# Sharpened tapers, maybe something different from the hype.



## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

I know I write long posts so I will try to break this up into a few less onerous chunks. I was curious to try "sharpened" vs regular tapers so collected a bunch of data. I will put summarized data for most tests up on this thread. I collected and am part way through analyzing a good pile of data and will try to put cogent summaries up.

The sharpened tapers are essentially straight bands at each end, fork end wide and pouch end narrow, with the taper occurring in the middle of the band. They are advertised as shooting at higher velocity due to faster acceleration at the pouch end. I was intrigued and wanted to see if they lived up to the hype so I bought a couple of templates. https://slingshooting.com/gmbw-flat-band-cutting-template-high-quality-of-acrylic-boardfully-customizable-as-per-your-requirment/.

For those who want to skip the gory detail I can say they don't deliver higher speeds. Interestingly though, I am finding that they produce about the same speeds with slightly reduced draw weights. So while I am not impressed after they failed to live up to the speed claim I do like the same power with less draw weight and the convenience of cutting exact bands every time. More thoughts to come after sharing some of the gory details.

The Gory detail:

For testing I made multiple bands. At least two for each sharpened taper and one or two of the regular tapers. Sharpened tapers were cut from a plexiglass template. The regular tapers were cut using an adjustable ruler / jig (



) (photo). This jig is amazing and allows exact reproducible cutting of straight tapers. The regular tapers were cut 1mm larger at the fork end and 1mm narrower at the pouch end to try and get a comparable taper of the active part of the band (i.e. the 20-15's were 20-15 for sharpened and 21-14 for straight tapers). It would have been ideal to test at least three of each band type but also a lot of work. For most sets I did two sharpened vs one regular. I think the trends are clear and would likely hold if I did a statistically proper set.

All bands were shot from the same frame (PP Taurus or Scorpion) during the same session to minimize variable with temperature, fork width, etc. All bands got 5-10 warm up shots before measuring velocities on my chronograph. Velocities were measured for 6-8 shots for the ammo that matched the band and taper, plus 3-5 more shots with ammo that I judged to be an overload for the bands. Results reported as average +/- one standard dev..

Draw weights were measured by putting the bands in a vise and pulling with a luggage scale relative to a yard stick. I found draw weights more difficult than I originally imagined to measure, especially on brand new bands. Too much variability. After a bit of playing, I settled on two warm up pulls then measuring the next three pulls. Things settled down a lot when measuring draw weight on bands that had been shot 30-50 times so I started skipping draw weight measures on some of the new bands. Results reported as avg +/- one std. dev..

For this post I am putting up the data for SS 0.6, 20-15 tapers, shot at both ~480% and ~530% elongation (6" or 5.5" active lengths vs my 29" draw). The 5.5x stretch factor "feels" optimal for these bands in my hands (another post for another day on optimal active lengths that vary quite a bit in my hands).

From these data the sharpened tapers shot marginally faster though not really any different after looking at the variability. Other band sets (data coming) were closer to the same whether sharpened or not. Although it is interesting that the sharpened bands produced essentially the same velocity with ~5% less draw weight, which was a significant and consistent difference. This lower draw weight and similar / same velocity is a trend that seems to be holding for other bands and tapers I am testing.

I will summarize and post more data sets as I get them summarized. My impression is that most other bands and tapers I am testing (SS 0.6 and 0.8, Precise 3rd 0.5 and 0.75, Gong Chi green 0.65, Cattyshack 0.82) will follow this theme. I will of course let all know if this trend doesn't hold or if I find exceptions along the way.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

So, while the sharpened tapers don't shoot faster I am sort of liking them.

In addition to the slightly reduced draw weight, the templates produce very consistent exact bands. No variability with marking and cutting. When I pen mark and use a ruler, I do get some variability. For those who want exact and reproducible straight tapers, the adjustable ruler is amazing with the bonus that one adjustable ruler will do any taper you want vs buying templates for every different taper.

The other thing I like about the sharpened tapers is having the taper run symmetrically through the center of the band from fork to pouch. I doubt it makes any noticeable difference but just agrees with my sense of symmetry.

