# Coke can sniping from 400 feet



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

This is a video of a 400 foot shot done with a Pocket Predator, SEAL Sniper ballistic resin slingshot.... target was a 12 ounce Coke can. Four total shots were taken... I thought I nicked it with the 3rd shot and hit it dead center with the 4th... but when watching the video it was hit only with the 4th shot.


----------



## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Heck ... I can't even SEE a coke can 400 feet away!!! Are you sure there wasn't someone hiding behind that trailer with a pelet rifle????

Just joking ... great shooting, as we have come to expect.

Cheers ....... Charles


----------



## marcus sr (Jun 5, 2011)

un ****ing believable lol


----------



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

400 feet isn't that a football field? I don't think I can see a coke can at 200 feet, I guess those cataracts are affecting my vision more than I thought.

Greats eyes make for great shooting.

Good Show Bill.


----------



## atom (Jun 24, 2011)

marcus sr said:


> un ****ing believable lol


----------



## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

Longer than a football field. Crazy shot. I wouldnt be able to see the can either. I couldnt even hit it with a gun from that far. Excellent video.


----------



## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

brilliant shot bill! i guess the competitions on between you and john again


----------



## philly (Jun 13, 2010)

Great shot Bill, very impressive.
Philly


----------



## Niagara (Dec 9, 2010)

I wish i had the place like that to practice. I would loose a bunch of ammo just trying.


----------



## Performance Catapults (Feb 3, 2010)

NaturalFork said:


> ...I couldnt even hit it with a gun from that far.


...great line

Nice shot Bill.


----------



## curmudgeon (Jun 11, 2011)

Amazing shot.


----------



## Beanflip (Sep 11, 2010)

Awesome!


----------



## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

You have got to be kidding me Bud! That is sick Bill! If I could even hit the 55 gallon drum from that distance I would be thrilled-heck if I could SEE the 55 gallon drum from that distance I would be impressed! Stunning shot!!!! Flatband


----------



## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Real Slingshot Sniper


----------



## Pikeman (Jun 22, 2011)

That's some astonishingly good shooting. That you manage it without fancy adjustable sights and stabilisers and what not is just super impressive.


----------



## bkcooler (Jul 23, 2011)

Wow!
What ammo were you using?


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

mckee said:


> brilliant shot bill! i guess the competitions on between you and john again


What, wait... Did John do this shot as well? Off to check youtube and see!


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks Guys... just been incredibly busy lately so haven't been able to check on everything... took a few minutes break this afternoon to do this video as I'm getting ready to introduce some more slingshots etc... this one included.

The ammo I used was 3/8" steel. Normally I'll use 7/16"... but I forgot to put some in the golf cart before going out to the pasture, so I "borrowed" a little 3/8" from the stash my 3 year old had in the little storage area in front of the cart. You can see me checking on the way to the end of the dog runs.

I think I can hit the can from further away... but when I tested it out several things went wrong. First I made a special tapered band set to achieve higher speeds, but split the bands on the second shot (I'm pulling back pretty far and with a lot of force). Next when looking at the video on the camera when shooting from 500', I couldn't actually see the golf cart... so 400' it was... from that distance you can make out the golf cart and shooter and I could use my normal bandset cut.


----------



## radray (Apr 30, 2011)

AWESOME SHOT BILL! You, DGUI and the others just keep pushing the envelope.


----------



## gamekeeper john (Apr 11, 2011)

amazing bill !!! is that your garden you are shooting in? if it is i'm jelous lol, if it was mine i would be trying these shots every day lol, at the moment i have to take all my stuff to the local woods and shoot inbetween people walking past lol, and theres no way i would leave my camara 400ft away so you got this one lol. -- john


----------



## -SRS-45- (Jul 7, 2011)

awesome shooting bud, crazy. Amazing that it still had power to go in and out... must be some fast heavey bands going on!?


----------



## As8MaN (Mar 6, 2011)

Oh my effing god!!!!.

Nuff said!.


