47 replies to this topic

[kobe23]

Jmp introduced me to Rocks and Pebbles, got addicted all his fault >.<
Changed bands on my 'fatty', currently using the Royal mail postman bands, decent quality. setup per strand 2x2x2x2, 3 per side, making a 6x6x6x6. shooting rocks and pebbles. They shoot slow but hit much(much more) harder than 8mm Steel(when using rocks and pebbles), haven't go hunting with them yet...



Well I had a walk around the area, found some discarded branches, sawed 3 'Y' twigs, the biggest made into 'Tiny'. 270mm in length, Fatty is not fat anymore when compared.
setup:
-30mm x 240mm USA pro purple bands, 3 strips per side (tied Rufus Hussey's method)
-approx fork width 110mm, length 270mm, handle diameter 50mm
-handle wrapped with Royal mail postman bands for grip, synthetic leather pouch from Poundland fishing catapult
P.S Fatty is fat and bad with primitive ammo, Tiny is killer! Fatty could puncture the wooden barrier fencing without sweat, but Tiny shoots them much faster!





Discovery:
Rufus Hussey's fork band attachment gives extra life to the bands. Most people(including myself) use the Over-the-Top attachment, but on close inspection, the lowest band(closest to the fork) tend to fail before the top layers. This is resulted by the friction between the band and the fork when shooting. Many lines will appear on the bottom band(perpendicular to the band pull direction) even after first few shots. This could be easily noticed when 2 bands or more is used, which could be compared to the bottom bands. This is also proven when my wrist rocket is attached with flat bands the wrap-around method. Even after the connector bands at the pouch cut the flat bands, no lines appeared at all(no friction between fork and band when shooting)
Rufus Hussey's method does not involve friction between the fork and band. Maybe the fork should be longer for this setup, but I believe the old man did this after years of experience, not without a reason. If you are having trouble with band life using Over-the-Top, try Rufus's.
I am fairly new to slingshots(beanshooters?) and this is all based on my personal observation, please feel free to comment and advice. Cheers~

[John-Boy]

I believe steel/lead flies truer making the accuracy level higher, but then again pebbles are free

[kobe23]

Hmm yes true, bb's shoot much further with accuracy, but I think it still lies in the shooting distance. For over 10m, I would choose Steel/lead bb, but after some advice from Jmp, I found out rocks(not smoothed, some sharp edges like Rufus used) and pebbles could shoot with accuracy in 10m(approx). Sharp edges could be danger to the bands, but with selection(not too heavy) and a good pouch, this is not much a concern.
Just like most of us do, we tend to make a hole in the centre of the pouch so the bb could centre itself. So for an uneven shaped mass to centre, you will need a slightly curved(slightly bowl-like) pouch, so when released, the rock/pebble will centre itself before leaving the pouch.
As for trajectory, after shooting hundreds of them(almost a week shooting) as long as the shape is comparable to a sphere(meaning almost even mass distribution, not flat like-a-coin shaped) could shoot straight. The trajectory curve is not much of a concern because when shooting 20-30mm diameter rocks they don't propel as fast as bb's, so the effect from the uneven shape is not much.
The most important issue in shooting rocks is the pouch. It should be wide enough for the ammo. If pouch is too thin(portion of ammo can be seen above /below pouch), it is dangerous and inaccurate. If it is not centered, the ammo could not stay on the pouch before leaving the pouch, resulting in rotation of the ammo in upwards or downwards direction, and might flick back to the shooter...

[jmplsnt]

One thing a stone can do that round balls of any material will never be capable of is spinning/rotating in flight. This in turn creates what I think of as a sort of White Trash Rifling.....the spinning imparts a sort of stability to the projectile.

I have a kill with a lozenge-shaped stone at around 27 yards on a pigeon. This shot flew perfectly straight, as good as any lead shot I've fired and I can say that after shooting probably over 10,000 lead shot in my slingshot career to this point. Nico has a rabbit kill at this same 27 yards and I'm positive game has been taken a lot further out with pebbles from a slingshot.

There is another Rufus Hussey video from his appearance with Johnny Carson in which there is a closeup of his sophisticated ammunition and holder, namely a cut-down plastic milk jug holding a few pounds worth of crushed limestone gravel. I have done some work with this sort of rocks and as stated earlier I have found them surprisingly accurate out to ten yards distance but anything beyond that and they begin to defy the laws of aerodynamics.

