# how did you get into slingshots and when?



## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

i first got into slinshots about a 10 months ago from then ive become ADDICTED! as this is good fun and i love to use my hands so i like making silgshots







but i uset to only like bushcraft and one day i came across a video this is it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DaQv1quZMs and instantly something triggered in my head and a week later i got my first slingshot and its just gone on from there.
so tel me when did you start and how?


----------



## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

About a Year ago, that time I don't even know the word "Slingshot", I searched "Y shape wood for throwing stones", after few searches and some YouTube videos including Joerg's came here.







. We call Catapol in our local language.

After that learned about Flatbands, tubes, , OTF, TTF, TB GOLD, Board Cut, multiplex, natural, 1745, 1842, butterfly etc....... LOL


----------



## slingshot_sniper (Feb 20, 2011)

I got into slingshots Feb this year I'm a archer who was forced to sell all my equipment to pay a bill and put food on the table the bill was not going to go away so I had no choice,it was the hardest decision I have had to make,

I miss my merlin recurve and a beautiful single growth hickory backed osage belly and core 100lb war bow,man how I miss this one it brings a tear to my eye.

So which brings me here I have to shoot at something,I always have but I needed something that was cheap when I say cheap I mean compared to approx value £2000+ my archery equip cost me.The slingshot fit the bill exactly for me and guess what I can get to shoot arrows with them too







I will at one stage want the best so I'll no doubt be getting me a seal variant ranger from Bill in the future but even then its still cheapish AFAIC.

I am 52years of age now and unless I win the lottery I doubt I'll ever replace my bows so from now its slingshots and slingshot shooting all the way oh and that means you'll have to put up with me for a long time to come


----------



## kobe23 (Jun 28, 2010)

I seriously did shoot slingshots when I was a kid but never got accurate. Bought another one when I was in primary school still didn't shoot well. 3 years back I got interested again still no avail.

Last year I watched Joerg's videos, got interested again, went to buy a £8 wrist rocket but it was lousy. Frustrated. Few months back when I meet my uncle, he showed me the 'flip shot'. Was amazed how straight the trajectory is. Started making my own naturals with flats and chains, getting good results, learnt how to shoot.


----------



## crapshot (May 3, 2011)

started about two years ago when i found old tru mark s9 model cleaning out garage


----------



## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

I was introduced to slingshots when I was about 7 years old. I put them up when I got my 410 shotgun at 13. Then restarted in 1999 when arthritis stopped me from shooting a bow. The tube type slingshot that I bought was worse that the bow, so I reverted back to the flat band slingshot of my youth and found it shot faster and more accurate anyway and without recoil. I approached Saunders in 2000 about making flat band slingshots and he took the ball and ran with it. The sport has really grown again since then. I think that the reintroduction of the flat band slingshot by Mr. Charles Saunders has caused this explosion of the sport. -- Hallelujah -- Tex-Shooter


----------



## erlkonig (Mar 31, 2011)

got my first wrist rocket 1986 - a countfit










2006 brought a real falcon

In late 2008/early 09 saw couple guys named Wildman, Catapultkid, flatband, and Tex-shooter, Smithy, Jorg, Fish..... on the internet, then I became addicted


----------



## Gwilym (Dec 9, 2010)

I got my first catapult when i was about 7 it was a cheap fishing one but was fun fro lobbing gravel. I then bought a Black widow with birthday money at about 9 then I stopped shooting a few years later until 4 months ago I saw some old milbros on ebay and just wanted one after that I found the forums and joergs videos.


----------



## JoergS (Dec 17, 2009)

Had slingshots as a kid, even sold them to my mates. Then my focus changed, first to girls and mopeds, then to cars, university, job, then firearms.

Rediscovered them about four years ago when I stumbled over a dedicated subforum on a large German gun website. Made my first "V", then started to make videos that got people's attention on youtube.