----------



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Torsten has a reputation as an extra long distance shooter I wonder if he also shoots at these great distances? I would think that as ammo is approaching 400 feet it is basically falling and out of steam but I be wrong.


----------



## whipcrackdeadbunny (May 22, 2010)

dgui said:


> Torsten has a reputation as an extra long distance shooter I wonder if he also shoots at these great distances? I would think that as ammo is approaching 400 feet it is basically falling and out of steam but I be wrong.


Hey Dgui, try shooting with your eyes closed, I'd bet if anyone can, it'd be you.


----------



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Well I guess my eyes are closed most of the time anyway so whats the diff? Ok I found that Torsten shoots at 100 M which is 328.08 feet distance and the way his bands are cut provide plenty of power to still penetrate thin wall cans. Incredible and some times he is hitting 10 for 10. For me to try this it requires a drive to a foot field. I may embarrass myself and give it a try, if I can see it I will try to hit it.


----------



## El Topo (Jun 8, 2011)

This is crazy... I am happy when I am able to hit anything beyond 20 meters away...

You are one good shooter! I'm impressed...
How often do you shoot?


----------



## Faust (Apr 5, 2011)

WOW, and I'm happy when I hit a can from 20 feet away







can't imagine trying to hit one from that far.


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

gamekeeper john said:


> amazing bill !!! is that your garden you are shooting in? if it is i'm jelous lol, if it was mine i would be trying these shots every day lol, at the moment i have to take all my stuff to the local woods and shoot inbetween people walking past lol, and theres no way i would leave my camara 400ft away so you got this one lol. -- john


John, I know if anyone could... you could do this shot. It really wasn't that difficult once I was able to get a feel for the trajectory needed... as the ball travels for about 1.5 seconds through the air, so there's a pretty significant rainbow trajectory involved.
The bands used were simply 1" X 10.5" straight cut (about 9.5" active length) 0.03 latex, single per side, drawn to about 50"... sends a 3/8" steel ball right at 300 fps.

The area I was shooting at is right beside our dog runs... which are a touch under 400', so I went beyond them. I can shoot up to 500' in this area, but the camera can't see the golf cart well enough at that distance, so 400' it is... for now.

Today will be our 74th consecutive day where the temperature is over 100 degrees, and it's been over 3 months since our last rain... the official temperature, taken way out at the airport beside the lake, got snapped at 44 with a one day break in the middle of 72 this summer... but we don't have a nice cool lake next door to bring down the temperature, only a dried up stock tank.... So, as you can see the pasture where I'm doing the shooting is brown and dead... hardly a garden!


----------



## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Great shooting Bill! How do you aim from 400' when using a slot type band attachment? Your hold-over must be extreme and I would guess that aiming with the side of the fork would cover up the target.

Cheers,
Northerner


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

W.A.G.
No, but seriously I shoot with both eyes open and the site picture is overlayed with the bands under one eye and the other seeing the target.


----------



## hawk2009 (Dec 30, 2009)

Where's the tape measure Bill, Only kidding thats an excellent shot nice one.


----------



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

The part of this coke can hit at 400 feet is not that it got hit but it is a surprise to me that there is enough speed in a steel ball to plow through both sides of a can filled with water. Now the question is, what is your best guess for FPS at 400 feet distance? If it left your pouch at 300 FPS and it is still moving at 200 FPS when it meets the coke can that is impressive. And anyone that can hit a coke can at 400 feet can likely hit a quarter at that distance, just put an orange bulls eye on it.


----------



## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Once we have the velocity, it would be interesting to know the projectile drop over that distance. It must be many feet.

If I could shoot with Bill's accuracy I would never need a firearm for small game hunting.

Cheers,
Northerner


----------



## rubberpower (Aug 16, 2011)

The shot is most impressive but what got my attention was the microphone on the camera, you can hear the bands snap.


