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 Crap, I'm so out of date!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)