# Question Concerning the Slingshots I See All Over Ebay



## Kodiak351 (Mar 24, 2013)

Another Greenhorn question, but I keep seeing these slingshots all over Ebay, apparently made in China or Hong Kong. Are they manufactured by Dankung, or are they a cheap (actually not cheap at all) rip off? I see they have a model called the Eagle of Sniper, and another called the King, both of which, design-wise, are exactly what I am looking for in a hunting slingshot. But I feel concerned about their quality, I am not sure of why. Just a strange feeling in the back of my head that what arrives in the post may not live up to the fancy pictures. I will attempt to post pages below:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOP-Professional-catapult-slingshot-Eagle-of-Sniper-G7-black-/111004046553?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d85b54d9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/King-Slingshot-Die-Casting-Aluminium-Stainless-Heavy-Catapult-Wrist-Sling-Shot-/130620474579?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e699644d3

Thanks!


----------



## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

dankung is not actually a manufacturer. they are a distribution company that sell slingshots made in many diffrent factories all over asia, though mainly from china. atleast this is what i understood of it.

for what ive heard anything you order off dankung.com is of good quality. 
trulytexas.com also sells genuine dankungs.
ordered from anywhere else its a crapshoot really, but might be well worth the gamble if the price is right.

i would, however, test any cheap 'maybe knockoffs' with a strong (neodymium) magnet. stainless steel should have some magnetic attraction, though not as powerful as carbonsteel or mildsteel.
this is stainless is an alloy (theres other metals mixed in besides iron)
IF IT HAS NO MAGNETIC ATRACTION AT ALL (tested with a POWERFUL magnet) it may be a cheap potmetal cast imitation.
if thats the case, it might break and take out your eye!

just my 2 cents, from hearsay n forumreading.

good luck with your quest, happy shooting
cheers, remco


----------



## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

If anything goes wrong with any China made slingshot, what recourse do you have? -- Tex


----------



## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Cheap slingshots are cheap.

You have to ask yourself, 'How can they sell them so cheap?'


----------



## JetBlack (Mar 9, 2012)

Buy only Chinese ss from truly Texas, at least if issue you can contact,a zinc ss can kill you or blind you, better off with a natural


----------



## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

If I really wanted a wrist braced slingshot for hunting I would search auction sites and find an original folding pocket rocket in good shape and shoot dankung 40/70 or 50/80 tubes. It is solid as a rock made from steel not aluminum, the steel is all the way through the handle and it is nice and compact and folds to fit easily into a pocket. For me being pocketable and easily transported is a big consideration and a lot of wristbraced slingshots are just too big. I am not aware of any modern models that are close to the old school pocket rocket. They can be found on ebay occaisionally for around 20 bucks.

And to answer your question, I would not risk any chinese slingshot from anywhere besides truly texas or dankung's website.


















EDIT: Did a search and found this one, looks real similar and at a good price.
http://www.harrysarmysurplus.net/folding-slingshot.html


----------



## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

The reason they can sell them so cheaply is because in China they cost next to nothing to make...are they good quality? you'll never know till you try them because the quality of these can be all over the place ( you take the chance)...

neither of the ones you show say they are steel so the magnet test wont mean a thing...

as for the whole zinc is bad thing...Killdeers and Deerslayers were cast zinc made in a garage shop in the 50-60's and people are still shooting them, most problems come in when people by a cheap slingshot and try to power them up with heavy bands. I've had a zinc cheapie rigged with 2040's for 2+ yrs now with no problems...

.

Would I buy them...no the casting is too thin in places for a slingshot I have any doubts about..

.

Becareful with any slingshot you buy because you never know when a bad one might have slipped through, that's just the chance you take with any weapon...sh!t can happen.


----------



## Tube_Shooter (Dec 8, 2012)

I can only comment on the eagle of sniper G7 because its one I owned,the quality was very good and unless you intend suspending cars from the forks it will never break used as intended.The rule is if its a $10 slingshot then it most likely will be zinc cast and the description in the advert may not be accurate,generally a $50 plus slingshot will be of an acceptable quality and the description in the advert will be accurate.Also remember if it seems to good to be true then it probably is and you're best of avoiding it altogether, good luck in your search.


----------



## Cjw (Nov 1, 2012)

I've ordered some slingshots made from HDPE from e-bay and have been really happy with them. One is called the spyder . I shoot it more accurate than any slingshot I own. And I own probably 100 slingshots from Whamo sportsmans to starships. Just search HDPE slingshots on E-Bay. Plus they will withstand any fork hit you can throw at it.


----------



## Berkshire bred (Mar 4, 2012)

i have heard at the moment that there are a lot of fakes being sold on eBay at the moment so I would be careful and do some research before you buy.


----------



## Kodiak351 (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks to all! In response to August West, I do appreciate the suggestion, but I already have a Daisy B52 that is nearly identical to the one in your photo. I was looking for something much stronger than that. I am a residential recycler (ie trashman), and while I am not a big guy, lifting 400-800 trash cans a day has given me pretty strong back and shoulder muscles. I can break the original Daisy Yellow tubes if I pull with much force, and the Marksman Hy-Velocity tubes I can pretty easily pop off the frame. Maybe everybody can, I don't know, but I wanted to find something that would allow me to actually be able to pull hard. It seems like a waste to be pulling and know that I could draw much harder, but be limited by the slingshot tubes, not to mention that it's something else to have to always worry about. I know that I could put something like Trumark RR-2 tubes on the Daisy, but from what I have heard, they don't produce much velocity. I think that I would much rather have several smaller diameter tubes, like 6-2040 or 1745. I would probably be shooting mostly 1/2" marbles for practice, but for hunting I think I am going to be using .50 lead, possibly .44cal, per August West's suggestion that I don't need to worry about lead in the meat. To begin with, I am going to be hunting nutria, and I think they will require some decent power to make a clean kill, as they are around 20lbs or so, with a relatively heavy head region. Thanks!


