# good starting catty ??



## lewis850 (May 27, 2011)

im after a starting catty , just wondering whats good for basic practice and for hunting ? any suggestions please. thanks lewis


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

hards woods and mutiplex/plywood bands theraband gold


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## lewis850 (May 27, 2011)

ok ?? im just starting so im after a complete catty just to start ???


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## Gwilym (Dec 9, 2010)

If you want a good starter gamekeeper johns are cheap and good quality and UK based. but he isn't selling for 2 weeks as he is moving.


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## Hit and run (May 14, 2011)

You can start any way you like. You can buy "the very best" or get a Y-shaped twig, some elastic bands and an old belt, or somewhere in between. For ammo from rocks to polished gold plated lead balls. 
For accuracy some speed is desirable (if the launched ammo is hard to follow/see it's probably fast enough), and for hunting most will tell you accuracy is mandatory, and thus practice. For killing you need heavy ammo and decent speeds (think lead and 'special' rubber). You don't want your prey to suffer needlessly.

If you like building things yourself then all you need is some quality elastic (which can be bought for around 10,- pounds) to make a very good slingshot. Have a look around the forum, there are LOADS of pictures, info and even templates to make a nice slingshot.

There was a thread here recently with a nice quote:


ZDP said:


> "Beauty and comfort are found in the frame.
> Performance in the bands.
> And accuracy in the shooter."


hf


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

I recommend a wire frame with fairly light pull tubes for beginners. Slingshots powerful enough for hunting may be hard enough to pull to discourage beginners. First learn to hit your target, then work up to a hunter. Unless you are a natural, hitting a 10 cm sized target at 10 meters may be a lot more difficult than it seems, so practice, practice, practice.

Making you own is certainly doable, but resist the temptation to start off with heavy hunting bands. If you do make your own, a natural fork would be best. You will almost certainly get some fork hits while learning, and a natural tree fork is less likely to be destroyed by a fork hit.

Whatever you decide, have fun, and welcome to the asylum.



lewis850 said:


> im after a starting catty , just wondering whats good for basic practice and for hunting ? any suggestions please. thanks lewis


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## orcrender (Sep 11, 2010)

I would try a Saunders. They use flat bands and the one they come with is easy to pull. The flat bands have a shorter life, but on the Hawk they are easy to change. Noticed you are in the UK and Gamekeeper John has some fine looking shooters. I don't own one, but lots of people like them.


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

If you're looking for a quality slingshot in the UK you have a few good choices, Gamekeeper, Milbroproshotuk, And Hawk2009. All members here all great guys. As far as which particular slingshot, well my tastes run a lot different from most so I won't get specific all I will say is if you're starting out stay away from really narrow forks and super heavy bands.


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## TastelikeSnozberries (Jul 16, 2010)

I'm by no means an expert, but the mistake I got roped into making as a beginner was finding the most diesel bands I could because "LOOK AT THE POWER". It 's only now, more than a full year later that I can actually shoot those with any accuracy, and it was extremely discouraging throughout my beginning stages.


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

You will be hard pressed to do better than going to: http://www.milbroproshotuk.com/ and either ordering something from there or contacting Pete through the website and ordering a special... like a number 1 or number 9 on my avatar in 6061 aluminum.
Either of those are tremendous for beginners... plenty of room between the forks for a variety of ammo types and sizes... plus you can attach a variety of different elastics as well.... OR if you ask real nice he might be able to hook you up with a SEAL shot in 6061 aluminum (see my gallery).

Anyway, I recommend something with plenty of width between the forks, made from a durable fork hit resistant material thats big and comfortable to hold and aim for extended periods of time.


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## lewis850 (May 27, 2011)

thanks alot guys youve give me alot of food for thought


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## PandaMan (Oct 14, 2010)

I've been shooting for ages now, and I'm not accurate enough for hunting. I'm sure you are well briefed in ethics of hunting, so you must make sure you can get a clean kill on the first shot, which I can say is a hard shot to make. All the videos of pros shooting make it look easy to use slingshots, but believe me, it takes a lot of practice and skill. If you stick with it, you will be sure to get that skill eventually


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## shot in the foot (Jan 3, 2010)

Have a look at gamekeeper Johns target slingshot, he would put target bands on it for you, then when you can shred a can from 15 yards put some hunting bands on, jeff


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## srs45 (May 10, 2011)

shot in the foot said:


> Have a look at gamekeeper Johns target slingshot, he would put target bands on it for you, then when you can shred a can from 15 yards put some hunting bands on, jeff


I was in the same boat as a starter. I'd say buy a GameKeeper John "Target Shooter". It comes set up, it's single banded which is very important as others have said you need to learn accuracy and build up muscel before going onto heavier bands. Price is ideal too.

I've also ordered a Hathcock Target Sniper but as thats ordered from the US hasn't arrived yet. Looks very nice though.

Ammo, if you shooting in your garden and can't afford richochette into the neighbors buy some clay (I've just ordered thousands of shots worth of clay as offcuts from a local clay artist for super cheap) and roll it into 12mm balls, its pottery clay but let it naturally dry for a day or so, don't kiln it(using a fishing boilie roller makes it really round and accurate sizes). I can shoot 13.5meters in my garden with clay accurately but its light so can't imagine it would stay accurate much further.

It your not worried about richochette just go on ebay and find cheap 9.5mm or 12mm ball bearings. (search for: 3/8 ball bearings or: 1/2 ball bearings), thats how I found cheap bags of about 100. Don't get caught out buying the cutlery ones that come 5 in a bag for £10.

As for hunting people seem to use minimum 1/2" steel or 1/2" lead (lead is the most powerful shot as it is super heavey).


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## lewis850 (May 27, 2011)

ok thanks mate







i was looking at the hathcock target sniper !! it looks great, i live in a residential area and my garden is about 5 meters (were its safe to shoot , as everyone sems to have conserventry's and green houses







)

so i think that clay ideas is great







i dont have a pot maker or anything around me tho ??

i intend to make a target and backstop for my catty using towels etc

and we have a vicious magpie that comes around here so i will practise then practise then practise and hopefully try it out ???

is there anything else i ned to consider ?? thanks


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## kobe23 (Jun 28, 2010)

I think for learning get a slingshot, but for hunting get ANOTHER slingshot. Starters tend to get fork hits, therefore weakening the fork and increasing the risk of fork break when strong bands are attached.


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## lewis850 (May 27, 2011)

yes i agree







i have a target one being sent tome soon and and hunter one when my mate gets his new 1


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## marblemadness (May 18, 2011)

Go with what's readily available to begin with. Saunders Archery makes good slingshots as far as production models go. I'm very happy with my Hawk...


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

You can get a five lb box of air dry clay at most art or craft stores it runs about $10 over here and you can make a lot of ammo quite easily.


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