Not a huge enough difference that I will totally switch and go sharpened or nothing. I am going to mull it over for a while and may consider ordering a few more templates with more aggressive tapers. My logic being that if the same velocity / lighter pull trend I am seeing with 25-20 (5:4) and 20-15 (4:3) tapers it might get even a tad better with 3:2 tapers like 27-18, 24-16, and 21-14. I am not sold yet but am mulling it over. Maybe after finishing the rest of the testing and letting it run around in the back of my head for a while I will ponder ordering a couple more templates.


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## Got Bands (May 12, 2016)

very informative i always wondered about different tapers thanks for doing the footwork


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## Konrad (May 2, 2020)

Brilliant, I really enjoyed reading this. I hate people trying to deceive for money. I know there is a world of full of that behavior but I still really dislike it. They claim to be faster with more band life and I looked at them. I would love to get every bit of performance out of my rig. But I read a review there and was not impressed.

There is a thing called Truth in Advertising, but we are surrounded by lies so what's new? 3.6% improvement not 20%. I can get that by taking 1 or 2mm off my band length.

*A happy customer is the best advertisement*. Well, we now we know what sort of people we are dealing with. Thankyou.


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## vince4242 (Jan 11, 2016)

Yes thank you for the review, I have been using them for a little while and do you like them but no better than a standard taper. What I do like is being able to make the band set 1 in longer and use it 4 lighter ammo and target shooting. Then I can just cut one inch off all the bands already cut and I'm ready for full draw and hunting. Keeping the same taper and being able to trim it down a little bit to fine-tune is what I like about it.

Cheers


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## KawKan (May 11, 2013)

Good info!

Thanks for sharing.


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## robbo (Jun 8, 2019)

old Chinese proverb quickest way to a point is a straight line


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

vince4242 said:


> Yes thank you for the review, I have been using them for a little while and do you like them but no better than a standard taper. What I do like is being able to make the band set 1 in longer and use it 4 lighter ammo and target shooting. Then I can just cut one inch off all the bands already cut and I'm ready for full draw and hunting. Keeping the same taper and being able to trim it down a little bit to fine-tune is what I like about it.
> 
> Cheers


The adjusting the length without changing the taper is a great point that hadn't crossed my mind, thank you so much for sharing that! Fantastic insights from others- but one of the many things that I love about this forum!

While experimenting with different latex brands / formulations I have been finding big differences in optimal elongation. Many seem to do very well at 475-500% and some feel like they can't go beyond that. I have found the 3rd gen precise 0.75 is just getting warmed up there and does better at 550-600%. Thinking about using one jig to cut a consistent taper that can be used to make different bands with same taper and different active lengths seems a cool thing. Maybe some redeeming value for the sharpened tapers even without a speed boost.

I am chugging through more of the numbers and will be posting more summaries in the days to come. SS 0.8 25-20 came out pretty much the same as the 0.6 20-15 tapers. Essentially the same velocity with slightly less draw weight for the sharpened tapers.

For Gong Chi green 0.65 20-15 tapers I didn't see the lower draw weight- regular and sharpened tapers had pretty much the same velocity and same draw weight. These bands are stiff / have a shorter elongation factor and maybe they were close to maxed and therefore pulling at the weight of the wide end? My best guess at an explanation. I will try to post those numbers and data from some other bands soon.


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## Konrad (May 2, 2020)

Hey don't feel so bad,

I bought a tapered ruler, rotary cutter, self healing mat, two 2m rolls of theraband gold, braided line, pouch dies, microfibre sheets, ammo molds that have proved to be almost useless. Trial and error :cursin: :banghead:   . I use a paper guillotine now. In time I might sell to a member for the cost of postage. :thumbsup:


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## Talaman (Sep 13, 2019)

Thank you HDF for all the time invested in your testing and sharing your findings. And a great idea from Vince 4242 for his insight. This is what I love about this forum. People tend to be open and honest and dive in with useful and complimentary ideas.


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

I'm loving all of the testing, Great Job


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Konrad said:


> Hey don't feel so bad,
> 
> I bought a tapered ruler, rotary cutter, self healing mat, two 2m rolls of theraband gold, braided line, pouch dies, microfibre sheets, ammo molds that have proved to be almost useless. Trial and error :cursin: :banghead:   . I use a paper guillotine now. In time I might sell to a member for the cost of postage. :thumbsup:


No worries and no bad feelings here. Although I did find they missed on the hype of being faster I learned a lot and found a few unexpected things I wasn't even looking for going in. Yeah, a speed boost would've been cool but think my time and dinero have been well spent with the experience gained and unexpected nuggets discovered.


