# Ammo For Outdoor Plinking



## reppans (May 13, 2012)

What do you guys like to shoot for outdoor plinking - no catchbox? Rocks would be ideal, being free with and no environmental impact, but it is difficult to find the right size and round enough to fly straight.


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## akmslingshots (Mar 2, 2012)

i would say gumballs, they will desolve into nothing and fly straight although light in weight ??


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

Marbles are the best. Called decorative glass balls in the flower section of hobby store. (uniform spherical weight distribution as opposed to the traditional swirl marble)


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

Hey reppans nice to see you here. I shoot marbles from craft stores, if you have Christmas Tree Shoppes where you live they have them for the cheapest that I have found. I also like to shoot rocks, when I am down at the creek I try to stock up, rocks are the most challenging. When I get discourged I watch a couple of Rufus Hussey videos and go right back to it. LOL


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## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Marbles, marbles, marbles...


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## jskeen (Feb 7, 2011)

Glass marbles are cheap, nontoxic, harmless if ingested by critters and generally pretty cool to leave laying around. True, they are not exactly biodegradeable, unless you are looking at geologic timespans, in which they will eventually return to sand But really, I think that chemically inert is close enough.

If you are in a particularly ecologically sensitive area, you might look into small jawbreakers candy (I use the boxed everlasting gobstopers) or possibly lemon drops, as both are solid and heavier than gumballs, but still dissolve in water.


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## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

Great answer jskeen. Also hand rolling balls of clay. Modeling clay is cheap sometimes. Roll into balls. Let harden. Shoot.


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

Btoon84 said:


> Great answer jskeen. Also hand rolling balls of clay. Modeling clay is cheap sometimes. Roll into balls. Let harden. Shoot.


That's what I do sometimes,, and my kids love doing it... we call it playing, but you all know my true intentions


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## reppans (May 13, 2012)

Thanks folks... all great suggestions. Marbles, clay and candy it is! The latter 2 might even make good reactive ammo exploding on impact.

I used to shoot some paintballs with a old wristrocket, but the .68 cal standard size don't seem to fit my 2.5" pouches well.... and next size down I've seen is probably too light weight.

Hey August West.... how's the H51 treating you? (you need to start a FL thread here).


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## August West (Jan 21, 2012)

My H51 absolutely kicks ass, I have owned surefires and fenixes for years but I gotta say this thing amazes me with just 1 AA. Chris


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## harson (Oct 21, 2011)

m&m,s


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## ifix (Jun 11, 2012)

was searching for misplaced tools the other day and found these instead. I think they were in there for 5-6 years. they look fresh. 1" and 3". called jawbreakers in the US. not sure what you call them elsewhere


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## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

I shoot mostly 3/8 steel ammo from Royal Steel Ball.

*Why?* At 1.6 cents per 3/8 ball, the steel is actually pretty cheap even compared with cost of marbles I have found.

I consider my steel ammo like going to a movie or some other recreational "expense". I will purchase 50 pounds at one time and with the shipping included it brings the cost to the 1.6 cents each. Most of my shooting is at home where I recover a fair percentage of the ammo. When occasionally in the woods stump shooting it is a cheap date.

I stopped shooting marbles on my property because the marbles break when hitting cans and I like to shoot at the heavier steel or aluminum recepticles.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

* Nobody has mentioned seeds. These work and are environmental friendly, if you worry about that. I recently discovered that some Indians up in Guatemala use them in their blowpipes for birds. So I've been experimenting with seeds and they work fine. I just had a go this morning with olive pits at up to 25'and they would probably work farther. I wouldn't want to hunt with them but for expendable shooting ammo they work fine. *


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## kingmurphy (May 16, 2012)

i sometimes walk down to a local stream wih a bag pack and collect river stones they fly like a charm because of the abrasive erosion there sliky smooth

Alexander .s. Howson


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## Northerner (Nov 9, 2010)

As Rayshot mentioned, the 3/8" steel from Royal Steel Ball is a reasonable price. Last March I ordered *25 pounds of 3/8" steel ammo*. The product cost was $1.50 per pound which worked out to $37.50 for the 25#. The shipping cost from Illinois to Minnesota was $15.76. The total for approx 3125 balls was *$53.26*. That works out to approx 1.7 cents per ball.