[kobe23]

jmplsnt, on 15 April 2011 - 08:43 PM, said:

... accurate out to ten yards distance but anything beyond that and they begin to defy the laws of aerodynamics..

I think because it obeys the law of aerodynamics they sway off course. hahaha >.<
but 1 thing I have been wondering, how to even shoot something at over 20 yards? I remember watching some videos hunting over 20 yards, but I couldn't even focus on a point(maybe the pigeon head) at 20 yards...

[Nico]

Stones/Rocks

Are my first ammo and anything after that is really something a rock shooter will pick up in the event that he does not have some good handy stones at the moment. I suspect that the use of Hexnuts was an original improvised ammunition from the some of the rock shooters in generations past and it seems to be so as I learned of hexnut from my father as he is a stone shooter too and he has used hexnuts and other ammo as a substitute for good round or oval stones. For me and mine the shoe is on the other foot, stones are the primary ammo and all else are substitutions for a good stone and it does become a habit/art form to collect round/oval stone wherever you are and you do develop an eye for these things.

What Jmp says is true about crushed limestone gravel they have an effective range of 10 yards and in the past I killed fowl i.e. doves, and inca doves and even large bullfrogs in Mexico with this crushed limestone gravel. The results are gruesome the dove would have the crushed limestone rock embedded in its chest or the small inca dove would be torn open by these rocks. Same is true with the big frogs they'd die from the impact to their head but the crushed lime rock would peel their flesh. Rather nasty but effective when you dont have else and have good close range shots. Still stick with the round stones and ovals and the intermediates to this shape and you have a deadly medium to longer range ammo.
Nico

[slingshot 0703]

i shoot marbles, stones, bbs, hex nuts and something that is used under a horseshoe at winter time (ice weather conditions) its the heaviest ammo i have

[wd40]

Great slingshots, Kobe.

And good insight about Rufus' attachment method possibly extending band life.

I, too, have noticed the abrasion marks on the bottom band when rigged over-the-top and have experienced two or three band failures about midway on the bottom band.

However, all other band failures have occurred at the pouch attachment.

Still, I've always wanted to shoot some with the Rufus attachment, just to experiment. Your Tiny slingshot has motivated me to do just that. I'll give it a whirl this evening.

WD40

[jmr13z]

I have used 9.5mm steal & lead b b's but I have taken out lots of annoying starlings (a non native nuisance bird in america like the rock dove & house sparrow) with stale jelly beans & hard candy Even peanut M&Ms that stayed in the cabinet too long. The candy is biodegradable too. I guess it is a different meaning to the term death by chocolate. The handy to clean out wasp nest is a big pouch full of coarse sand but at a distance.

[kobe23]

jmr13z, on 22 April 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

...stale jelly beans & hard candy Even peanut M&Ms that stayed in the cabinet too long....

This reminds me of the hard spherical disgusting mints. Weight wise, will it do a clean kill?

[jmplsnt]

That's some good and interesting information about the hard candy, and I also enjoyed and appreciated the "death by chocolate" comment. While I will not be filling my pockets with mints for my next hunt I could see where the candy would be extremely useful.

There are some other thoughts I have regarding this but I will keep them to myself......but I really do like your cleaning out of the hated starlings (direct competitor to the lovely Eastern Bluebird) with hard candy that goes away either the next time it rains or when happened across by raccoon or opossum.

JMR13, we need to see some of your kill shots down in the hunting forum.....this sort of thing is right up my alley.

[ERdept]

You're just a softie. I see Bugs Bunny in the background.

[EdB]

Could you describe or post a link to information about the Rufuc Hussey band attachment? Thanks.

kobe23, on 15 April 2011 - 04:24 PM, said:

Jmp introduced me to Rocks and Pebbles, got addicted all his fault >.<
Changed bands on my 'fatty', currently using the Royal mail postman bands, decent quality. setup per strand 2x2x2x2, 3 per side, making a 6x6x6x6. shooting rocks and pebbles. They shoot slow but hit much(much more) harder than 8mm Steel(when using rocks and pebbles), haven't go hunting with them yet...