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## Konrad (May 2, 2020)

I was very curious see if band cutting techniques have been enhanced and refined. It appeared that way by the language that was used. You testing was thorough and well presented. I appreciated the time and effort you put into this report / review. Keep up the good work. Thank you.

Salutations Konrad.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Here is data for SS 0.8, 20-15 taper, 6" active with 29" draw (=480% elongation). Similar to general trend, no real (statist. signif.) difference in velocity but a slight (~5%) reduction in draw weight for the tapers. Maybe the slightest increase in velocity for the regular taper over the sharp when stepping up to the 7/16" steel that the bands had to work harder to propel, but very small if even a real difference. So all around, slightly reduced draw with same velocity again. Also saw similar results for SS 0.8 with 25-20 tapers.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

And here is some data for Precise 3rd gen 0.75. I have been finding this brand to have a much longer stretch ratio. Consistent with this, it did not perform well at 6" active / 480% elongation while other bands felt pretty optimal or close to maxed there. So I added some treatments with shorter draw weights for this band. It seems to peak at ~600% elongation with the draw weight increasing quickly after that. But when stretched farther it did perform better.

As for the sharpened vs taper, pretty much same as other bands with same velocity with sharpened or tapered. Maybe a slight not quite significant gain for the regular taper when shooting heavier balls. And the draw reduction for the sharpened taper went away when the stretch ratio increased.

While I enjoy collecting and looking at fps and draw weight numbers, the numbers shot counts are a piece of data I haven't done a good job collecting. For those who are curious about the lifetime of the Precise bands with the higher stretch ratios I don't have a good answer other than to say I used the same bands for comparing 5.25", 5", and 4.75" active lengths and took 30-40 shots at each length. So common sense says the higher stretch ratios will fail sooner, and the only piece of data I can add is that this band at those stretch ratios the Precise 3rd 0.75 got over 100 shots with no failures or signs of wear. And the Precise needs to stretch more than SS or Gong Chi to perform at the same level.

Overall the three brands seem pretty comparable for performance as far as I can tell, they just have different optimal active lengths. I will try to add the Gong Chi 0.65 data (and maybe some other interesting looks) later for those who are curious to see more numbers.


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## robbo (Jun 8, 2019)

sheshou guru .8 cut 23.5x14mm throws 11mm or 7/16 steel very fast, its to much for 3/8 steel though.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

robbo said:


> sheshou guru .8 cut 23.5x14mm throws 11mm or 7/16 steel very fast, its to much for 3/8 steel though.


I haven't tried any sheshou, or GZK for that matter. Is the sheshou stiff or stretchy? I am thinking of taking a look at a new (for me) elastic every month or two just to keep abreast of things (and keep my chrono going).


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## StringSlap (Mar 2, 2019)

High Desert Flipper said:


> And here is some data for Precise 3rd gen 0.75. I have been finding this brand to have a much longer stretch ratio. Consistent with this, it did not perform well at 6" active / 480% elongation while other bands felt pretty optimal or close to maxed there. So I added some treatments with shorter draw weights for this band. It seems to peak at ~600% elongation with the draw weight increasing quickly after that. But when stretched farther it did perform better.
> 
> As for the sharpened vs taper, pretty much same as other bands with same velocity with sharpened or tapered. Maybe a slight not quite significant gain for the regular taper when shooting heavier balls. And the draw reduction for the sharpened taper went away when the stretch ratio increased.
> 
> ...


I've been shooting .5 SSB and Sumeike with a 5" active and 30" draw and 1/2 - 3/4 taper. I love the speed, feel and accuracy, but the shot count is too low at that elongation. Have to work up a different setup for better band life. Just tried .7 at 1/2" straight and 6" active. Lost 20 fps so not so bad. I'm sure I'll get that back by going to 5/8 or cut back to 5.5" active. I though I was done searching, but like I said I'm not happy with the shot count.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

I am not sure I will ever be done searching. But my search gets narrower all the time and I have been enjoying it so far!