Cheers,
Northerner


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## Shooter4829 (Jun 17, 2012)

9.5mm steel balls. my ammo of choice for everything but hunting.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

I wish. I hate to think what those 3/8” balls would cost me. After buying the balls I have to get them to Miami. Then 50# from Miami to here alone is $151.50-$155.50. Then after that there is a fuel charge, customs fee, customs service fee, import tax, sales tax, and I think I’ve missed 1 or 2. Oh ya, after they finally arrive at the pick up point I need to get the home. Holy mackerel there, Andy. I like 3/8" balls but I'll continue to walk to the corner hardware and buy a nut for 2½¢.


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

I have done the clay thing and i didnt like them not being uniform. I like gumballs and paintballs.


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## torsten (Feb 9, 2010)

7,1 mm steel balls - 5,- Euro for 3000 balls, or 8mm steelies - 2000 for 10,- Euro. Cheap, accurate - from our local steel ball dealer "Kugeln-Winnie" here in Germany


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

I use lead for everything, except testing, where I sometimes use steel so others can compare my results. Lead toxicity is highly overhyped, and lead came out of the ground and will, in time, return to it.


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## sniper62 (Feb 25, 2012)

Northerner said:


> As Rayshot mentioned, the 3/8" steel from Royal Steel Ball is a reasonable price. Last March I ordered *25 pounds of 3/8" steel ammo*. The product cost was $1.50 per pound which worked out to $37.50 for the 25#. The shipping cost from Illinois to Minnesota was $15.76. The total for approx 3125 balls was *$53.26*. That works out to approx 1.7 cents per ball.
> 
> Cheers,
> Northerner


E-mail I just received after inquiry to Royal Steel Ball-That's shipping to Georgia.

Bill,
The ammo is $ 1.50 per pound, plus UPS at $ 20.00 - total $ 57.50.
If interested, just give us a call with a credit card.
Marty


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## Jakerock (Mar 8, 2012)

I just ordered from McMaster-Carr
http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-steel-balls/=i7nsw9

1000 3/8 steel balls shipped for $29.25 = 3 cents a piece


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## CAS14 (Jul 17, 2012)

Picher, Oklahoma, a once-thriving mining town in the Tri-State Mining District (lead-zinc) is now practically uninhabitable. Childrens' IQs were severely impacted. Contaminated yards and playgrounds, and the spoil piles that kids played on resulted in blood concentrations that were many times safe levels. This is an extreme instance that occurred just 200 miles north of me.

The example cited is extreme. A few lead shot in the backyard likely don't create a comparable situation. But since i don't have quantitative data to evaluate, I will stick with ammo other than lead.


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## fsa46 (Jul 8, 2012)

CAS said:


> Picher, Oklahoma, a once-thriving mining town in the Tri-State Mining District (lead-zinc) is now practically uninhabitable. Childrens' IQs were severely impacted. Contaminated yards and playgrounds, and the spoil piles that kids played on resulted in blood concentrations that were many times safe levels. This is an extreme instance that occurred just 200 miles north of me.
> 
> The example cited is extreme. A few lead shot in the backyard likely don't create a comparable situation. But since i don't have quantitative data to evaluate, I will stick with ammo other than lead.


You may be absolutely correct CAS, but the way I look at it is that any lead shot left in the woods by people using slingshots is minuscule compared to the lead left in the woods buy hunters over the last 100 years, not to mention the Civil War and other conflicts over the years. JMHO


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## sparrowslinger (Jun 19, 2012)

Not entirely round, but cherry pits are like wooden bullets!


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## CAS14 (Jul 17, 2012)

I agree fsa46, I'm thinking about the target practice in my own back yard where my grandchildren play. That's concentrated in a small area as opposed to a large wooded area.


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## eelpout (Jun 25, 2012)

sparrowslinger said:


> Not entirely round, but cherry pits are like wooden bullets!


Vampire ammo


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## sparrowslinger (Jun 19, 2012)

Ha ha! Cherry pits don't have a lot of density, but they do fly pretty fast when shot.


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## Jakerock (Mar 8, 2012)

fsa46 said:


> You may be absolutely correct CAS, but the way I look at it is that any lead shot left in the woods by people using slingshots is minuscule compared to the lead left in the woods buy hunters over the last 100 years, not to mention the Civil War and other conflicts over the years. JMHO


I feel the same way about littering. Compared to everyone else in the world over the course of all history, my impact is really no big deal.


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## lightgeoduck (Apr 3, 2011)

That's why in my household we strictly use styrofoam cups... I mean shoot we are only a family of four.


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## Jakerock (Mar 8, 2012)

This is one answer to the original topic:


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

I like gobstoppers, gumballs, and steel if it is 7/16 diameter because it is easier to load than the 3/8 then after that is rocks.