----------



## lurker (Jan 8, 2013)

Stainless steel and magnets: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-dont-magnets-work-on


----------



## Tentacle Toast (Jan 17, 2013)

...this has nothing to do with your thread, but your thread did trigger a childhood memory to resurface; I used to live in a suburb of Buffalo, NY (still do, but further out...really more rural). My friends & I used to go up the block & around the corner to a little grocer/deli to buy candy. I discovered on one of the little racks down the "toy" isle little hollow plastic slingshots with thick rubberbands, & a fake leather pouch...for .99¢!!! Rarely did I have more than a dollar to spend, but I'd often sacrifice my sugar rush for those little slingshots, even the pink ones when they were out of the other colors (because I bought them)...boy were those cheap, but man, could they shoot! I used to take pebbles & shoot them over the rooftops of the houses across the street, with absolutely no regard about where they landed because I was a stupid kid. Glad nobody got hurt, that I know of. Anyway, the bands would break in very short order, & off to Corosse's again for another! I had so much fun with those; such a happy memory


----------



## Tentacle Toast (Jan 17, 2013)

I've got to rifle my mom's basement sometime soon, see if I can find at least one of then to post a picture for you guys. I had so many because the bands kept breaking, but I don't think I ever threw out the forks! That'd be quite the serving of nostalgia...


----------



## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

In response to Kodiak, the daisy b52 wrist brace locks against plastic tabs and the forks do not extend all the way through the handle. The one I posted, unlike the b52, the steel forks goes all the way through the handle and the wrist brace rests against that, steel against steel, not plastic, I don't care how big or strong you are you will not break it using it as a slingshot.

Also in response to kodiak, I suggested dankung 50/80 tubes cut to your draw, much different than the baby crap daisy tubes you are shooting now, and one of my naturals with tapered flats will still blow it out of the water with 1/2" lead which is also what I hunt with.

EDIT: Pull weight does not equal power, check out some of torston's videos on youtube if you don't believe me. I posted a video on the other thread of Rufus Hussey, I think you underestimate the power of a natural fork and well made bands.


----------



## Kodiak351 (Mar 24, 2013)

Thanks again. I think I am going to build my own slingshot, but I am still working out how I want to do it. (I will probably also buy one, because building anything takes forever, and I need to get some meat in our freezer. We're down to one tiny packet of frozen salmon) In the meantime, my daughter's is finished, and she has been pinging garbanzo beans all over the back yard. I've been stealing it every once in a while when she's not looking, because the little plinker's kind of fun. I found a new-looking, 1" wide, nice, thick, gold rubber band that someone tossed, and I 'm thinking of using it to build my own slingshot.

On a side note, looped tubes vs fixed tubes? A lot of the ebay slingshots use one or the other. Is one type better or worse? And where do I find the tubes you were talking about, August? Could I put them on the Daisy, maybe turn it into a decent hunting setup?


----------



## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

Lot's of stuff on here to keep you busy. I will shoot you a longer message after class.

http://www.dankung.com/emart/


----------



## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Just a quick comment on your ammo. 1/2 inch marbles are very poor practice ammo, and even single tube per side 2040 is more than enough power for them. Match your ammo to the rubber and practice with what you plan to hunt with.

Try one of our Vendors' slingshots with power bands and .50 lead. You can get kitted up with a good hunting slingshot for less than $50.00, and you will get first class customer service.

I doubt you are going to get consistent kills on Nutria with a slingshot.


----------



## All Buns Glazing (Apr 22, 2012)

Who wants an aluminium slingshot, anyway? 
I've purchased slingshots from dankung.com (infact, I've purchased heaps of stuff from dankung.com) and I've never had a problem with postage or quality.

Why use Ebay for stuff as important as the slingshot frame, when dankung.com has the real deal, and very reasonable prices?


----------



## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

The bands are the heart of the slingshot the frame, for the most part is a matter of personal preference. Fixed or looped tubes again personal preference, the thin chinese looped tubes are going to be sslightly faster than the big fixed tubes but the fixed tubes last longer. You can put the 50/80 tubes on your daisy but I am no fan of that model in the first place for reasons already discussed.

Perfetly servicable and deadly slingshots can be made in an a matter of hours if not minutes. Fresh cut forks can be dried in the micro and shooting in no time flat or you may get lucky and find a dead branch that is already dry. I made this one for a friend in an afternoon and would have no qualms about hunting with it right now.










The uber fancy pieces of slingshot jewelry displayed on this site will take longer to make but will not be one iota better for hunting.

Charles is spot on, marbles are not good to practice with at all, they require light bands. You need to practice with exactly what you plan to hunt with, build a catch box and reuse your 1/2" leads. Nutrias are tough and I doubt you will put many in the bag with any slingshot, snares would do the job.


----------



## Kodiak351 (Mar 24, 2013)

Well, I guess I can pull out the old .22LR, although I was trying to get away from that. Or get a slingshot with an arrow rest. (Chief AJ makes one, right?) As far as using marbles, I was just afraid of losing my "good" ammo. On a positive note, I think I found a perfect fork for my slingshot. It's Black Locust, and it's just the right size. It has such nice bark, I almost hate to strip it, but I guess it'll be a little uncomfortable with it still attached. I'm currently trying to figure out how to attach a wrist brace and a laser sight to a tree fork (kind of kidding). Wish I had a digital camera to record the process, but alas, I still live in 1980-something with my Nikon FM2-N.


----------