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## robbo (Jun 8, 2019)

High Desert Flipper said:


> robbo said:
> 
> 
> > sheshou guru .8 cut 23.5x14mm throws 11mm or 7/16 steel very fast, its to much for 3/8 steel though.
> ...


its stiff mate not stretchy at all but powerfull, its the only sheshou i have tried. i have been using precise .75 for a long time, i am getting a sample of .75 bsb white witch is supposed to be smooth and stretchy. so i will see if that will replace the precise. this .8 sheshou has that much power it really is for 11mm steel and up i think .8 sheshou 30x20 11mm lead bigger pouch to load the bands a bit better, on my 45 inch draw slingshot rifle is very fast and powerfull.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

robbo said:


> High Desert Flipper said:
> 
> 
> > robbo said:
> ...


I can only imagine what that does with 45" of draw, must be super impressive.

After a little more goofing in this arena and a lot more work on accuracy from my short draw, I am thinking about looking at the effect of draw length and trying to learn to shoot from partial butterfly.

Off hand I know the longer power stroke is a good thing, but may try putting some numbers to it in a future project to see just how much of a difference it makes. And for that project I will likely need to build a rifle that I can change the trigger position on to accurately assess different draw lengths. But probably a good few months to years of goofing where I am at before taking up that adventure.


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## Konrad (May 2, 2020)

High Desert Flipper,

You seem to like to quiet a smart fellow, I have a dilemma, I have searched far and wide for the answer and I have only received it in a fleeting comment on one of Jeorge Spraves videos.

I use Sheshou guru 1mm, The draw is 682mm, divided by 5 or 5.2= 135mm active draw. Tapers are 49-18mm. I shoot a 8mm steel at between 105-112m/s 344-367fps. 99% of the information I can find would prescribe that I am using too much rubber. However If I deviate from 1mm either up or down, I get a degradation in performance.

All the info say's that less is more with rubber apart from Sprave saying the exception to this is a short draw. Why do you think my sweet spot for the rifle is 1mm. The sweet spot for 10mm Leads was 1.6mm (around 300fps / 90m/s). I tried two layers of Sheshou guru (1mmx2=(2mm) and the performance deteriorated (10mm leads).

All of this is used on a slingshot rifle.

Interesting, I can't find a definitive answer.

Kindest regards PK.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

There are some really experienced people on this forum that have played around a lot with tapers. I myself find your observation intriguing but I don't have any good ideas to explain it. Sorry, but I come up empty thinking it over. If something does jump into my mind, I'll be sure to remember this and come back to leave a comment.


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## robbo (Jun 8, 2019)

High Desert Flipper said:


> robbo said:
> 
> 
> > High Desert Flipper said:
> ...


my 45 inch or 1125mm draw is a slingshot rifle mate mine is the opposite to Konrads , where my rifle needs less rubber as an example normal short draw to butterfly you dont need as much rubber witch is good, because loading mine by hand 30x20mm .8 sheshou is about the max and i do a lot of prestretching with it i built my own rifle to get more speed as having short arms i only have about a 27 inch draw


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Not to be outdone by the election, here are some late breaking numbers of my own. A look at some Cattyshack 0.82 in 20-15 and 25-20 tapers. If you can handle draw weights in the low 20 lb range this gets the heavier balls moving pretty well.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Some final thoughts. First- all this testing was done in my hands, and is subject to my mistakes. I tried to have my head up and see the variables but keep in mind this is how these bands all worked in my hands.

While the sharpened tapers didn't give me a speed boost I did notice some things that I actually liked. The slightly reduced draw weight for getting the same speed (for most bands tested) is nice. The ability to adjust length of the ends without affecting the taper (Thank you Vince4242 for the insight) is also nice. As is the consistency between bands when cutting from a jig. Note the adjustable ruler I used for the straight tapers also gives perfect bands every time for the straight tapers- much more consistent for me than pen marks and a ruler guide (although I get pretty close and those work well). You can also order plexiglass templates for straight tapers but for me the adjustable ruler being able to do any taper without ordering several templates is a huge bonus. Really love that adjustable taper cutting ruler.

And while I don't believe it makes any significant physical / mechanical difference, having the taper run symmetrically through the middle of the band and be centered from fork to pouch is somehow satisfying to me.

