# Hunting with marbles?



## Qucifer

Hey guys, i have a question, hope you can help. I am relatively new to slingshooting, and my ultimate goal is to add slingshot hunting to my overall game taking capabilities. I have been doing a lot practice shooting with marbles since they are cheap to shoot. Question is, does anybody hunt fury animals with marbles, or are they too light for clean kills? They hit hard with my favorite flatband setup, but i just dont know if its hard enough to drop a rabbit sized animal at 20 meters or so. Anybody have experience with this?

Thanks
Q


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## flippinout

Marbles are fine for birds, but i wouldn't shoot furry critter with anything but lead and large steel. Just my opinion, as i am sure there are others who have shot plenty of furry game with marbles.


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## Flatband

HI "Q",
I hunted with marbles years ago as a kid and got many small blackbirds and mice and the occasional rat. Other game like squirrels,rabbits,ducks and upland game birds,I would go to 1/2" steel or 3/8" split shot sinkers that we would get from the local Two Guys Department store. I remember shooting at a rabbit and hitting him with a marble,he jumped and then just ran away as if nothing happened. You need heavier stuff then marbles for most game to be humane and efficient. Flatband


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## Qucifer

Thanks fellas, thats what i needed to hear. Ive taken many rabbits in my lifetime, but none with a slingshot. Nothing makes me feel worse as a hunter than making a rabbit scream.

Q


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## jmplsnt

I have killed a variety of birds (game and pest) with marbles, including one shot all the way out to 35 yards. I wouldn't depend on them past 20 yards, however.

I have killed my share of rabbits, some squirrels, birds, and other assorted things with lead round balls of .44 and .50 calibres. There are a lot of different opinions regarding the pros and cons of each and both together but they are what I would reach for if I were doing some serious hunting.

I have recently become an adherent of shooting well-rounded stones and I am convinced of their usefulness (not to mention free price tag) by both my studies of their impacts on non-living targets I have destroyed and detailed examinations of Nico's kill shots here. I'll also be the first to say their shooting isn't for everyone and it did come with some learning curve.

Of steel balls I can say nothing but I have never tried them.

I have fired marbles in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands now. I know pretty much everything there is to know about shooting them and can tell you on the same day I made my 35-yard kill I shot a fine fox squirrel at a range of about 6 yards. I hit it in the head with a shot fired out of a heavy-draw Trumark tube (the black one) and it ran up the tree and died in the branches where it couldn't be recovered. Not a good ending and I would have rather had a clean miss. Can you hunt with marbles? Sure, I do myself. But I wouldn't shoot at anything with fur and expect a clean kill. I might try a head shot on a rabbit at extemely close range, but that's why I carry marbles, stones, and lead all at the same time as I'm out and about.

They are wonderful for 20-yard practice, though.


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## Nico

Hi there,

I have killed my share of pigeons in the past with marbles and various elastics, chained bands, round solids and tubes.
Almost always they were a head, neck shot and the occasional direct hit in the chest which is where the heart is located.

I did one time shoot at a squirrel with my chains and a marble, the marble hit the back meaty side away from the spine and the squirrel just slowly crawled up further the tree to safety.

My opinion? Would I have used a well weighted stone, whether I hit the meaty part of its back or spine with a stone? The impact of the stone would have stopped that squirrel fast!

So personally I would not dare use marbles for the furry critters especially not squirrels, its a large risk for me I dont often get repeat shots in my own personal hunting situations. So I try for a one hit kill as much as possible.. So its hit or miss and thats fine with me cos I know when I connect that I will fill my pot









My grandfather claims that he killed rabbits with marbles when he was a kid with his red innertube bands and hes 85 now so who knows? He did also say most of his game was taken with stones and marbles were a supplemental ammo for him.

Stones are not for everyone and require discipline: I'd advise for a newer hunter to use lead balls or hefty steelies in 14mm or 9/16 like jaybird uses. Also you can always use hexnuts and they kill just fine and are nowhere near as expensive as steel balls.


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## Qucifer

Sounds like im going to get me some lead ball casting dies. Thanks again fellas.

Q


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## josephlys

Or you can shoot flechettes or bolts from your slingshot like Joerg did


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## josephlys

This set up will drop any furry creature for sure.


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## whipcrackdeadbunny

I think a head shot would do it, but you may lack penetration.


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## Sam

whipcrackdeadbunny said:


> I think a head shot would do it, but you may lack penetration.


Aye, the relatively low density of the glass used to make marbles would mean that your range and accuracy would be very limited anyway... In short I definitely wouldn't use marbles for hunting, not even target shooting - that's what steel ball bearings are for!







(Make a good catch-trap and you'll never have to buy more than 100 of your favourite calibre...)


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## darren

if you can get a head shot it will dropp a rabbit 100% but just nver shoot futher than you can shoot


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## dim1254

i use marbles for aiming and i think they can cause damage to someone so i think they are very good and cheap for birds.......birds are killed mostly because they are hit with too much power....but if you want to hunt rabbts the pellet must go into the body of the animal so u need smaller pellets from marbles.......however i think u can kill a rabbit in a distance of 15 meters if u shoot it on head....