Well I had a walk around the area, found some discarded branches, sawed 3 'Y' twigs, the biggest made into 'Tiny'. 270mm in length, Fatty is not fat anymore when compared.
setup:
-30mm x 240mm USA pro purple bands, 3 strips per side (tied Rufus Hussey's method)
-approx fork width 110mm, length 270mm, handle diameter 50mm
-handle wrapped with Royal mail postman bands for grip, synthetic leather pouch from Poundland fishing catapult
P.S Fatty is fat and bad with primitive ammo, Tiny is killer! Fatty could puncture the wooden barrier fencing without sweat, but Tiny shoots them much faster!





Discovery:
Rufus Hussey's fork band attachment gives extra life to the bands. Most people(including myself) use the Over-the-Top attachment, but on close inspection, the lowest band(closest to the fork) tend to fail before the top layers. This is resulted by the friction between the band and the fork when shooting. Many lines will appear on the bottom band(perpendicular to the band pull direction) even after first few shots. This could be easily noticed when 2 bands or more is used, which could be compared to the bottom bands. This is also proven when my wrist rocket is attached with flat bands the wrap-around method. Even after the connector bands at the pouch cut the flat bands, no lines appeared at all(no friction between fork and band when shooting)
Rufus Hussey's method does not involve friction between the fork and band. Maybe the fork should be longer for this setup, but I believe the old man did this after years of experience, not without a reason. If you are having trouble with band life using Over-the-Top, try Rufus's.
I am fairly new to slingshots(beanshooters?) and this is all based on my personal observation, please feel free to comment and advice. Cheers~

[YonakaYamako]

I'm surprised the options for "All of the above" and "Whatever is handly at the time" are not listed. As I have done just that. Even paintballs, and frame bumpers have been used.

[kobe23]

YonakaYamako, on 26 April 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

I'm surprised the options for "All of the above" and "Whatever is handly at the time" are not listed. As I have done just that. Even paintballs, and frame bumpers have been used.

you could select them all, it's multi-answers enabled. just select them all =D

[kobe23]

EdB, on 26 April 2011 - 09:54 AM, said:

Could you describe or post a link to information about the Rufuc Hussey band attachment? Thanks.

on this post you could see rufus hussey's band attachment method
http://slingshotforu...2404#entry72404
his method is very similar to the over-the-top band attachment(pic below)

[Nico]

.....

Edited by Nico, 17 July 2011 - 10:40 AM.

[Dayhiker]

WARNING TO NICO: Off-Topic -- DO NOT READ!!!

Hey Kobe -- that is some brilliant kit you've got there! Can't beat A+ I have a PS2. I also carry a Swiss Army knife. Is the pocket fishing rig from Fish or from A+?

[kobe23]

Dayhiker, on 27 April 2011 - 03:02 AM, said:

WARNING TO NICO: Off-Topic -- DO NOT READ!!!

Hey Kobe -- that is some brilliant kit you've got there! Can't beat A+ I have a PS2. I also carry a Swiss Army knife. Is the pocket fishing rig from Fish or from A+?

I googled the picture. Hahaha... some random guy bought it from A+ and posted it on some knife forum. so... not mine >.<
I've only got naturals as the only boardcut I bought I gave to my coursemate

[Xidoo]

kobe23,
It is funny, here in Mexico we use that type elastic attachment method. It is used, only because is much easier to place rubber bands on the forks, just because of that. Saludos.

[philly]

I shoot flats exclusively and have NEVER had a band break at the fork with OTT set up. Thousands of shots over the last year. They always go at the pouch end. Maybe I am just lucky.
Philly

[Imperial]

only thing on the list of choices that i have not shot is clay. ive shot all others and also including peanut M&M s , breath mints, china berries(?), snails (fork hits are gooey), paintballs, gum balls, jawbreakers, hard candy, marbles, ball shaped bits of dry dog food (when i had dogs to shoot to, dont worry dogs werent hurt), cat treats, basically whatever i could fit in the pouch i would try it just once. im at the point to where if i see something small- i just wanna shoot it with the slingshot.

[SlingtoFame]

Glass marbles here! 1$ for a bag of 100 all day long. I would most likely shoot steel most often if it was cheaper.

[justplainduke]

3/8 steel for target.
7/16 for the hunt.

[Deltaboy1984]

Marbles are my daily ammo.