# Clay ball and band set up



## Whytey

So, I purchased some 8-10mm clay balls online to try..... maybe scare off some pest fauna.

To date I have only used Simple Shot black .7 22x18mm taper with 7/16" steel.
I have a new roll of .8 yellow Snipersling to begin my band making venture and am going with the same taper for the steel.

What might be a good taper to start with for the clays?


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## Valery

.7 and .8 are too strong for clay, you could try 10x15 cones, or even smaller. But it's better to buy latex with a thickness of .4-.45.


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## Whytey

Valery said:


> .7 and .8 are too strong for clay, you could try 10x15 cones, or even smaller. But it's better to buy latex with a thickness of .4-.45.


Cones?
I realise a a thinner band would be ideal but one has to use what they have on hand.


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## madmax96

Whytey said:


> So, I purchased some 8-10mm clay balls online to try..... maybe scare off some pest fauna.
> 
> To date I have only used Simple Shot black .7 22x18mm taper with 7/16" steel.
> I have a new roll of .8 yellow Snipersling to begin my band making venture and am going with the same taper for the steel.
> 
> What might be a good taper to start with for the clays?


I've shot SS yellow .8, might be a lil strong but you could give this a try:
go for a very small taper and only :4,5 for active. like an 15-10 or 12-8 taper.


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## Sandstorm

Just a slight word of warning, left up to your discretion of course, but be sure not to underestimate that clay. It packs a little more of a punch than you might expect. I picked up some with the idea of scaring away the feral dog packs around here but after seeing the dent it left in a steel can, I opted for blanks in my .22 instead. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to get hit by one, that’s all I can say 😂. (That being said, that might have been a dense batch)
Watch for projectile rise over longer distances too. Seems like every batch takes a bit of fiddling around with to get dialed in since consistency isn’t all that great with clay from batch to batch. Probably the best I’ve seen for that are Chuck Saunders Clod Poppers but they’re a little pricey. Shooting clay is a dang good time though! Wish I could find some little gongs to shoot at myself. Have fun!


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## David D

I like clay too. I don't find them to be that accurate, maybe that's just me, but they shatter on impact in a pleasing way, often with a little puff of dust. Generally use what ever I am using for 1/4" steel, which varies. I hit myself in the hand with a clay ball and it left a nice welt. I wonder if furred creatures would feel them though.


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## vince4242

I would say that .8 latex you want to go for a very thin taper. I would even say go something like a straight 8 mm or a straight 10 mm at most. The thing with Clay is it it's not always perfectly round and the more power you put behind it the more it goes astray. I like to go with a slightly lighter band set, and be a little bit closer to the Target to get more accuracy out of clay. It is in general 1 gram for a clay ball the same as quarter inch steel but quarter-inch Steel is much more accurate with power behind it. If you're not sure about how much latex to use for clay try going an extra 2 inches on the cut and then you can shorten your bands to tune them up to match one gram of weight.


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## KawKan

Shooting light ammo with heavy latex can be quite a challenge. 
I think @vince42 is in the right area. 
I'd cut 12-8mm taper 1/4 my draw length and test it out. If that is too much for the clays, 6 to 8mm straights may be the ticket.


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## Tobor8Man

I shoot 1/2" clay exclusively (12-13mm) and use the same band set up that I used for for 3/8" steel. @Standstorm is correct - Saunders Clod Poppers are the best clay ammo - very consistent in size and weight - but tend to be expensive. 

PGN clay ammo works well. Not as accurate as Saunders, but reasonably consistent:









Amazon.com : (500 Pieces) PGN Biodegradable Clay Slingshot Ammo - 1/2" Inch (0.5" Caliber) - Straight & Precise Practice Slingshot Ammo - Non-Toxic Pocket Slingshot Ammo : Sports & Outdoors


Amazon.com : (500 Pieces) PGN Biodegradable Clay Slingshot Ammo - 1/2" Inch (0.5" Caliber) - Straight & Precise Practice Slingshot Ammo - Non-Toxic Pocket Slingshot Ammo : Sports & Outdoors



www.amazon.com


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## cromag

I have gotten 3/8 from PGN and found it to be a bit variable in size but solid and usable. If all I had was thicker latex I'd opt for straight cuts about the size of the ammo or slightly smaller and adjust the band length to avoid the hand slap . Might be a good time to go buy some cheap exercise bands with varying strengths and see if one of those won't do the job. I gave some frames to a few friends for their kids and used the exercise bands with great success and they last a good bit of time with light ammo.