While doing all this it occurred to me that the sharpened tapers can come in a variety of flavors from "steep" to "shallow" with the taper part running through most of the middle of the band or occurring very quickly in the middle (see attached pic). The bands I tested had a pretty "shallow" taper that was distributed over most of the middle of the band.

The performance of a "steeper" sharp taper could potentially be better as the claim is the performance boost comes from reducing mass at the pouch end of the band. I am a bit skeptical as I don't think the difference would be hugely dramatic. I also expect band life would probably be shorter as well since the taper would get more radical the more it shortens. Keep in mind these are just my best guess though, no testing. And unlikely that I will evaluate these- while templates don't cost a fortune they do have a price for both time and money and I am not highly motivated to go much more in depth here.

So after mulling it all over, I am actually sort of satisfied even thought they don't shoot any faster as claimed. I am likely to keep using these- maybe not exclusively but will likely keep using them. I do like the consistency of cutting bands from the template and also like the slightly lighter pull for the same velocity (with most but not all of the configurations I tested). I am curious to see if this holds or increases slightly for more aggressive tapers. The ones I have tested so far are 5:4 (25-20) and 4:3 (20-15). So even thought they don't deliver a speed boost there is enough to like and I am curious enough to try some 3:2 sharepened tapers and see if the drop off in draw while keeping the same velocity holds, I will likely get 27-18 and 24-16 templates.

Until then, happy shooting and happy tinkering for those who enjoy it!


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Thanks for all of the research Steve @High Desert Flipper , it really helps to see everything on paper. I haven't tried sharpened tapers yet and I cut by hand with a guillotine right now.
Out of all of these different types of brands and thicknesses, did you find one brand and thickness that gave you that "Perfect Pull" feeling over all of the others?


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Thanks for the kind words Reed. I had a lot of fun doing this and learned a lot, and happy to share the info.

I am not one for participation trophies or political correctness. All the same, I didn't end up with a "king of the latex" or even a personal favorite here. I did find that they all had differences and the biggest benefit I got may have been figuring out how to get the most out of each brand and taper.

SS 0.8 and Gong Chi 0.65- very solid bands all around. Very solid. Nice draw, reasonable weight. For me, both seem to work best around 500-525% stretch factor. They both fling the balls out too. I am looking forward to trying both of these with bigger bands and more aggressive tapers, something like 24-16 or 27-18. I did do some of the SS 0.8 at 25-20 and that was great, betting it will also rock with 27-18 tapers shooting 7/16" and maybe even 1/2" balls from my shortish 29" draw. I also have some Gong Chi 0.7 that is supposed to be a noticable step up from the 0.65 but haven't played with it much yet.

The Precise 3rd generation 0.75 needs to stretch more in my hands. It was a bit of a dog at 475-500% stretch but started flinging the balls pretty fast when stretched to 600% or even a bit more. It ended up even feeling okay, but feeling like it was at the end, when stretched 640%. I don't know about longevity but I did test several bands at the higher stretch ratios with the 0.75 and they all got around 100 shots with no failures. Not sure if they would get over 200 or farther, but also no indication that they wouldn't. I also tried some Precise 3rd 0.5 and it absolutely rocked with 5/16"steel. I didn't put those numbers up but if I remember right a 20-12 taper of the 0.5 got around 250 fps for 5/16" with only about 8 lbs draw. And for the longer stretch factors the precise didn't stack or hit a wall, was just smooth for through 600% and started stacking feeling at it's limit when I tried 640%. I didn't test for stretch limits of other bands but think all others I tested do best around ~525% or less and probably wouldn't last long if they even got to 600% without serious stacking. Maybe for the thinner bands, but doubtful on the 0.8's for me.

The SS 0.6 I posted and it also did well. I also tried but didn't post SS 0.4 and 0.5. Like the Precise 0.5, these all did really well with 5/16" steel and low draw weights. I think any of those are great target setups that will do well for easy pulls that still give flat trajectories over longer ranges. And the 0.6 was strong enough to do well with 3/8" steel even from modest 20-15 tapers (~230 fps with 3/8" at ~12 lbs draw with 530% stretch). If I remember right, I believe Vince mentioned that the SS 0.6 does well with 7/16" steel in his hands when using 30-15 tapers and this seems totally in line with what I got.

