# Arthuritis and 1/4" steel



## Oldbattleaxe (Jun 5, 2014)

I have arthritis. Ostio, rhumatory, gout, all the fun stuff. I've gone from 600-800 shots a night to 100-200 shots 4 or 5 times a week. I hate it.

Getting out and being active is great for me, but I'm having a lot of difficulty with pain in my hands.

In order to get in more shooting time, I'm considering moving, at least temporarily, to 1/4 steel.

My current set ups are; Scout, 7/8" Walmart Green, 61/2" length, and Scout 7/8" double TBBlue, with 7" length. I have a 30" draw and shoot 3/8" steel.

I would like to set one of of my Scouts up for 1/4" steel. I have done a few searches on this site, but most folks shoot 3/8" and larger. The "Effective Setups" post was very helpful to me when I started getting serious about shooting, but doesn't really cover 1/4".

If you shoot 1/4", could you list your band set here? It would truly help me to have a starting point.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

I never shot the Walmart green or TB. 1/4 is so light that all you need to do is down size the existing bands. Do a little experimenting. With Thera Gold all I do is cut to match the ammo weight. Thin cut = light ammo Wide cut = heavy ammo. Same applies to all bands. You will be surprised how little latex it takes to get 1/4 inch moving fast.


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## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

have you ever considered braiding or chaining some #64 rubber bands ? i use them for plinking with .177 b.b.s, marbles and paint balls. i currently have one set up with theraband black at 5/8" wide strait cut single layer at about 6 1/4" between the ties, works for me at 1/4" also. hope i at least gave you a starting point to expand on.


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## SharpshooterJD (Oct 9, 2012)

Yeah treefork got it If your using 7/8 inch width maybe go for 1/2 inch width if your still getting hand slap with that then go even thinner. And the opposite if they are not going very fast try 5/8. Your just going to have to experiment.


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## SharpshooterJD (Oct 9, 2012)

You could also try single strand 2040 chinese tubes but they might be a little heavy as they are for shooting 5/16 steel. But you can get them from here http://www.simple-shot.com/collections/diy/products/dankung-tubular-rubber hope this helped!


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## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Anything that works for .177 BBs should be fine for 1/4" steel. The weight for the common .177 BB is around 5 grains while the 1/4" is still only 16 grains. Your 3/8" steel is 56 grains.

For a very light draw weight try 7/8" straight cut TB-Black. With 7" from pouch to fork I was getting 187fps with 1/4" steel and a 32" draw length. This is with old bands and a larger pouch than needed. Fresh bands with a small pouch you should get closer to 200fps.

To soup up the 1/4" a bit I use 7/16" straight cut, .030" Tex set to 7 1/4". This gives 232fps with the 1/4" steel ammo. You could substitute TB-Gold and get about the same velocity. The draw weight is noticeably more than the TB-Black but still light. You could use a bit more band length for a lighter draw weight.

I have also used single 2040s with 1/4" steel. I think 7" or 7 1/4" was the band length. A small pouch will get you some very reasonable velocity.


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## ryguy27 (Nov 8, 2013)

Personally I Shoot A Lot Of 1/4" Steel. I Have Been Liking A 5mm-3mm TBG Tapered Set About 6-7" Long. I Use It Because It Has Such A Small Pull, But Still Shoots The Steel Downrange. It's Not The Fastest, But I Don't Look For Speed, Just Accuracy.


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## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

I cut some broken looped 2240 tubes to make a set of singles to test. They ended up at 5 1/2" from pouch to fork. The pouch was 2 5/8" long. With a slight pause at full draw, the 1/4" steel shot 214fps with my 32" draw length. The same tubes toss a 3/8" steel ball at 165fps. Room temperature during the testing was around 68F. The single 2040 is a light draw weight.


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## SimpleShot (Aug 30, 2012)

We offer bands specifically for 1/4" shot with an appropriately sized pouch, in both .030" and TBG. Very light draw and great speed. Check em out here: http://www.simple-shot.com/collections/new-bands/products/ultralight-slingshot-bands-for-airsoft-and-1-4-steel


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## Lee Silva (Feb 9, 2013)

treefork said:


> I never shot the Walmart green or TB. 1/4 is so light that all you need to do is down size the existing bands. Do a little experimenting. With Thera Gold all I do is cut to match the ammo weight. Thin cut = light ammo Wide cut = heavy ammo. Same applies to all bands. You will be surprised how little latex it takes to get 1/4 inch moving fast.


Yeah! and like REALLY fast!!

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.


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## oldmiser (Jan 22, 2014)

I have made a fast Band set.. .030 latex 3/4 " tapered to 1/2" 8" long fork tie to pouch...Has some

pretty good zip to it......~AKAOldmiser


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

Here is a video I made showing just how little rubber is needed to achieve 300+ fps. At 32 inch draw this rig produced 200 fps. In the video I'm drawing to about 38 inches.






The bands are TBG tapered 1/2 x 1/4 and 7 12 inches fork to pouch.


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## Oldbattleaxe (Jun 5, 2014)

Thanks, Guys! I appreciate all the help. You've given me a great place to start, so I'll make bands today, and hit the Bass Pro this afternoon for the 1/4" steel and make the switch at this evening's shoot.

There's always things to keep you busy in the country, but you guys have given me a way to keep town living tolerable!


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