----------



## maljo (Nov 27, 2010)

Stunning shooting - it would take me all afternoon to hit a coke can at 100 yards using a modern recurve bow (no sight or stabilisers in my case) and carbon/aluminium arrows. I can't even imagine how to get point of aim with a slingshot on a target that small at 400 feet - isn't your slingshot blocking your view of the can at that range? - I am awestruck....


----------



## johnthemarksman (Jul 27, 2011)

nice shot bill thats really impressive the furthest i have hit a soda can from is 80 feet i couldnt even think of trying it from that distance


----------



## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

Great going sensei!

I don't know how you can see the edges of cards, or coke cans, at the distances you shoot.

Awesome!


----------



## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

How can one not be impressed. And depressed, with that show of shooting. Curse you. But then, thank you Bill Hayes for making us better.


----------



## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

BTW, Bill

Aaron C. (admin) dropped "Fish" (Justin of Jack's shed)from our membership do to too many complaints from members, including myself - that's a complimentary "head's up" for you before you attempt to deal with him - don't want you to be on the losing end of anything.

I sent an e-mail to you re: a "Hathcock" today (8/24) with a request for you to call me.


----------



## pelleteer (Dec 19, 2009)

Pfft...You guys are too easily impressed. I could shoot just as accurately from 400...inches, that is!









Nice shootin', Bill!


----------



## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

incredible!


----------



## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

_The man with the golden eye!_


----------



## Tobse (Nov 4, 2010)

you shoot in Butterfly style? this is unbelivable distanz for a can! maybe you have good luck









regards
Tobias


----------



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

So how fast was the ammo moving when it connected with the coke can? Approximately. A good guess. If the ammo 3/8 steel started out at 300 fps and traveled some 400 feet and it took X number of seconds to arrive to it's point of contact, what is the difference in fps? I don't know but I would like to know. Can any one give a Logical answer to a reasonable question?


----------



## slingshot_sniper (Feb 20, 2011)

Message from the starship enterprise,

" Its shooting Jim but not as we know it"

End of message.....

Luck or not that is still an awesome shot


----------



## Tobse (Nov 4, 2010)

dgui said:


> So how fast was the ammo moving when it connected with the coke can? Approximately. A good guess. If the ammo 3/8 steel started out at 300 fps and traveled some 400 feet and it took X number of seconds to arrive to it's point of contact, what is the difference in fps? I don't know but I would like to know. Can any one give a Logical answer to a reasonable question?


here ist the calculation of 9,5mm steel 300ft/s and 120m:















to hit the can you must shot very high!
not easy!
the ammo travel 1,38 second.
the ammo start with 91m/s and hit the can with 65m/s


----------



## Jacktrevally (Feb 14, 2011)

Dgui,

In the pm I sent you yesterday, I predicted the velocity at impact to be 215fps, which is about 28% loss.

I think Tobseb sums it all with this ballistic table. I actually predicted the mean velocity during the flight from a balistic table.

Then proceeded to calculate the deflection to be between 14-17mm using projectile motion and resolving horizontally and vertically.

This is where Tobseb program differs from my hand calc. I stand corrected on my calc but I remember I did those calc in a course before.

Actually the drop in velocity can be derived by using parasitic drag theory.

p.s Tobseb, what program did you use to generate the ballistic table?


----------



## slingshot_sniper (Feb 20, 2011)

Now of course if we know at what angle/height we shoot and get the fps right each time we can achieve hits at long distance,I did this in archery where my marker was a branch high up in a tree...here I could place six arrows in a group on the ground approx 1/2 a meter sq at 800 feet range


----------



## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Jacktrevally said:


> Dgui,
> 
> In the pm I sent you yesterday, I predicted the velocity at impact to be 215fps, which is about 28% loss.
> 
> ...


No one is still saying how fast the ball was traveling to meet that distance. I will have to conclude that no one can make a good reasonable guess so I went out and done my own testing at 100 feet and 200 feet and when I can go out again it will be at 400 feet with minimal pull as you will see in the posted video where I did not pull Butterfly nor did I compensate for any height or loss adjustment and I will try the same at 400 feet. But I would suggest that the ammo reaching even at 200 feet is traveling very slow, ultra slow.


