# New catties and a lesson learned.



## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Lat week I saw some Barnett Strike 9 slingshots on eBay for super cheap (brand new), so I picked up a couple. When they got here I was dismayed to find I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with them. I shot them for a while with the factory yellow tubes without luck, then tried some Barnett red tubes I had with no luck either. The factory band sets have very large pouches, so I thought maybe that was throwing me off. So...I tried a set of Trumark RR1s on one of them and it shot even worse, with the balls either hitting the ground in front of my backstop or going clear over it and hitting my block wall!







I had a theory that this wild innaccuracy had something to do with the very narrow forks making the slingshot much more sensitive to alignment issues (shooting horizontally as I do) than the much wider Trumark forks I'm used to. I tried finger bracing the forks to help align them as much as possible with the target and accuracy improved quite a bit, but because of the size and shape of the handles they are fairly uncomfortable to shoot this way.







I figured I'd just wasted my money and was ready to toss them out and move on, but I decided I'd give them one more shot. I've never before tried flats on a wireframe slingy, but was inspired to do so from the pics many of you guys have posted, so I tied some over the tops of the forks with latex strips so that the ties butted up against the plastic tip protectors. Voila! Both catties now shoot like they're mind controlled. You merely think about hitting the target and that's where the balls go.














The lesson is this: If you buy or build a slingshot and it just doesn't seem to be shooting right for you, really take the time to experiment around with it before you give up on it. Anything from trying different bands, to holding the fork differently, whatever. You may discover a hidden gem. Below is the one I just got done shooting with earlier this evening. I opened up the grip, removed the yellow rubber "comfort grip" portion on the back and then slightly reshaped the grip with filed and sandpaper, and finally mounted a Tex-Shooter foam grip on it.

On a side note, the Strike 9 is exactly the same slingshot as the Black Widow, except it has yellow rubber nubs on the back of the grip (vs. red ones) and a plastic insert that covers the holes where the wrist brace would fit on the BW, so I'm interested to hear from any of you who have the BW. How does it shoot? I'm wondering because I believe my theory is true, at least with tubular rubber. I think the narrow fork for some reason does make the slingshot extremely sensitive to alignment (having both prongs exactly parallel to your body, in other words) especially when shooting horizontally, and it seems like the wrist brace on the BW may help to eliminate this phenomenon.

_edit:_ For comparison's sake, I included a pic of the other one without the foam. The red circle shows where the brace fits in the Black Widow model. Like I said, it's just a removable plastic insert that covers the holes on each side on the Strike 9. The arrow shows where the back half of the handle flares out so that the brace can push against it (again, on the Black Widow model). Pic is from a bad angle to show it, but it's there. These little flared or "beaver tailed" sections of the handle are what I had to file down to fit the foam grip.


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## Thwupp-p-p (Jan 17, 2010)

Nice "save"!!


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Thank ye kindly. I only paid $11.98 for the pair (shipped!), but it still would have been a shame to have just tossed 'em. I guess I wouldn't have actually thrown them away, but they probably would have sat in my slingshot box for the next ten years.







I'm extremely happy with them now.


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## njenkins (Feb 3, 2010)

Tex's foam grips sure are nice.


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

njenkins said:


> Tex's foam grips sure are nice.


Yep! I put 'em on everything I can.







I may have to pick up a few more in the near future.


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## Don (Dec 31, 2009)

pelleteer said:


> Tex's foam grips sure are nice.


Yep! I put 'em on everything I can.







I may have to pick up a few more in the near future.
[/quote]

I had the same problem with a narrow forked wrist rocket, couldn't get it to hit anything. Then I played around with grip position and got it shooting OK with a 45 degree cant. Got it shooting great with a horazontal grip position. So much of the fun in slingshot shooting is figuring out the quirks of every individual slingshot and getting it to perform for you.

Don


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Don said:


> So much of the fun in slingshot shooting is figuring out the quirks of every individual slingshot and getting it to perform for you.
> 
> Don


I absolutely agree.


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## ZDP-189 (Mar 14, 2010)

If I have a slingshot that doesn't work, I'll figure out why, then bin it and make a better one.


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## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

That's the way to do it Scott! There's always a way to save them. We can't let them die!!!! Good God no! A dead Slingshot? Unthinkable







Way to go Bud! Flatband


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Thanks, Flat.


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Well, I finally picked up a Black Widow to test my theory that a braced version would eliminate the accuaracy problems I had with the Strike 9. No dice! Standing 20' from my backstop, I'll fire one shot and it'll hit dead center, the next shot will shoot clear over the backstop, and the one after that will fly off to the left or right and completely miss the backstop. Oh, well...I guess I now have another Barnett destined for flatbands.














The funny thing is all the reviews I've found on the BW state how accurate it is. Maybe it's just me. Perhaps I'm just not meant to shoot Barnett's skinny forked models with tubes? I still think it's the narrow forks on these things, since I son't have any problems with my Trumarks or Crosman, which are almost twice as wide at the fork. I'm guessing my alignment and/or release aren't up to par, but since the wider forks are so forgiving, I've just been able to shoot accurately with them. Still interested in hearing from anyone else who has a Strike 9 or Black Widow, or if anyone picks one up in the future.

BTW, for those who haven't seen my backstop (pics at Trumark forum), it's 4' tall and 2' wide!


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## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Hold up! I was just out shooting some more, and I may be onto something. Instead of actually holding the grip in my hand, I tried just putting my thumb and forefinger aroung the grip to keep it from flying away from me upon release but without using any pressure. THe remaining three fingers just sort of stick out into space without touching the grip. With this type grip, the fork is allowed to be positioned by the pull of the bands rather than by my hand. Of course, I can't do this on the Strike model, since it doesn't have a brace and, consequently, needs to be held tighter. Anyway, accuracy has improved dramatically.


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