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## dim1254

Qucifer said:


> Hey guys, i have a question, hope you can help. I am relatively new to slingshooting, and my ultimate goal is to add slingshot hunting to my overall game taking capabilities. I have been doing a lot practice shooting with marbles since they are cheap to shoot. Question is, does anybody hunt fury animals with marbles, or are they too light for clean kills? They hit hard with my favorite flatband setup, but i just dont know if its hard enough to drop a rabbit sized animal at 20 meters or so. Anybody have experience with this?
> 
> Thanks
> Q


i think u can easily kill a bird...if u want to kill a rabbit u must have a distance of 10-15 meters and shoot it on head...but not sure......in greece u can hunt with slingshot....however practicing my aim i can say that marbles are very powerful and can cause damage to someone....


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## shot in the foot

I only use marbles on crows, they just bounce off rats, never tried a rabbit with them, if i run out of lead or steel balls i use hex nuts, jeff


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## AJT

shot in the foot said:


> I only use marbles on crows, they just bounce off rats, never tried a rabbit with them, if i run out of lead or steel balls i use hex nuts, jeff


Wow Jeff, those rats must be made of steel or something haha







I am still waiting for that day to come for me to have a shot at one.........though they do not want 
to introduce themselves to the slingshot funnily enough.

IMHO, I have not , and still do not really find marbles to be that sufficient at hunting any game, though it may just be me.

From my own experiance with marbles, they tend to ricochet alot, meaning that they are not that safe to use in populated areas / neighbourhoods, as well as them being quite a clumsy type of ammo due to them not having that much speed and power that heavier projectiles are able to generate.

Would I use marbles , I might for simple plinking purposes.....maybe, but shooting game such as rabbit , I would not think it is worth taking the risk of wounding the creature, rather than humanely thumping it dead which heavier slingshot ammo (lead and steel) are able to do time after time again.

BUT...there have been a number of fellow members which have been qute sucessful at shooting targets and in regards to your question, "hunting" , with marbles so all in all, it may be worth trying it out for yourself.

One way to test the lethality of a marble shot from your sligshot, is to shoot a smaller creature such as a bird (which is sure to fall to a marble), and then have a look and observe how fast the marble knocked it down, as well as the penetration etc on the bird. This can also be done by shooting at a target, and then observing the damage done to it. If alot of damage is present, and it is very likely that excess energy was still in the projectile after it hitting the target and/or the quarry , then it may be worth it trying the marble on a slightly larger game such as a rabbit.

In general though , it is best to stick with lead or steel.....or good quality round stones, which have a little weight to them, to ensure you get the best results from your trusty slingshot no matter what you are wanting to persue, be it hunting or simple target practice.

Cheers,
AJ


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## Tex-Shooter

You can buy steel balls quite reasonable from this supplier. Just mention that they are for slingshot ammo. - Tex-Shooter
http://www.royalsteelballusa.com/


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## ERdept

Tex-Shooter said:


> You can buy steel balls quite reasonable from this supplier. Just mention that they are for slingshot ammo. - Tex-Shooter
> http://www.royalsteelballusa.com/


you mention this because they can give a lower grade and thus cheaper steel right?


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## Qucifer

Well, i took the plunge and bought a set of .445 caliber round ball dies and pumped out 50 lead balls today. No need to worry about marbles not being heavy enough. These pack a mean punch.










Thanks for all the advice fellas.

Q


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## Tex-Shooter

ERdept said:


> You can buy steel balls quite reasonable from this supplier. Just mention that they are for slingshot ammo. - Tex-Shooter
> http://www.royalsteelballusa.com/


you mention this because they can give a lower grade and thus cheaper steel right?
[/quote]
Nope, they are perfect. I don't know, but I think that hey come out of aircraft motors and can not be resold as bearings. -- Tex-Shooter


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## Grandpa Pete

In my experience nothing works better than lead balls for hunting. If you don't have lead then use steel balls. There is a case to be made for 3/8 which will give higher velocity than 1/2 which travel slower but have more weight . I would use the marbles for plinking.

GP


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## msturm

Shooting accurately and within a range you are competent are the keys to killing anything with anything. Shot placement is paramount. It only takes 4 foot pounds of pressure to kill a snowshoe hare if you hit it in the head. A well thrown rock will do that. Squirrels on the other hand are just mini grizzly bears. They are super tough. When I started shooting, I used marbles exclusively because that is what I had. Recently,I have been shooting 1/2 steel and .410 lead and both are a better choice than marbles. All the animals below were taken with marbles.


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## bingo

msturm said:


> Shooting accurately and within a range you are competent are the keys to killing anything with anything. Shot placement is paramount. It only takes 4 foot pounds of pressure to kill a snowshoe hare if you hit it in the head. A well thrown rock will do that. Squirrels on the other hand are just mini grizzly bears. They are super tough. When I started shooting, I used marbles exclusively because that is what I had. Recently,I have been shooting 1/2 steel and .410 lead and both are a better choice than marbles. All the animals below were taken with marbles.


nice shooting dude ????


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