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Last night, just before it got to dark for the chrony to read, I did a few tests and it looks like the ball was travelling a shade under 200 fps at point of impact.... I also measured the course and found out it was actually 420 feet as well. The dog runs are 400' long so I originally used them as a guide for distance but I backed the target up a little so the camera could be in the shade (105º I thought was a little hot for it).

As to it just being a lucky shot... yeah, probably so, it seems the more I practice the luckier I get!








Like I alluded to earlier, I did the shot a few times before feeling confident enough to video it for posterity.

Also, and I didn't know it until it was pointed out earlier as I normally listen to videos with the sound pretty low, you can hear the snap of the bands on firing and hear the impact as well. Compensating for the speed of sound and knowing the distance you can do a simple frame count to figure velocity.


----------



## gamekeeper john (Apr 11, 2011)

Bill Hays said:


> Last night, just before it got to dark for the chrony to read, I did a few tests and it looks like the ball was travelling a shade under 200 fps at point of impact.... I also measured the course and found out it was actually 420 feet as well. The dog runs are 400' long so I originally used them as a guide for distance but I backed the target up a little so the camera could be in the shade (105º I thought was a little hot for it).
> 
> As to it just being a lucky shot... yeah, probably so, it seems the more I practice the luckier I get!
> 
> ...


cheers for the info bill, its good to know how much the ammo slows down at that distance, i think it was a lucky shot too lol








and your 130ft card cut, and your shooting into a bottle mouth, and when you split the lead ball in half hahahahaha, only joking bill i bet you could do it again easy


----------



## gamekeeper john (Apr 11, 2011)

bill if you say the ammo was traveling at 200fps at 400ft away this means the suspended card cut could be done from 400ft !!! i wont be trying it though lol


----------



## Martin (Jan 17, 2010)

Awesome shooting.

Martin


----------



## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

Bill I also noticed that you were very popular with the dogs along the fence line. Fantastic shooting! -- Tex


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

gamekeeper john said:


> bill if you say the ammo was traveling at 200fps at 400ft away this means the suspended card cut could be done from 400ft !!! i wont be trying it though lol


No, I already thought of that... you'll notice the can was hit almost exactly in the center... if it were a suspended card it would have been hit but not cut all the way through, as it takes about 250 fps with 3/8" steel to do it.... However If it were clamped... it's very possible.
I _might_ do this at some point. I'd need to get some neon green or orange paint for the clamp so I can see where the card is though!


----------



## haertig (Jul 30, 2010)

A pop can at 400 yards must be about a 4 MOA shot (minute of angle). Congratulations on earning your "Rifleman's Badge" ... with a slingshot!!!


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Tex-Shooter said:


> Bill I also noticed that you were very popular with the dogs along the fence line. Fantastic shooting! -- Tex


Yeah, it being so hot I had to do the shot and get out of there as I don't want the dogs to run to much in that kind of heat. Each run has a cool out pool, but if the dogs are hanging out on the wrong side of the runs... and what the camera didn't see is further down the set of runs, pens 5 on down to 14 the dogs were going up and down and not just hanging out. It doesn't take long, when it's 105 degrees, to get into heat stroke territory.


----------



## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Bill, sometimes watching you shoot is like listening to a virtuoso mandolin player or watching an olympic marathoner .... just depressing!!!! I know that no matter how much I practice, I will never be that good. You are the CHAMP!









Cheers ...... Charles


----------



## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Has anyone had a chance to calculate the projectile drop at 400' with 3/8" steel starting at 300 fps? I'm curious.







I think there might be a muzzleloader calculator that will work but I'm not sure where to find the ballistic coefficient for the steel ammo. The .375" lead is .047 and .440" lead is .056.

Cheers,
Northerner


----------



## Jacktrevally (Feb 14, 2011)

Northener, I have calculated the projectile drop, this was the first calc I did. It ranges from 12-17mm (I forgot about the decimals) from 300-200fps at 120m.


----------