I believe Bill is right, Saunders dynamic approach played an important role for the steep growth rate of the sport. But I think it is the internet that made it all possible. There is no big money in slingshots, the equipment is simply not expensive enough. People spend a thousand dollars on archery equipment, but not on a slingshot. The internet allowed hobbyists and small businesses to spread the word. Videos, forums, websites. That is the true engine behind the wonderful trend we are all enjoying.

Jörg


----------



## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I shot slingshots non stop as a kid. I got heavily into competitive archery and never really shot slingshots much. I moved into an apartment and had nowhere to shoot. One night I was at walmart and they had a marksman slingshot on sale for $5, so I bought it figuring I could shoot it inside the apartment. I started shooting it nonstop. Probably 1000 shots a night. I have since moved into a house with a yard and that is when I started going slingshots crazy. I have like 70 slingshots now and shoot whenever I get the chance. I check this forum every day. I am constantly on you tube sorting slingshot videos by upload date. I am hooked.


----------



## Ram (Jan 19, 2011)

Like NF, i was big into archery. I tried slingshots a few times but didn't get the bug with my Black Widow. When i moved a year ago to a town with no ranges nearby and a small garden i needed something to shoot indoors. I investigated slingshots online and found this great forum. After reading a lot of posts on here i ordered myself a Dankung and haven't stopped shooting since. 
I tried making a boardcut of the simplest design i could find but i couldn't even cut that out straight lol. I didn't really enjoy it either so i don't make, i just buy when funds allow.

I now much prefer this sport to archery, it has all the advantages, cost, pocketability, accuracy at close range etc...

I do miss shooting with others though... let's hope the sport keeps growing and one day we can have meets in the U.K.


----------



## AJT (Dec 25, 2010)

When I was 10 years old , I got my first BB pistol. I shot it everyday, and enjoyed it very much. I placed many dents in our walls, haha, and from that day I was hooked to shooting in one way or another.
Though one afternoon, I was running around in the kitchen with it, and accidently dropped it onto our newly tiled kitchen floor.....SMASH......the berretta ceased to exist.

As I grew a little older my shooting interests regularely peaked and then waned a little.I discovered music, and started playing a variety of instruments which I still do to this very day. However when I turned 12, a family friend of ours introduced me to his .22 800 fps air rifle, which got me thinking about the whole story once more. I kept asking and asking my parents to let me do all sorts of shooting persuits with no luck, so I began making my own weapons to shoot tin cans with and the odd sparrow. I made my own bb guns,dart guns, spud cannons etc,etc for about a year , before I had persuaded my parents enough to let me go and buy my first "proper" weapon. A Daisy p51.

I loved my Daisy so much. I shot pigeons,magpies, tin cans and frying pans all day long. When I had saved up enough I bought a marksman 3060, and continued shooting them untill the day in which I discovered guns, and club target shooting. After shooting at airgun clubs with a local scout group, my dad purchased my first airgun, a cheap italian made 450 fps youth air rifle to practice with. A year later, after joining an airgun forum, I am attracted to the world of smallgame hunting, which led me to the more powerful airguns such as adult sized springers which I used to shoot large hares and possums.

After really getting into airguns, I stopped using my slingshots for quite a while untill the day when my air rifle's cocking arm broke while shooting targets one morning. While the gun was being repaired at a local gun smith, I turned to my reliable slingshots once again (after year or two), and started shooting them once again.

Last year, I joined this forum and have learned a lot about slingshots and how effective they can really be. You tube videos of inspiring slingers such as Joerg, led me to get back into slingshots and making my own natuals which I continue to do to this day.

