# How do you know



## Scoremaster (Nov 11, 2015)

If a band or tube is sized right for the ammo you are shooting 
I understand that a heavy band will shoot anything the same as a lighter band will shoot anything but how do you decide which works for what .

Maybe ill try to clear this up a little bit say one style band or tube is great with 3/8 ammo what mAkes it not work well with smaller or larger ammo .

I've been reading trying to find the answer but just maybe not understanding what I'm looking at so just figured to ask direct.

Thanks for any advice,

Scott


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## Byudzai (Aug 31, 2013)

what are you using now for 3/8?


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## Scoremaster (Nov 11, 2015)

Well just getting started in slingshot things 
Currently have a Barnett black widow and am in the process of making my own tree fork just for bb shooting in the house this winter .
But just looking at different bands or tubes and guess I have to settle on what I want to shoot and go from there .

Scott


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

A .177 cal BB requires very minimal band material . The stock Barnett tubes are far to heavy for BB's . A more suitable match would be 1/4 inch straight Thera Band Gold flat stock and a down sized pouch . That's just one of many possibilities . Heavier bands are not faster in this instance . Light ammo gets light bands . Heavy ammo gets a heavier band . A well balanced ammo/band relationship greatly helps accuracy. You don't need excessive energy left over after release .


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## Scoremaster (Nov 11, 2015)

Thanks tree fork,
That's kinds what I was thinking and since I'm in the process of building my own fork for the indoor bb shoot and not wanting to waste money on something that most likely will not work .

As for right now I have some peep site tubing from a compound bow that was left over from a earlier project I'm going to try .

But again thanks for the info I haven't tried any bands yet that may be the next try lol.

Thanks,
Scott


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## Byudzai (Aug 31, 2013)

stick with the lightest elastic that gets your ammo downrange if you're target shooting. heavy pulls will really hurt your learning process with regard to form and accuracy.


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## poekoelan (Jan 1, 2013)

Scoremaste, This is one of the best "newbie" questions I've ever heard someone ask. Most newbies want to know what the "best" slingshot is, or what the most powerful bands are. They are not "stupid questions" ( no such thing ) just impossible to answer. Your question is an interesting one and one that is quite possible to answer. Even if you aren't new to this hobby, it's still an interesting question. Treefork gave good advice to get you in the ball park with .177 bbs. But if you want to move up in ammo weight.....

A given band set with a variety of ammo and a chronograph will provide the most scientific answer. I am going to make an assumption here. I am going to assume you don't have a chrony. No sweat, you can still come real close. But you will need a given set of bands and a variety of ammo that varies in weight.

I would reccomend setting up a large, easy to hit target at about 20 yards. Many people ( myself included ) do most of their shooting closer than that. But the extra distance will help you in this case. Wear a thick glove on your hand that holds the forks. Shoot the lightest ammo first. Try to pay attention to how long it takes to get to the target and the sound that the bands make. Also pay attention to the bands slapping your hand ( the reason for the thick glove ). Then move up through the various weights of ammo that you have and keep paying attention to how long it takes the ammo to get to the target and how loud the bands are snapping on release. You should begin to notice some things.

With ammo that is too light the bands will slap your hand noticeably harder than with ammo that is better matched. Also, the snap of the bands will be louder. As you move up in ammo weight, the hand slap will become more gentle and the snap of the bands will be quieter. When this happens, you have a good band to ammo match. You may find that a more than one ammo weight is a good match for you. But keep paying attention to how long it takes the ammo to get to the target. When it starts to take noticeably longer or the shots are hitting way low, your ammo is too heavy. However, there is nothing wrong with shooting ammo that is too light or too heavy as long as you know what you are in for.

The bands that came on your barnett will work best with heavy ammo. Like .44 lead, 1/2" steel or even .50 lead. Simpleshot sells very small tubing that supposedly works real well with .177 bbs. It will require a very small, light pouch to get best speed.


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## Resigned User (Jul 4, 2015)

poekoelan said:


> With ammo that is too light the bands will slap your hand noticeably harder than with ammo that is better matched. Also, the snap of the bands will be louder. As you move up in ammo weight, the hand slap will become more gentle and the snap of the bands will be quieter.


According to this... Which can be the reason when the opposite happen?
Heavy ammo cause hand slap and lighter not


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

Widget said:


> poekoelan said:
> 
> 
> > With ammo that is too light the bands will slap your hand noticeably harder than with ammo that is better matched. Also, the snap of the bands will be louder. As you move up in ammo weight, the hand slap will become more gentle and the snap of the bands will be quieter.
> ...


Honestly I have never heard of that happening.

Word of warning: if you use ammo that is much too heavy for your elastics, it much increases the risk of a "return to sender" shot. That's where the ammo gets caught up in the pouch and instead of flying towards your intended target, it comes back at you.

So.... Light ammo and heavy bands can cause
- (excessive) hand slap 
- inaccuracy
- premature band breakage

Heavy ammo and light bands can cause
- ammo trajectory will be arched instead of flat
- ammo can get caught up in the pouch and come back at the shooter


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## Resigned User (Jul 4, 2015)

I know it's sound strange but sometimes with my configuration it happen

I have tubes on my SS and shoot 7mm steel balls and all works fine... Than I use marbles and have hand slaps... 
But 
As I notice it happen when I shoot and not when the tubes come back... It is like my hand are on the way of the marbles... But not on the way of the 7mm

But I have my hand always in the same position


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## poekoelan (Jan 1, 2013)

I'm with Viper010, in that I never heard of that happening either. Do you shoot OTT? I stopped shooting OTT long ago because of the hand slap. It seemed I would get hand slap no matter how heavy or light my ammo was. So I started shooting against the ties and that solved 95 percent of the problem, even with light ammo.


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## Resigned User (Jul 4, 2015)

At the moment yes... 90 % of my actual shooter are OTT


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## poekoelan (Jan 1, 2013)

Try turning it around and shooting it backwards a few times and see what the hand slap is like. I bet most of it will disappear. Keep an eye on where the bands are wrapped to the forks to watch for any slipping though. Might be a good idea to wear shooting glasses if you try this.

If the hand slap goes away when shooting it backwards, then just do what I do. Wrap the bands around both sides of the forks. Then the bands won't slip when you pull against the wrap. Because as you are pulling against one side of the wrap, it causes the other side of the wrap to clamp down on the bands on the other side of the fork.

It's been working well for me for a few years now. I don't even cut band grooves on my forks anymore and hand slap is thing of the past. I make my first wrap kind of loose to act as buffer, then I really stretch the ties to the max to complete the job.


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