Slingshots

[Mtneer]

Now that President Biden signed the 2021 Gun Removal Act, passed by a unanimous Democrat Congress and Senate, I'm looking at other options. Just kidding, sorta.

For reals, I went to replace the rubber tubing on my old Trumark wire frame slingshot. But I made the mistake of looking to see about more modern options. Crap, I'm so out of date! Several hours of web surfing later, I'm still confused. These guys are as bad as gun folk in speaking their own language (OTT/TTF, quality of latex, butterfly style, etc). But they aren't nearly as good at explaining it to newbies.

It sounds like the SimpleShot Scout is a solid choice but perhaps the Axiom Ocularis is better, or the Torque? But Pocket Predators looks nice too. And I just scratched the surface. So many designs but few decent reviews or good starter guidance. The nonfancy models are cheap enough I can see how people end up with several. But picking one to get started with for practice is daunting.

Maybe I'll just replace the bands on my oldie and call it good. Nah, I'm getting sucked in dagnabit. Any recommendations?

(I don't dare looking at atlatls...I'm guessing they're now carbon fiber and titanium with tungsten tips.)

[Gman]

Can I still get one with a full capacity magazine?

[sniper7]

I still have one I made out of a tree branch shaped like a Y and some rubber tubing my dad gave me with a chunk of leather I cut from an old baseball glove.
I do want to get the boys one although I’m honestly more concerned with them hurting each other or breaking windows with a slingshot than I am a B.B. gun or a .22

[earplug]

Check out the sling. The type you swing around and release stones with.

[TFOGGER]

I was pretty deadly with a wrist rocket 40 years ago. I got my first one at Yellow Front for $2.99,,,

[Mazin]

Check out the sling. The type you swing around and release stones with.

David and Goliath style....those are harass once you can get the hang of it.

[cstone]

I have a Scout but will probably get an Ocularis this summer. Finding the right ammunition is one of the tougher parts of shooting. If hunting in the field, steel balls are excellent, but for practice in the yard, some of the biodegradable BBs are good for short distance. It does take some practice but it is pretty satisfying consistently hitting a small target.

[Irving]

I made a sling out of three strands of cord once, but I never did get the hang of it. It's still around somewhere.

[CS1983]

I made a sling out of three strands of cord once, but I never did get the hang of it. It's still around somewhere.

Look up videos on youtube. The Balearic people were known in the ancient world as some of the best slingers, but their style isn't the only one.

It does take some getting used to, but once you get used to it you can be pretty accurate and deadly.

Between a modern slingshot and an ancient sling I prefer the sling. Mainly because if it's made from the right materials it is impervious to things like heat, humidity, cold, etc., that ultimately is a problem for a rubber band.

Ancient slingers likely did not take as much time to set up, swing, etc., as we see in modern videos. In combat they were very quick and would likely swing, release, reload, swing, release, etc., similar to ancient archers. A martial arts example is modern tai chi vs ancient tai chi -- modern tai chi is much more graceful and artistic and not suited to hand-to-hand.

The sling is nothing more than an extension of the arm, just like the atlatl that the OP mentioned (used to make my own as a kid -- was super into all things ancient weapons). Once you learn to time release such that it goes forward, you can begin to perfect accuracy. Once you perfect accuracy, you begin to perfect power. Once you combine the two, phew it is cool.

FWIW, you can start with marshmallows to get a hang of it inside.

(cue impending story of how Irving beaned his wife in the head and yelled, "Boom! headshot" and is no longer allowed to practice his sling inside)

[TFOGGER]

(cue impending story of how Irving beaned his wife in the head and yelled, "Boom! headshot" and is no longer allowed to practice his sling inside)

[ROFL1]

[wctriumph]

I was pretty deadly with a wrist rocket 40 years ago. I got my first one at Yellow Front for $2.99,,,

Yes! Me too. And my brother and most of our friends. No one lost an eye either. We bought ours for about $2.00 about 45 or so years ago. My brother still has his.

[WETWRKS]

I have taken interest in this pocketshot thing. Not quite a typical slingshot but cool none the less

[ray1970]

We used to shoot birds off the power lines with our homemade slingshots using rocks from the driveway for ammunition. Good fun.

[colorider]

Good ol wrist rocket and a big bag of glass marbles. Cheap entertainment growing up. And as an adult.

[wctriumph]

50+ years ago my cousins would fashion blow guns from 3' lengths of pipe and make darts from coned rolled paper with glue on the inside of the point for weight and kill pigeons off of the power lines and squirrels out of trees. They would clean and cook them. The squirrels were tasty, no so much the birds which were also chewy.

[wctriumph]

Good ol wrist rocket and a big bag of glass marbles. Cheap entertainment growing up. And as an adult.

I worked an an usher in a movie house when I was 16 and during the Wednesday morning summer free shows, we had to keep a constant for sling shots, the trouble makers would shoot Mike Duds from the mezzanine to the lower level. Mike Duds hurt when you take a hit from one.

[mattiooo]

For the OP, I bought one of the SimpleShot slingshots and they are really nice. I am doing some reasearch on the bands, because I was always weak on my left (off) hand, but after the stroke, the weakness is even worse. I can't draw the band back far at all. I just need to purchase a replacement band.

However, I don't think you will be disappointed in them at all.

[mattiooo]

(cue impending story of how Irving beaned his wife in the head and yelled, "Boom! headshot" and is no longer allowed to practice his sling inside)

ROFL! Winner!

[BPTactical]

Mike Duds hurt when you take a hit from one.

Is that an "Alternative" porn star name from the 70's?

[mattiooo]

Is that an "Alternative" porn star name from the 70's?

It's what happens when Mike & Ike take Milk Duds to the back room.....

[wctriumph]

Is that an "Alternative" porn star name from the 70's?

This iS as close as I could get to Milk Dud porn.

[BPTactical]

This ia as close as I could get to Milk Dud porn.

But what about "Mike Dud" ?

[colorider]

Big 5 has a good selection of bands in different weights.

[Duman]

I'll bet you could find something at Dick's.... try it out in the store, take out a few lights, displays, and maybe some anti-gunners..........

[colorider]

I'll bet you could find something at Dick's.... try it out in the store, take out a few lights, displays, and maybe some anti-gunners..........

And I do believe Dicks has Milk Duds at the check out area. Load up and schwak a few Teva buying hippies with a candy nugget.