Annnnnddddd.....that's about it.
It is very interesting to read some of your stories, and to learn how you all came to become "glued" to the sport of singshot shooting...forever....lol









Cheers,
AJ


----------



## Bugar (Dec 24, 2009)

Started bout the same time Tex Shooter did, since we bout the same age, m' daddy made me one outa the ol' apple tree , cut a fork and used a old inner tube, and shoe tounge, course that was in about 1945 -46 somthin like that-yep we just ol' geezers, always had a slingshot and shooting from time to time, and still shooting


----------



## Imperial (Feb 9, 2011)

When i was a kid, my parents bought me a plastic slingshot that had 5 (?) lil plastic paratroopers to shoot. the kind with actual office rubber bands and a plastic pouch. been hooked on slingshots since. over the years ive shot them on and off, ive always had a slingshot with me. just recently ive only started to make my own. in my intro to this forum ive posted the first natural i have ever made. i have made a few out of metal since i started going to a welding class to get more welding certs, someday ill post them on here... someday.


----------



## BullsEyeBen (Apr 21, 2011)

My dad made my first Slingshot when I was 5. Was playing out the back when the old man, and he handed me this lil Y shaped piece of wood. that with in no time was getting in trouble with neighbours, mum, and one or two unfortunate shops across the road. Im 27 now and dont think I have gone two weeks with out having a shot.. But its really in the last 2 years I have found a new appreciation and love for the art of Slingshots that im sure ill take to the grave-


----------



## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

Got my first slingshot way back when I was around 6 or 8 years old. It was a Webber and I wish I still had it! My interest in slingshots was very small back then and the slingshot disappeared after a short while. Around 1990 a friend re-introduced me to slingshots with a TruMark FS-1. I did a bit of shooting every summer and combined the sport with traditional archery until I had to give up archery in 2000, due to a bad shoulder. A little over 2 years ago (late 2008) I stumbled upon a slingshot forum and discovered the easy pulling flatbands. The slingshot interest then became heavy and here I am today at 47 years old.

Cheers,
Northerner


----------



## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

My dad got me a wrist rocket back in the early 70's when I was about 13, had a lot of fun getting into trouble with it and my friends but I soon discovered girls and cars and it went into the closet for many years, gave it to my nephew when he was in his early teens and forgot about them all together till about a year ago, and the rest as they say is history.


----------



## plun-KING (Apr 25, 2011)

I got my first slingshot when I was 9 or 10 and it was a natural I had been shown to make with hospital latex bands and an old piece of leather, I sucked something fierce with it but loved lobbin gravel and took my shot at a few birds when fishing, I actually got back into in a few weeks ago because of a combination of looking for a new hobby/ finding my old one/ and reading a few other forums useing em for various jobs.. im excited to be picking up my new one as a slingshot and blow gun have pretty much kept me entertained for the last 2 weeks


----------



## Nico (Sep 10, 2010)

Slingshots are a Family tradition with us..

My father started me shooting with slingshots at 7 years old I think that was 1982 and slingshots have remained with me since then and always have.

Even when I was more active fishing I always had my homemade resortera with me for the occasional game and for self protection from whatever may cross our path. They have always been with me and always will be with me.

Nico


----------



## haertig (Jul 30, 2010)

In my 40's, I bought a Marksman 3040 and some BB's for scaring away the squirrels that were always dancing on my roof. I never hit one dang squirrel. So the Marksman sat unused for over a decade. I found it again when I was 53. The bands broke when I pulled them. So I started searching Google to see if anyone made replacement bands. Of course putting the word "slingshot" into Google turns up Joerg and I got to watching his videos. Then I found out about A+ slingshots from one of Joergs reviews. I emailed Perry asking some questions, found him to be a super great guy, and ended up with a PS-2. Then I found this forum. That was about one year ago.

"And the rest is history..."


----------



## Performance Catapults (Feb 3, 2010)

I initially gained interest 5 or 6 years ago and purchased a cats domain laser slingshot. I was not impressed, and sent it back. A few years ago we had a major ice storm, and my amatuer radio dipole antenna came down. Someone on a local repeater suggested I go to the local sporting goods store, and buy a slingshot. I was to rig it up with a zebco reel, and use it to catapult a string over my trees that the antenna was hanging in. The slingshot I purchased was a Marksman. It didn't do the job to well. The package the slingshot came in also had about 250 rounds of ammo. I began shooting the ammo, and the rest is history.


