Wrist Rocket - fail?

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rmuzz

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After recently spending a week at the cabin, armed only with my "Dennis the Mennace-esqe" sling shot, I got reacquainted with the joys of shooting nice rocks and 1/4" steel balls at targets of opportunity with occasional success and marginal accuracy.

I had wrist rocket when I was younger, that one got lost or taken away or something at some point in time. It seemed like a good idea to pick one up the other day when checking the sporting goods isle at Wal-Mart in vain hoping for some .38/.357 to apear. Its this one:
s7_221490_imageset_01.jpg

Anyway, long story short the dogs caught a rabbit yesterday. They ate the back half and left the front parts about 7-9 yds off the back porch. Normally I immediately bag it and pitch it in the trash, but I couldn't resist taking a couple shots at the real deal (sort of) rather than the stuffed animals and kitchen trash they usually pull out into the back yard and chew on. Maybe my pull wasn't long enough, but the hits I had didn't seem like they would have been kill shots. I think one of the shots to the head just bounced off, I have no idea really if it would have scrambled things inside or broken any bones but it seemed pretty weak. Accuracy was impressive however.

Anyone here own one of these? Is it a toy used on cans, water bottles or other inanimate objects or do any of you thin out the populations of small fuzzy things around the back yard? According to wiki it sounds like hunting with slingshots along these line is quite popular, the UK was mentioned specifically. Is it ethical? Any thoughts or shared experience would be appreciated.

Edit: I read the book Deathwatch as a teen, couldn't remember the title so I mention it now. Basically a young adult fiction novel where a hunting guide is forced to fight his client using a found slingshot. http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/info_28519.asp?BSID=130804727 Unlikely story, but remembering all that made me want to post here. Feel free to tear it all to shreds :)
 
My inner child makes frequent appearances :) I've enjoyed my purchase so far, was just kind of wondering if sling shots were purely "play things" (I know they are powerful in their own right, and can be dangerous if improperly used), or if anyone here uses them in pest control.

And I did kind of find my own answers searching around a bit, found this pretty cool youtube clip of this guy pretty skilled with slingshots. http://www.mixx.com/videos/3419674/youtube_the_sling_shot_man_amazing_marksman Gave me a little inspiration to keep practicing, thought I'd pass it along.
 
I have my original, purchased in the 70's. I used it to shoot many things, most unlawful. Trains, wire insulators, junk yard car windows...hopefully the statuette of limitations has run out....
It's still in my parents basement, I guess the bands would be shot. Might have to dig that back out.
A railroad track was at the back of my parents property. The train ballast, small purple balls of varying sizes, gave me plenty of free ammo. I don't think they use that any longer?
31zZqQwh-HL._SL500_AA257_.jpg
 
I don't think you will be getting too many kill shots using 1/4" ball bearings. Steel doesn't transfer energy into targets as well as other materials and 1/4" bearing are very light. Use bigger ammo.

If you really need to hunt, I suggest you buy a box of round lead bullets used for black powder guns. .38 -.44 -.50 will do a number on a rabbit if you can hit it.

Be careful about throwing lead all over the place though, so you may want to buy a couple bags of glass marbles for practice and general plinking.
 
They had packages of 1/4" and I think 3/8" steel at the store, I'll look into getting some of that lead for black powder shooting though. I think Ill save that stuff for out at the cabin, I see enough of those little piles of bbs from the daisy around the backyard... don't want a ton of lead everywhere, especially with the stupid dogs eating everything in sight.
 
Err...

Rocks work. *smile*

So do marbles.

Then again I make my own from the fork of a tree limb, and coming up, used Red Rubber from a inner tube.

Yes, I, and mine took rabbits, squirrels, doves, duck ....for meat on the table and took care of pests.
Buzzards gotta eat too you know...

I need to make another one, and sad to say, I will have to use something other than red rubber.

Seriously, rocks are proven, and we used marbles that were new, chipped, cracked and the like, from playing "marbles".


Fillin' station would set back for us ball bearings, and nuts and other parts removed, or replaced fixing stuff.
 
I bought the same slingshot at Walmart a few years ago. Not only out of nostalgia but because I had bought a bunch of that useless 1/4" ammo on clearance beforehand that I thought would fill the need. I had a home made one when I was young that had shot pretty well using rocks and the right size steel balls from the local bearing plant.
However the 1/4" ammo proved to be too small to shoot very accurately and it really frustrated my kids when they tried to load and hold it in the pouch.
Contact me if anyone's interested in a ton of that 1/4" ammo cheap. :)
 
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Edit: I read the book Deathwatch as a teen, couldn't remember the title so I mention it now. Basically a young adult fiction novel where a hunting guide is forced to fight his client using a found slingshot. http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/inf...BSID=130804727 Unlikely story, but remembering all that made me want to post here. Feel free to tear it all to shreds
Click to expand...

Holy cow, I read that book when I was in elementary school. I enjoyed it then. I'd forgotten about it for a long time.
 
My father worked at the state docks. He would bring me bags of rocks that had been shaped by trains passing into just smaller than marble sized, and round.
 
I got two of them around here I use to chase off the "tree rats" --- I just use stones from the driveway.

They sure don't make stuff like they used to ---- last Summer , I replaced the power bands in both my SSs ---- just last week , I had to buy {$3.95} two more bands as the rubber already rotted !!!!!
 