The CattyShack 0.82 was probably the magnum of the bunch. Pulled stiff and hard- for me I wouldn't go much if any over 500% stretch, and it did really well at 480%. But if you can get it back and hold it steady it really spits the balls out. 20-15 did really well with 3/8 and not bad with 7/16 steel, and 25-20 did even better but also pulled over 20 lbs. May see if I can manage pull and hold steady with a 24-16 or even 27-18 taper of this. Not sure about my strength, but am sure those bands would really fling it if I could get it back and aim it. Not sure if they would do better than the SS 0.8 with those tapers, but betting the would be right there if not a touch hotter. May try these heavier setups when I get the urge to do more testing.

In the end I am betting there are only 2-3 (maybe fewer) latex suppliers world wide and so all the different brands probably get a custom additive mixed in that gives a bit of a unique flavor. But in the end all are probably working with the same foundation. Some are stiffer, some are more stretchy. And some are reputed to handle the cold better. But all seem to do well if set up properly, matched to ammo, etc.. And this makes sense if they are all using the same base material.

I have not tried some of the other popular ones like GZK, BSB, Sheshou, or a couple of others. And since I have a good supply of nice performing latex on hand I don't see testing these myself in the near future. I would predict that when matched to ammo and tuned for stretch factor all of these would likely do well. I am always curious to see if any mfg comes up with the a new formulation that provides the next leap ahead, so if anyone thinks any of these are standouts I would be curious hear about it.

Cheers and happy shooting to all,

HDF


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Hi Steve @High Desert Flipper 🤠
Have you done anymore testing of the shallow vs steeper sharpened tapers. I'm thinking about trying out the shallow sharpened taper for a 75" draw and adding a couple of inches extra so that I can adjust it to my abilities.
Thanks,
Reed


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## Booral121 (Jan 6, 2019)

I spoke with GZK one time and he had said to never exceed 5mm on the taper to get the best results and I've always ran with that 🎯👍👊👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 might be something to look at guys 🤷 🎯👊👍🎯


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## Rb1984 (Sep 25, 2020)

Interesting. I think I had never seen those tapered whose lines are not completely straight...


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## Booral121 (Jan 6, 2019)

Rb1984 said:


> Interesting. I think I had never seen those tapered whose lines are not completely straight...


By the way I just noticed the shape of the tapers 🤷 I sell hundreds of bandsets every month or 2 and never ever done or been asked to do tapers like the one's above 👎🎯 completely straight is how tapers are done 🎯👊🎯👍👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿


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## Rb1984 (Sep 25, 2020)

Booral121 said:


> By the way I just noticed the shape of the tapers 🤷 I sell hundreds of bandsets every month or 2 and never ever done or been asked to do tapers like the one's above 👎🎯 completely straight is how tapers are done 🎯👊🎯👍👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿


I do them straight with a normal ruler. I didnt know that some people do them the other way👍🏼👍🏼


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## Booral121 (Jan 6, 2019)

Rb1984 said:


> I do them straight with a normal ruler. I didnt know that some people do them the other way👍🏼👍🏼


I've seen them like the bottom one in the pic. But a guy in the UK tested them and they where just a way of wasting elastic is how he put it 👎🎯👊🤣🤣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👌


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## Rb1984 (Sep 25, 2020)

that's good to know, I don't think I was going to try them either unless they said that they increased with great speed.

I step from complicating myself, preferring to make straight lines 😎🚀


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## Booral121 (Jan 6, 2019)

Rb1984 said:


> that's good to know, I don't think I was going to try them either unless they said that they increased with great speed.
> 
> I step from complicating myself, preferring to make straight lines 😎🚀


When it comes to elastic and pouches and such I usually go with the Chinese men and women they have tried and perfected almost everything catty based so if they are selling for example say 80 squillion rolls of a brand of elastic I have never heard of 🤔 well I buy a roll of that you know 🤣🎯👍👌👊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿


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## Rb1984 (Sep 25, 2020)

Booral121 said:


> When it comes to elastic and pouches and such I usually go with the Chinese men and women they have tried and perfected almost everything catty based so if they are selling for example say 80 squillion rolls of a brand of elastic I have never heard of 🤔 well I buy a roll of that you know 🤣🎯👍👌👊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿


Yes, the Chinese are at another level on this issue.

