# Gum rubber faster than..



## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

LATEX??? Idk what it is..but today i went out for another round of stump shootin. I pulled out my .030 latex bands on a natty i have and pulled them till near max elongation... The ammo was being lobbed. Marbles and9mm steel.. But i break out the gum rubber and the ammo just flys.. Faster than the latex. I dont get it.. Is it cause gum rubber is better in colder temps?


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

I don't think so. But sometimes one bandset just seems faster than another. It's kinda like how an overweight person will judge a walking distance to be further than a slim, fit person will. A harder-pull bandset seems to be faster. But you need a chrony to find out the truth.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

Dayhiker said:


> I don't think so. But sometimes one bandset just seems faster than another. It's kinda like how an overweight person will judge a walking distance to be further than a slim, fit person will. A harder-pull bandset seems to be faster. But you need a chrony to find out the truth.


 i can see how it could seem unreal to some. But i could see a complete difference in the slope of the ammo. It def looked faster.. I really wanna find out whats up with this. The gum rubber i used was the thinner stuff. Like .030 latex exact same thickness. Maybe you have some and can chrony it. Maybe if i used 1 inch straight cut latex bands i would have better luck. Or maybe the latex i have is old.. But man there was a difference.


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## fsa46 (Jul 8, 2012)

I've had the same thing happen to me. I had a batch of .030 that sucked. When I pulled it back it seemed to have distinct area of resistance about half way to my draw length, then would go ( what felt like a second draw )and continue like a wet noodle. Couldn't send 5/16" ammo out with any authority at all.

The .040 and NGR shot a lot better than the .030. There's no doubt the .030 and .040 should be faster than the NGR but lately I've been shooting the tapered NGR with a lot of different tapers and loving it.

You may have just got a bad batch of latex.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

fsa46 said:


> I've had the same thing happen to me. I had a batch of .030 that sucked. When I pulled it back it seemed to have distinct area of resistance about half way to my draw length, then would go ( what felt like a second draw )and continue like a wet noodle. Couldn't send 5/16" ammo out with any authority at all.
> 
> The .040 and NGR shot a lot better than the .030. There's no doubt the .030 and .040 should be faster than the NGR but lately I've been shooting the tapered NGR with a lot of different tapers and loving it.
> 
> You may have just got a bad batch of latex.


that could be it for sure. The symptons your bands were showing are the same as mine. And yea .. I read somewhere .. It may have been nathan and old miser talkin bout tapered ngr and .040 latex. But im sure you can agree that the performance in cold weather is great from the ngr.. Im shooting my ngr 9inches active length and tapered from 1inch to 3/4inch.


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

All else being equal, latex should be faster than gum rubber. If not, there is something wrong.


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## inconvenience (Mar 21, 2016)

The latex is extremely easy to damage. I know you know what you are doing. But maybe that batch got left in the heat somewhere or something.

Got some .030 in yesterday and just 3/4" straight cut sending my 3/8" out to 50+ feet seemingly flat.

I do like the 1/16th gum for shooting rediculously heavy stuff though.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

inconvenience said:


> The latex is extremely easy to damage. I know you know what you are doing. But maybe that batch got left in the heat somewhere or something.
> 
> Got some .030 in yesterday and just 3/4" straight cut sending my 3/8" out to 50+ feet seemingly flat.
> 
> I do like the 1/16th gum for shooting rediculously heavy stuff though.


 try linatex.. crazy stuff


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I know that I have a very hard time judging speed of a bandset...


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## inconvenience (Mar 21, 2016)

NaturalFork said:


> I know that I have a very hard time judging speed of a bandset...


I use cardboard. How many layers the rounds will penetrate repeatedly. Until I can get a Chrono.

Also i can sorta tell by the sharpness of the impact on certain materials like pvc.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

Just went out today.. and i know what it was. Months later.. i discovered.. that the latex i was using was not old.. but short. I tied up a pair of .025 latex today. 11 inches active and i was gettin great speed. Right before i used the 11 inch bands.. i had a set of the same latex except they were 6 inches active. You would think pulling them back to about 36 inches would suffice for 5/8 marbles. And nothing.. the ammo sloped and was slow. Its true what they say about the more space for acceleration giving the ammo more speed.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

1 inch wide btw..


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