Thats all.


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## hammerdrop99 (Aug 11, 2011)

I was waiting in the car for my wife at the doctor's office and noticed acorns on the ground under an ornamental oak tree. Broke out the slingshot and tried a few. They flew amazingly well. Hundreds on the ground and I picked up a ziplock full. Shoot them quickly for after a few days on the porch they started to sprout in the bag. I remotely planted a couple of hundred around the neighborhood.


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## Jakerock (Mar 8, 2012)

He he that's a good idea!


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## SonoftheRepublic (Jul 3, 2011)

In another thread, Charles mentioned that he uses steel around water because they are biodegradeable. After thinking about it, he's right . . . they always start to rust when left out overnight. So for me its either steel, marbles, or rocks (if I can find nice smooth round ones).


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

hammerdrop99 said:


> I was waiting in the car for my wife at the doctor's office and noticed acorns on the ground under an ornamental oak tree. Broke out the slingshot and tried a few. They flew amazingly well. Hundreds on the ground and I picked up a ziplock full. Shoot them quickly for after a few days on the porch they started to sprout in the bag. I remotely planted a couple of hundred around the neighborhood.


When I was a kid using natural forks with inner tube bands and pouches out of shoe tongues I used bunches of those. They worked great.


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## cairomn (Sep 4, 2013)

I'm glad I'm not the only flashaholic on here! 
I use m&ms and gum balls. The m&ms qare not exactly cheap here in the uk but you can buy bulk gumballs and gobstoppers on amazon


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## Tube_Shooter (Dec 8, 2012)

I can loose off 500 x 9.5mm steel in a single session cost of that would be about £8.00 so I don't do it often away from my catch box,its more of a once in awhile treat for me.


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## cairomn (Sep 4, 2013)

Tube_Shooter said:


> I can loose off 500 x 9.5mm steel in a single session cost of that would be about £8.00 so I don't do it often away from my catch box,its more of a once in awhile treat for me.


I know the feeling when I first started shooting I would buy a pack of 30 9mm steel from a local fishing store each costing 6£ per bag, now looking back I was ripped off but there is nothing better Than going for a walk in the meadows with a catapult. I know the feeling of the once in a while treat thing.... Just be sure to fill every pocket and a bag full of ammo.
From C
Ps I now buy my steel in bulk.


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## Frozenthunderbolt (May 31, 2014)

pgandy said:


> *Nobody has mentioned seeds. These work and are environmental friendly, if you worry about that. I recently discovered that some Indians up in Guatemala use them in their blowpipes for birds. So I've been experimenting with seeds and they work fine. I just had a go this morning with olive pits at up to 25'and they would probably work farther. I wouldn't want to hunt with them but for expendable shooting ammo they work fine. *


Seed-balls (approximate seeds for the area mixed with clay, slow release fertilizer and then dried)
Annual flowers/herbs that are KNOWN not to be invasive are a nice thought.
See if you can plant some flowers where no human could ever reach ;-)


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## D.Nelson (Feb 20, 2014)

Marbles for sure. I hate wasting my lead or steel, mainly the lead.


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## leon13 (Oct 4, 2012)

paint bals ? works good for us,and the kids love it.

cheers


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## Pebble Shooter (Mar 29, 2014)

When I started out out again with slingshots, I used rounded, fairly symmetrical pebbles (hence the "pebble shooter" name...) which actually work quite well, providing that your slingshot forks have the necessary width and depth to avoid fork hits. I've found that rounded stones from river beds shaped by erosion are generally fine, as long as they're not larger than roughly 50% of the fork width and depth for safety reasons.

Accuracy is directly related to how rounded or oval-shaped the stones are, as this will provide a more balanced mass from a ballistic point of view. Stone weight will of course depend on the minerals contained. Like with steel ammo, you have to careful with ricochets.

The big advantage is that they're free and abundant, not to mention environmentally suitable.... 

Jagged or very irregularly shaped stones are a definite no-no, and a potential source of trouble: frequent fork hits (injuries?), torn flat bands or tubes, and worse, their flight path is rather erratic to say the least, and you're very likely to hit something other than the intended target.

Bottom line with stones: round, oval, symmetrically-shaped is the safest option. I still use them now and then...


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## TLab3000 (May 20, 2014)

I don't know about the candy. I got some, yesterday, and most of the stuff (jelly beans, m&ms, and so on) broke apart before it hit the target. 93°F today, chocolate is not an option anyway.