The other day I was shooting some balls in a field below my house, and a group of Chinese who live in the houses opposite and some of them work in a nearby Wok restaurant passed by.

One of them saw me shooting and said something in Chinese to the others and automatically the other four turned their heads to where I was. They did not say anything to me but they looked at me and spoke something in Chinese, it seems that they liked seeing someone shooting slingshot since in my country it is not something very common, in China it seems that there is more of a hobby.

Or maybe they criticized me in Chinese language for shooting TTF I don't know lol 😂㊗🍜


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

Well, I'm deep in the rabbit hole right now and @High Desert Flipper has used these tapers. I have only used the straight tapers as well, but if I can save draw weight with sharpened tapers, it's what I need for my next set up for shooting heavy weight projectiles.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Reed Lukens said:


> Hi Steve @High Desert Flipper 🤠
> Have you done anymore testing of the shallow vs steeper sharpened tapers. I'm thinking about trying out the shallow sharpened taper for a 75" draw and adding a couple of inches extra so that I can adjust it to my abilities.
> Thanks,
> Reed


I haven't. That is one on my list but I just haven't gotten around to that. I am hoping to finish straights vs tapers this weekend and this will include shallow vs steep tapers but they won't be sharpened. After that I want to try testing "dry fire" speeds, or as close as I can get. for different elastics. After that maybe steep vs shallow for the sharpened tapers.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Booral121 said:


> By the way I just noticed the shape of the tapers 🤷 I sell hundreds of bandsets every month or 2 and never ever done or been asked to do tapers like the one's above 👎🎯 completely straight is how tapers are done 🎯👊🎯👍👌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿



There are a couple outside the box ways to do tapers. I think these sharpened ones are kind of clever. I have comparing a couple different kinds of tapers (normal, stepped, sharpened) on my list, although it isn't high up and will be a while before I get to it.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Booral121 said:


> I've seen them like the bottom one in the pic. But a guy in the UK tested them and they where just a way of wasting elastic is how he put it 👎🎯👊🤣🤣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👌



From my testing (above in this thread actually) they didn't achieve the extra velocity that was claimed by the maker. They did however have about the same velocity with slightly reduced draw weight. I like them and use them quite a bit.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Rb1984 said:


> that's good to know, I don't think I was going to try them either unless they said that they increased with great speed.
> 
> I step from complicating myself, preferring to make straight lines 😎🚀



See testing done above in this thread. The maker claimed they shot faster compared to straight tapers. I tested the same dimensions of taper, straight vs sharpened, and didn't find a speed increase for myself. However, I did find about the same speed with slightly reduced draw weight. Enough so that I like and continue to use them often. Even though I don't see the speed increase claimed by the maker.


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## High Desert Flipper (Aug 29, 2020)

Reed Lukens said:


> Well, I'm deep in the rabbit hole right now and @High Desert Flipper has used these tapers. I have only used the straight tapers as well, but if I can save draw weight with sharpened tapers, it's what I need for my next set up for shooting heavy weight projectiles.



I will bump that one higher up the list. I just finished getting a new testing stand put together and am curious about revisiting this one. When I tried them before (me shooting and not from a stand) they did shoot about the same but with a slightly lower draw weight. I think I will come back to this and also try shallow vs steep tapers with light and heavy balls.


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## Reed Lukens (Aug 16, 2020)

High Desert Flipper said:


> I haven't. That is one on my list but I just haven't gotten around to that. I am hoping to finish straights vs tapers this weekend and this will include shallow vs steep tapers but they won't be sharpened. After that I want to try testing "dry fire" speeds, or as close as I can get. for different elastics. After that maybe steep vs shallow for the sharpened tapers.


Thanks Steve, what I'm thinking of doing is cutting a sharpened taper a few inches back from the forks then let it go down to the pouch. First I'm going to try .4 or .45 Sumike doubles at 600% for shooting 55 & 80 gram tungstun balls to see where it ends up fpe wise. Do you think that there would still be an advantage in draw weight by leaving the pouch end not sharpened? Or do you think that I should leave a couple inches straight for a complete sharpened taper?
I thought that I would start out with a 1-1/2" x 1" taper... Thoughts?


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