# Taper length



## Chris68 (Oct 27, 2021)

Hi all, new member
I haven’t shot a catapult in a long time but want to give it a go in the back garden and while walking the dog. After plenty of practice I might try hunting again, only pigeon though. After a lot of research and youtube watching I’ve decided on these bands black Snipersling (as per Chris Griffin of Catapult Carnage) in 20-12 taper for 8mm steel. I’m not sure what the active length means but the distance from the forks to my cheek is 27.5”. This length answered in his video coments happens to be the same as his and he has, also answered in comments 15cm bands for 0.5 black Snipersling. When you cut a taper let’s say my preferred option are they cut at 17cm 21 to 11 ish to allow for the 1cm clamped in the fork and 1cm to tie the pouch.
Hope that made sense and could anyone tell me where I could get these pre tied bands from, I want to take out of my accuracy equation any poorly tied bands by myself, at least to begin with.
Any guidance would be much appreciate.
Regards and cheers in advance.
Chris.


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## Hoss (Jun 3, 2014)

27.5 inch ÷ by 5 = 5.5 inch active band length.

Active band length is the length of band from where the band brakes over the forks to where the pouch is tied on. 

Watch the video link below.



https://simpleshot.academy/active-band-length/



Sent from my MAX_10 using Tapatalk


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## Whytey (Sep 26, 2021)

https://www.snipersling.com/products/snipersling-black-rioter-violent-slingshot-flat-rubber-band-sets-for-slingshot-shooting12-in-pack



Apparently the taper is 20-12mm and pouches are 50mm long.


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## cromag (Jan 17, 2021)

That's almost exactly what I use for 3/8 steel but here we call it 3/4 to 1/2" and it works well for 7/16 steel as well. I think you will find the active length of the bands will be somewhat variable depending on how stretchy the different brands may be.


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## KawKan (May 11, 2013)

The terminology is somewhat confusing. We tend to use Active Band Length and Relaxed Band Length interchangeably. Both, meaning the length of the band before stretching from pouch tie to fork contact. 
My humble opinion is the 20-12mm cut for 8mm steel is more than needed for plinking at 15cm tied length. Finished length of about 17.5cm (19 or 20cm cut length) will make for an easier draw, lighter ammo pinch pressure, and plenty of plinking performance. 
Plus, it's much easier to shorten bands to jack up the performance than it is to make them longer!


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## Chris68 (Oct 27, 2021)

Thanks for the replies Gents,
I watched another video last night from a well known guy over hear how he ties his bands.
He cut his desired taper first then marking lines across the strip of latex for pouch tying and clamping. Obviously when he was referring to his desired taper he meant the cut length from the template before fitting, clearly when fitted to your slingshot/catapult the actual active taper is different.
ie wider at the pouch end and thinner at the forks. So when you all chat/refer to your favourite taper for a certain type of ammo or type of shooting are you talking about the band straight out of template or after it is fitted, say for example a 20-12 taper might end up 19-13 fitted.

Cheers again.
Chris.


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