Kugel-Winnie has 6mm (.037) biodegradable BBs for less than a cent per shot. I've been thinking about getting a pack, as I've found a nice place to shoot during lunch break in the woods near my workplace.


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## Grandpa Pete (May 2, 2013)

reppans said:


> What do you guys like to shoot for outdoor plinking - no catchbox? Rocks would be ideal, being free with and no environmental impact, but it is difficult to find the right size and round enough to fly straight.


I like to use gumballs from the dollar shop. They will disolve over time, break up when they hit a hard target or will be eaten by critters. I don't really want a lot of glass, perhaps broken pieces around our yard or in the wilderness for that matter.


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## JonM (Aug 17, 2013)

Acorns are kinda fun but pretty much anything handy will work in a pinch.


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## pgandy (Aug 15, 2011)

I had mentioned seeds previously. Here's a can shot with an apple seed using double pseudo tapered 1745. The seed was from a manzana agua. Sorry I don't know the English name but that translates literally to water apple.


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## wyosasquatch (Sep 3, 2014)

I have used dog food in the past. We bought a 50 lb bag of kibble for cheap and spent a weekend shooting. We didn't use half the bag. Maybe more like a quarter. The flight was accurate enough out to maybe 50 feet or so? Not target standards but certainly plinking standards. Definitely biodegradable.

Sasq.


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## fsimpson (May 13, 2014)

been using `taconite ` pellets that are compressed iron ore that i got on ebay . they are cheap (1600 for $ 15.00 shipped)

they are heavy and biodegradable average 3/8 or so diameter . if you drop one you can`t find it on the ground (they are hard as rocks and don`t break up on hard targets). evidently iron ore is like dust when mined,

so they make it into these pellets to handle and transport it . works for me ----------frank


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## PeterW (Nov 29, 2014)

for short range, just rocks. The slight inaccuracy is a price i am willing to pay for free ammo. Rocks are a great way to just practice without using any money.


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## cairomn (Sep 4, 2013)

August West said:


> My H51 absolutely kicks ***, I have owned surefires and fenixes for years but I gotta say this thing amazes me with just 1 AA. Chris


Ahhhh, my forte. I was going to get a h51 this Xmas but I decided to go with a copper aaa maratac Rev 3


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## cairomn (Sep 4, 2013)

Recently I've been using horse chestnuts aka conkers... They are a bit big but they pack a punch with linatex bands.


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## Grandpa Pete (May 2, 2013)

fsimpson said:


> been using `taconite ` pellets that are compressed iron ore that i got on ebay . they are cheap (1600 for $ 15.00 shipped)
> 
> they are heavy and biodegradable average 3/8 or so diameter . if you drop one you can`t find it on the ground (they are hard as rocks and don`t break up on hard targets). evidently iron ore is like dust when mined,
> 
> so they make it into these pellets to handle and transport it . works for me ----------frank


I am going to look into these. Sounds like a good idea


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## Grandpa Pete (May 2, 2013)

Buy some potter's clay. Roll it into little balls and put them in th oven on a cooking tray for an hour and you'll have cheap, environmentally friendly ammo.


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## POI (Dec 5, 2014)

treefork said:


> Marbles are the best. Called decorative glass balls in the flower section of hobby store. (uniform spherical weight distribution as opposed to the traditional swirl marble)


Thnks for this. Never would have crossed my mind.


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

reppans said:


> What do you guys like to shoot for outdoor plinking - no catchbox? Rocks would be ideal, being free with and no environmental impact, but it is difficult to find the right size and round enough to fly straight.


Reppans, Reppans, Reppans, poor fellow - dont'cha know about NASA's free course in "Rock Steerage"? Get with it man, ya don't even need a GED (Good Enough Diploma) to apply for the course.

Heck, Rufus learned rock steerage even before those brave fellows put foot on the moon.

You can do it buddy! Go for it!

Regards,

Mike


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## THWACK! (Nov 25, 2010)

Rayshot said:


> I shoot mostly 3/8 steel ammo from Royal Steel Ball.
> 
> *Why?* At 1.6 cents per 3/8 ball, the steel is actually pretty cheap even compared with cost of marbles I have found.
> 
> ...


I've also always had a fondness for cheap dates.


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## Grandpa Pete (May 2, 2013)

Ft/Lbs @ POI said:


> treefork said:
> 
> 
> > Marbles are the best. Called decorative glass balls in the flower section of hobby store. (uniform spherical weight distribution as opposed to the traditional swirl marble)
> ...


Dollar store marbles are cheaper.


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