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## Whytey

Thanks gents.

Has anyone tried linked No.32 or No.64 rubber bands?


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## vince4242

I have tried rubber bands with light ammo. I really don't like it, it has a heavy draw and does not feel like it has a smooth return for me. That being said there are quite a few people who use the chained number 64 and really like them. As cheap as they are it could not hurt to try see if you like it. Let us know what setup you go with, I'd be interested to see how thin the band you need with .8 latex.


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## Whytey

UPDATE
I had a pre-cut 241mm long piece of 0.8 Snipersling yellow so went with a 12-8 taper as recommended by yon gurus and a pit pouch to fit the fairly consistent 9.5mm clays.
Started 7m at a coke can and man those balls were zipping. At my 34" draw they were accurate so I attempted the 46" semi butterfly and it worked fine though a tad maxed and shattered too many balls. Changed out to a 57mm spinner at 10m and all went well.
Will do my long draw 266mm cut with my 0.5 Snipersling yellow next. Taper suggestions for 6mm steel equivalent? 12-8?
Here's my back door from under pergola range.....









FUN FUN!


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## vince4242

Sounds like you're having some fun with clay! 
To answer your question I would say your clay taper should work just fine for 6mm Steel. They both weigh 1 gram each so the taper will work for both. The one thing that is definitely different between the clay and the 6mm Steel is that the steel has a consistent size and weight so you can push that one way faster. The extra speed and power behind the 6 mm steel will not send it off course.
I can almost put a 6 mm steel ball all the way through a steel Bean can, it just doesn't have quite enough Mass to make it all the way through, it puts a good-sized dent in the back of the can but doesn't have the energy to punch all the way through like 8 mm.


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## Highway41

Looking forward to more updates

Got some 0.6 SSB on the way to experiment with for 3/8 clay. After the new year I will have to pick up some thinner stuff as well. I have really come to enjoy shooting clay and have been looking at PGN for better size consistency and will have to check out Saunders Clod Poppers. 

Since I'm not going to be hunting I want to try out the 0.6 with some 3/8 steel as well for accuracy wok.


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## Sandstorm

Great to see that you’re having a good time with it!


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## Brewmaster

I just tried this TBG setup this weekend for 1/2" (12.7mm) clay ammo. I have a roll of it and wanted to use it up. Details in the attached image.

It is not super fast but is pretty flat shooting and the draw is very smooth. I ordered some Snipersling Black 0.5 mm and will make some setups with that once in to see how that works. Overall though the TBG bands actually are very nice to shoot.


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## Brewmaster

I made up the Sniper Sling Black 0.5 mm bands and tested them. Here are the results. I found them to be very smooth shooting and quick! I read on the SniperSling site that they elongate to 6 to 6.5 X, so I set mine to about 5.7 to be reasonable. I have done about 400 shots with the set on right now and they seem strong. I did notice that they took about 30 shots to "wear" in. The shots after that were smoother and the velocity came up a bit. I would also comment that they don't seem to "let off" as much when held at full draw for a longer time. To the result!


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## KawKan

Helpful data, @Brewmaster!
Good info on the feel of the latex, too.
Appreciate your chrony contributions!


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## Brewmaster

Got in some Sniper Sling Yellow 0.6 mm. Cut some bands and ran some 1/2" Clay balls through the chrono. Here are the results for those interested. The yell definitely draws smooth and feels good. I like it!


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## Highway41

Finally got my latex order delivered yesterday. Ordered Precise 3rd gen 0.4 and 0.45 which turned out to be 0.41 and 0.49 respectively. Also got Sumeike 0.4 (2 rolls) and 0.45 which turned out to be a 0.38, 0.41 and 0.45.

Anyway I cut the 0.38 Sumeike at 20-15 for my draw length and attached a 9mm pit pouch. Shot about 100 3/8 clay with it this morning and really like it. Soft draw but feels very fast, someday I have to get a chronograph. And had minimal hand slap. I may narrow the taper down a bit but don't want to slow the ammo to much. 

For what it's worth the Precise feels extremely stiff and I'll definitely have to cut longer bands from it. The Sumeike feels great even at 1-5 stretch, I did check a straight cut and got an elongation of 5.75 for the 0.38 and 5.5 for the 0.41 and 0.45.

May have to pick up some other Sumeike thicknesses for 1/2 clay and different steels.


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