47 replies to this topic

[TacticalHuntingSurvivalist]

I use marbles

[rubberpower]

Almost exclusively marbles. Cheapest thing I can find

[NaturalFork]

I have recently switched to steel but you forgot to include glass ammo. I love glass.

[Cake Bandit]

I dug my slingshot out of the closet the other day and it has been slowly emptying the bag of marbles I found it with. Gotta' go with marbles.

[lobodog2]

Others Not Stated...Marbles are my 1st choice when just messing around. You would be surprised at how many you can recover by just walking around your yard after a shooting session. I buy them locally at a "Dollar Store" for a buck a bag.

[rubberpower]

I buy marbles 25 pounds at a time. Cheapest place I have found is Trumark. The 1/2" tracers are hard to beat for me. When shooting aerials you go through a lot of marbles and same goes for stump shooting in the woods.

[blackthorn]

Prefer "lead" most weight, with least mass! I use an archery release, can only use lead!

Regards
Blackthorn

[RedRubber]

I shoot cast lead 44's. When I get to shooting more accurately I probably will switch to steel.

[newconvert]

for now, since it winter and i built a trap for indoor shooting i am using dried peas, just so i don't break something, but i am gathering an assortment of ammo and ss's for more advanced and outdoor shooting

[Hrawk]

newconvert, on 23 December 2011 - 10:08 PM, said:

I am using dried peas, just so i don't break something

Shoot mini marshmallows and get a dog. That way you can't break anything and you don't have to clean up

[newconvert]

Hrawk, on 23 December 2011 - 10:10 PM, said:

newconvert, on 23 December 2011 - 10:08 PM, said:

I am using dried peas, just so i don't break something

Shoot mini marshmallows and get a dog. That way you can't break anything and you don't have to clean up

you are da man!

[Sean]

So far and having not tried shooting anything other than marbles and some very small shot
I enjoy the marbles. Cheap and big I stand a bit better of a chance of hitting what I'm aiming at.

[fishjunkie]

now that i am a mill write i am use ball bearing that i replace but i still cant pass up a good old stone on the ground

[Rockape66]

I shoot flintlock muzzleloaders, so I have an ample supply of .440 and .445 lead ball that I use. When I was a kid I used .392 lead ball that my mother shot in her flinter. They were absolutely deadly on bunnies.

[NaturalFork]

I voted steel bearings and other. The other being glass.

[cheese]

Imperial, on 11 June 2011 - 06:12 PM, said:

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.

poor snails

[Shadowslinger123]

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~

I made a rubber band (stationery kind) slingshot threaded 4times when I was a kid. one strand broke in the end, after hundreds of hours of shooting. My first slingshot.

[Lionel P. Shotwad]

BACK IN THE 70'S WHILE AT SCHOOL WE MELTED 80LBS OF POWDERED LEAD THAT WE GOT FROM THE R.O.T.C. RANGE THEN CAST THE LEAD INTO .49CAL MUSKET BALLS FOR OUR CLUB... WE SHOT AT FOIL PIE PANS THAT WERE SUSPENDED IN FRONT OF SEVERAL HANGING CARPETS WITH SHEETS BETWEEN AND BEHIND THEM LAST THE BROAD SIDE OF A CHESTNUT SHED. MOST HITS DID NOT EVEN GET TO THE BACK SHEET THEN THE BALL WOULD FALL DOWN ONTO A RUG BELOW TO BE REUSED OR RECYCLED. WE HAD SO MANY BIG HEAVY SHOT SO NO MEMBERS BOUGHT ANY OTHER AMMO AND THAT "OUR" LONG RANGE TARGET WAS ALMOST A MORTAR SHOT. WITH SHOTS AT SEVERE ANGLES AND THE BIG DROP... ITS KINDA LIKE SLOW PITCH SOFTBALL BUT WHEN "IT" GETS THERE... WHUMP!! THERE IT IS.. AS ALWAYS, L.P.S.

[Lionel P. Shotwad]

FOR SHOOTING IN TOWN WE USED JAWBREAKERS ,FIREBALLS(58-65CAL), OR THE SMALLER ONES THEY SOLD AT THE THEATER (ABOUT 30CAL)NOW I THINK THEY ARE SOLD BY WILLY WONKA AS EVERLASTING GOBSTOPPERS. THEY BREAK UP AND DECOMPOSE , THE CRITTERS LOVE THEM TOO... FOR TARGETS IN SNAP SHOOTING WE WOULD PUT THE SMALL CANDY DISC NECCO' S IN THE FORKS OF SMALL BUSHES THEN THE OTHER ONE OF US WOULD WALK THRU TO SHOOT THEM AS FAST AS WE COULD WITH OUR CANDY ECO AMMO.... AS ALWAYS L.P.S.

[Imperial]

Lionel P. Shotwad, on 10 March 2012 - 01:30 PM, said:

FOR SHOOTING IN TOWN WE USED JAWBREAKERS ,FIREBALLS(58-65CAL), OR THE SMALLER ONES THEY SOLD AT THE THEATER (ABOUT 30CAL)NOW I THINK THEY ARE SOLD BY WILLY WONKA AS EVERLASTING GOBSTOPPERS. THEY BREAK UP AND DECOMPOSE , THE CRITTERS LOVE THEM TOO... FOR TARGETS IN SNAP SHOOTING WE WOULD PUT THE SMALL CANDY DISC NECCO' S IN THE FORKS OF SMALL BUSHES THEN THE OTHER ONE OF US WOULD WALK THRU TO SHOOT THEM AS FAST AS WE COULD WITH OUR CANDY ECO AMMO.... AS ALWAYS L.P.S.

somewhere out there is a bunch of diabetic critters ... . better than me shooting gum balls and getting them poor animals blowing bubbles out of thier cavity or causing constipation .

Edited by Imperial, 10 March 2012 - 03:51 PM.

[Bruno529]

Now that I have a good catch mostly marbles...I have some 3/8 stainless and white tracers to mess with. Before that I found some 43 cal paintballs on clearance (500 for $4.98) and before that I used dried garbanzo beans (chickpeas). I'll probably continue to use those to chase off the possum at night.

Edited by Bruno529, 13 April 2012 - 04:16 PM.

[zamarion]

well my main ammo is pebbles and rock but i have a fair amount of clay balls in case i need more precise shooting or in case i dont have rock anymore and then theres also this its made out of clay and has 3 curved wings that make it go pinpoint straight even if you shoot it sideways it will level itself out in midair

[snowmann]

Personally I prefer 13mm +15mm cast lead shot from a (slightly modified) Do-It Cannon Ball Sinker Mold "CB-10-S2B" , but for practice & experimental shooting I use regular Paint-balls which are around 5/8" -or- 16mm... I've tried smaller ammo , steel 3/8" & such but I just have a hard time geting the same impact.