with a merciful bash if I needed to eat him to survive.

I would not consider a slingshot for pest control. Then again, I dont have "pests". I feed the family of squirrels that live in my oak tree in the back yard. I'm kinda glad the cute little fellers have plenty to eat, no predators short of a geriatric dog who never caught a squirrel at his peak 13 years ago, let alone now, and have no reason to get out in front of the cars on the street.

Still, I always pack my slingshot and some clay ammo when I go into the woods. Super cheap and super fun. The clay ammo means that I can shoot really inexpensive yet fairly accurate ammo that won't pollute the environment. It just melts after the first big rain. Plus it kind of just fragments when you hit something hard, so no damage is done to any trees I hit if I miss my mark.

My 2020 resolution is to shoot more slingshots and worry less about buying guns I dont need. I have plenty of those that take time, money, and a good bit of effort to enjoy. I can shoot my slingshot in my suburban backyard on a whim. I have a wind chime with that 3"x3" paddle that catches the wind in order to chime. Ringing that "gong" with an instinctive shot from 15 or 20 yards gives me more joy than punching a hole in paper with a gun, to be honest.
 
Fiv3r said:
I would only opt for hunting with a slingshot if my life was on the line. I'm pretty good. I can hit a 3"×3" from 15 yards 8 out of 10 times using .45 clay ball ammo. If I practiced with steel, I have no doubt I could knock a tree rat off a branch and hopefully end him with a merciful bash if I needed to eat him to survive.

I would not consider a slingshot for pest control. Then again, I dont have "pests". I feed the family of squirrels that live in my oak tree in the back yard. I'm kinda glad the cute little fellers have plenty to eat, no predators short of a geriatric dog who never caught a squirrel at his peak 13 years ago, let alone now, and have no reason to get out in front of the cars on the street.

Still, I always pack my slingshot and some clay ammo when I go into the woods. Super cheap and super fun. The clay ammo means that I can shoot really inexpensive yet fairly accurate ammo that won't pollute the environment. It just melts after the first big rain. Plus it kind of just fragments when you hit something hard, so no damage is done to any trees I hit if I miss my mark.

My 2020 resolution is to shoot more slingshots and worry less about buying guns I dont need. I have plenty of those that take time, money, and a good bit of effort to enjoy. I can shoot my slingshot in my suburban backyard on a whim. I have a wind chime with that 3"x3" paddle that catches the wind in order to chime. Ringing that "gong" with an instinctive shot from 15 or 20 yards gives me more joy than punching a hole in paper with a gun, to be honest.
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I have to look up them clay balls, what sling shot do you use. If I ever get good enough to take small game it will be -5 yards. The the one spot I hung had some mink in the tiny creek that is about 20 yards from were I sit, I would not mind a few mink furs.
 
troy fairweather said:
I have to look up them clay balls, what sling shot do you use. If I ever get good enough to take small game it will be -5 yards. The the one spot I hung had some mink in the tiny creek that is about 20 yards from were I sit, I would not mind a few mink furs.
Click to expand...

I use what they call a Torque Slingshot by Simpleshot. It's a one piece made out of polymer. I think i bought it on Amazon for about $25. The bands are super easy to replace if you use the doubled over kind as they just snap through a cut out slot. You can also tie on traditional flat bands, but I prefer the ease of the double tubes as i mentioned. A pack of ten runs like 6 or 8 bucks. Keep in mind the Torque isn't a good beginner slingshot, or good if you are rusty like I was. If you aren't pulling straight back, you can smack the forks instead of going through the forks...or shoot your thumb. The Torque seems to work best when you Y your finger and thumb wide across the forks instead of just gripping the handle. That said, it works just fine if you keep your fingers out of harm's way. I dont usually tempt fate with mine and just hold it in a standard way.

Amazon or other outfits have the clay ammo in various quantities and calibers. I think a pack of 1000 .5" was under $15. They won't kill much as they fragment on something as hard as a liquid filled plastic bottle, but they will make a sode can dance and poke it full of holes if you hit it right.
 
Fiv3r said:
I use what they call a Torque Slingshot by Simpleshot. It's a one piece made out of polymer. I think i bought it on Amazon for about $25. The bands are super easy to replace if you use the doubled over kind as they just snap through a cut out slot. You can also tie on traditional flat bands, but I prefer the ease of the double tubes as i mentioned. A pack of ten runs like 6 or 8 bucks. Keep in mind the Torque isn't a good beginner slingshot, or good if you are rusty like I was. If you aren't pulling straight back, you can smack the forks instead of going through the forks...or shoot your thumb. The Torque seems to work best when you Y your finger and thumb wide across the forks instead of just gripping the handle. That said, it works just fine if you keep your fingers out of harm's way. I dont usually tempt fate with mine and just hold it in a standard way.

Amazon or other outfits have the clay ammo in various quantities and calibers. I think a pack of 1000 .5" was under $15. They won't kill much as they fragment on something as hard as a liquid filled plastic bottle, but they will make a sode can dance and poke it full of holes if you hit it right.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks for The info. I remember the glass ones think they blew up if you hit something to hard so they don't bounce back. Don't think I would use them tho.
 
I got one from one of my sisters boyfriends back in the late 80s. Guess he was trying to bribe me into liking him. Didnt work but I did a lot of shooting with it. Mostly small gravel. Eventually the band dry rotted and I havent had one since.
 
Slingshot I used the most as a kid was a "FLIP" this was a straight stick with a single flat band made from a red car tire inner tube (the magic stuff) a cup/pouch was on the end opposite the anchor point. One held the stick so that the thumb was along the stick but no more than atwo thirds up the stick the pouch was held to just below the eye on the cheek and the stick pointed at the target. If you had the stick angle correct it was pretty accurate. Then and now I favor the cheapest dime store glass marbles, fairly heavy, hard and cheap. A FLIP fit in a pocket with a few marbles nicely....even at school I those barbaric days.

I had intended to make a flip with thero-bands, the elastic bands given out for physical theropy, which are color coded for strength. Unfortunately the cats found the set on my bedroom door knob and have holed and shreaded them.

I also have used traditional forks (commercial and natural and made in the shop) with flat bands from inner tubes and a variety of surgical tubing types including the name brand and the Daisy and Marksman. When I met my wife in our twenties in the late 1970s she carried a folding wrist rocket and a bag of steel balls in a side pocket of her "go bag" a large back pack for when the Emergency Broadcasting Network did not announce "This has been a drill..." It was true love at first slingshot!

-kBob
 
Regardless of the other influences as a kid; friends, TV, movies....
It was one of my favorite books; C.B. Colby's "Special Forces" that drove me to get my first slingshot.
Because, really - who would NOT have succumbed to this?

It also contained the first ballistic.... let's say *over-enthusiasm* to bite me in the butt when I repeated it about the M-16.:rofl:

Todd.
IMG_1240.JPG IMG_1242.JPG
 
Birds and rabbits back in my youth I recently did a ballistic check on a slingshot which I think you saw.I used to use my old slingshot as a slide for a zipline that came from the tree house.
 
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