----------



## flippinout (Jul 16, 2010)

I shot wrist rockets with stones as a kid, and never saw much accuracy. I have been an avid longbow competitor for the last 15 years and shot my bow daily, then about a year ago my dad gave me one of Flatbands WRS slingshots and some steel. I immediately hit a pine cone on a tree about 15 yards away and was instantly hooked. I have hardly picked up my longbow since then and have made over 150 slingshots in the last 11 months. I shoot everyday, several times a day. I can't stop thinking about slingshots, my kids are constantly finding forks wherever they go, and my wife once caught me with a slingshot while we were on a "date".

I got it bad. Now that i met all the other addicts at ECST and felt the thrill of competition shooting a tie breaker against Jim Harris- I believe I may have a lifetime case of slingshotaholicism, to which there is no known cure!!


----------



## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

flippinout i am the same i cant stop thinking about cattys cant concentrate in school any more i always want to draw slingshots on my paper








and thanks for all the entrys so far guys have enjoyed reading them!


----------



## Flatband (Dec 18, 2009)

My first experience was at the age of around 8 (50 years ago). At that time,bent thin wire frame slingshots from Japan were being seen around. None of the stores in our city carried them but a few of us saw that they were just basically a bent wire coat hanger so we raided our parents closets for coat hangers! We hung school rubber bands ganged together and a shoe tongue pouch and we were off and running. I would take mine down to the dump and shoot stones for hours. One day one of the guys came back from day camp and had a tree fork slingshot-we immediately went down the park with saws! We cut a few forks and found they were a lot stronger then coat hangers. One day I was in the local candy store(one on every corner) paging through an issue of Outdoor life when I saw an ad for a $1.50 Wham-o. To me it looked like a Ferrari! I begged my Dad to get me one. Dad was all city and wanted nothing to do with hunting or weapons or shooting but he recognized the bug in me and took my saved pennies and got me a Wham-o. I don't think I shot it for a week! I polished it, slept with it,and constantly checked on it (talk about sickness!).My ammo of choice back then was marbles. You could get a big bag for like 5 cents. We would collect all the deposit bottles,and do other jobs for money for ammo. Steel balls were like gold. We got them from the local gas stations and pried them out of their rings. They were only used for hunting-never anything else! From there I got me a Scope-Shot,then a Killdeer and then it really started!!!!!!!!!!Slingshots Rule!!!! Flatband


----------



## NoSugarRob (Jun 3, 2010)

used the Milbros as a kid (wasnt very good with em) ... i'v always had a loose feed catty from when i started fishing.. that 30 years ish using them. got back into shooting cattys (single projectile) when i saw Joergs vids and realised there was a shooting discipline i could actually participate in......... in the uk


----------



## Peresh (May 3, 2010)

I started at around 7 or 8 back in Kenya and was taught to make forked slingshots. Intresting story but a long ....

We used bicycle or car tube tires. wrapped the forks all the way down. Not much wood was visible. Stones and only stones were used back then for small game hunting and even target practice.

Here is a picture from 1979. I was 9 or 10 then. Dad thinks 9. So anyways... I still have the same fork around my neck which I have kept.


----------



## e~shot (Jun 3, 2010)

Hey Peresh, is it Arjun or you in the pic


----------



## Peresh (May 3, 2010)

Yea Irfan, he looks so much like me when I was his age. He's a duplicate mini-me LOL


----------



## Performance Catapults (Feb 3, 2010)

peresh said:


> Here is a picture from 1979. I was 9 or 10 then. Dad thinks 9. So anyways... I still have the same fork around my neck which I have kept.


Awesome pic!!!


----------



## fbel (Jul 4, 2010)

erlkonig said:


> got my first wrist rocket 1986 - a countfit
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## fbel (Jul 4, 2010)

I want to get a slingshot. When I was a kid, I used a stick. A right and good slingshot would be what kind and where would I get one?


----------