Glass marbles bought by the bag at salvage shops and thrift stores. NOT the antique ones -- those are valuable. I mean the el cheapo ones from the 1960s and 1970s, with wear. Also worn ball bearings from machine shops and independent garages.
 
Wow, that video with Rufus is amazing. With a milk jug full of rocks no less, no fancy aero-ammo needed! We probably won't see the likes of Rufus again.
 
1974 TV movie 'Savages' based on the book 'Deathwatch' by Robb White published in 1972.
It's out on DVD and the book is still in print.
----------------------------

I used 'Wrist Rockets' when I was younger to hunt squrrels, rabbits, ect. around here,
And for 'Fun' we would go to the river dumping sight and shoot rats.

For some of those 'Larger' game animals, a simple twist of wire (I use copper 12 Gage solid wire or coat hangers) to make a loop between 'Rubbers' and you can shoot arrows with a 'Wrist Rocket' pretty easily.

Yes, you can kill deer size animals with an arrow, but I mostly used them for fishing.
They are a LOT handier to fish with than a long bow, and since in fishing, you reuse the same arrow over and over, you don't have to carry extra arrows.

I consider a 'Sling Shot' and/or a 'Wrist Rocket' (and extra 'Rubbers') MANDATORY for homesteads and survival equipment bags.
I still make a point of shooting a few times at cans in the driveway when I'm out 'Puttering' in the garage just to keep my eye and hand working together...
 
I can tell most of you guys aren't in the iron and steel business!

Those "round rocks" you are picking up along the railroad tracks are most likely taconite pellets.

If you live near either a ore mine or steel mill, or near a track connecting them, they are most likely taconite pellets.

Still, a GREAT slingshot ammo.

'alp
 
when i was 12 my brother and i would shoot these somtimes at eachother....boys will be boys . one day i let fly a shot and took and lady next doors car side window out , they can have quite a bit of power . and for a week i had a hard time sitting ... the price of youth...lol glass marbles work great
 
A wrist rocket (and two replacement sections of surgical rubber) is a required item in my day pack.

Beside using it to shoot food animals, you can:
-cast bait or lures without a rod,
-knock down fruit, pine cones, and other food,
-get a line over tree limbs to pull down fruit, firewood, or shelter,
-shatter small stones to get sharp edges without endangering your eyes,
-I could keep going, but you get the idea.

Also, there's the surgical rubber to be used as tourniquets, ties, straws, or even (stinky) fire starter.
 
That makes sense. So, they weren't ballast, just cargo dropping out, interesting. My parents still live there, but I no longer see those purple balls. They must be transporting by other means or have tighter load doors!


I can tell most of you guys aren't in the iron and steel business!

Those "round rocks" you are picking up along the railroad tracks are most likely taconite pellets.

If you live near either a ore mine or steel mill, or near a track connecting them, they are most likely taconite pellets.

Still, a GREAT slingshot ammo.

'alp
 
after seeing this thread i had to dig up my old marksman folding wrist rocket sling-shot.
http://pelletbbguns.com/images/3040 folding slingshot.jpg
i went to walmart and bought a pack of the steel slingshot ammo.

so i set up outside on the outskirts of a park area with a carboard box and a pocketfull of ammo. about 10 shots in a park service truck pulls up and politely lets me know i can't do that here (kinda figured but nobody was around..:uhoh:) but i can go over to the archery area.

whaaaa?:eek:

archery area? how did i not know about this? sure enough about 2 minutes down the road are two archery target/haybales covered with little roofs.
:)

yardage was marked at 20 and 40yds. i set up some 4in clay targets and was breaking them pretty easily at 5-10yds. at 10-15yds i was maybe getting 1-2 out of 10. at 20yds i was all over the place, but came really close once or twice to breaking one.

i think at 5-10 yds if i had time i could line up a head shot enough to stun a rabbit, then run over and finish the job by hand with the ammo i was using. probaby wouldn't do much to a coon or fox. i think it would kill a squirrel easily at 10+ yds with a head shot.
 
I don't visit the non-firearms portion of this forum nearly enough, you guys are as always a wealth of great info.

I appreciate the survival pack idea, and the experiences and stories that were shared. I've been practicing a bit more recently, nice quiet fun out in the backyard. I agree that the railroad round balls were likely taconite... remember seeing that stuff in northern MN, I think they ship it out of Duluth through the Great Lakes iirc. Ill pocket it if I find any :)

This is a pic of my other slingshot, a little more classically styled I guess. I've owned it a while, but haven't used it nearly enough... not sure how it holds up compared to the "wrist rocket" I guess time will tell :)
IMG_0391.jpg
 
I can't tell you how many rabbits, and similar type varmints that I have killed over the years with a slingshot much like yours. Yes they are viable weapons.

My brother was even screwing around one day when he was a kid and killed one of my mom's goats with a sling shot and a lead sinker - that wasn't a good day... for any of us.
 
The mentioning of a lead sinker makes me wonder if it's worth digging up some spent lead bullets from the berms at the the rifle range to use as ammo?
Or better yet, getting some free lead from my club's indoor range to use for casting some lead round balls instead of buying expensive steel ammo? :rolleyes:
 
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