# A little buckshot slingshot experiment



## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

Hi , folks ,

Had an idea spinning around my mind for some time , .......wanted to try to make a buckshot slingshot that fires multiple projectiles at one time .

Started out on a small scale utilizing my lates "X"-shooter to serve as a fork for this special bandset .

After a "YouTube" video put out by "mxred91" in there I've first made a dimpled pouch utilizing two metal cylinders with a 13mm center bore and a 12mm steel ball , ........the dimpled pouch is essential to accommodate the buckshot charge without having the small 5,5 mm airgun pellets dropping out from the pouch , ...sadly the 12mm indention in the pouch is only big enough to hold 5 of these pellets , ......but anyway , ...it's only a first experiment !

Jörg Sprave has also put up a buckshot slingshot on "YouTube" , but I'm not too fond of the Kydex pouch that he utilizes there ,..... due to possible injuries of the fork hand I wanted to stick with a leather pouch .

Because I find it too time consuming to load all projectiles one by one whilst shooting , I've thought about making a kinda cartridge to hold the buckshot charge , ......a bit similar to yesteryears musket cartridges , only without holding gunpowder as well !

These paper cartridges may be made of kitchen tissue paper , paper handkerchiefs or even thicker toilet paper , ....the paper sheet is pressed into a jig having a matching bore(in this case my metal cylinders I've used to indent the pouch)by means of a pen or similar , ....the indent in the paper now created is then filled with the buckshot charge , 5 balls in this case .

A piece of cheap twine tied to a constrictor knot closes the paper cartridge , the tag ends should be knotted a second time to prevent the first knot from loosening , ......................finally the two tag ends are knotted together about 3" from the charge to create a kinda loop , .......finally the paper remainder above the knot is trimmed as short and small as possible with scissors .

This "X"-shooter frame just lends itsself shooting these cartridges , as I can use the bottom shanks of the "X" to slide the cartridge loop over and tear the top of the cartrigde away once I'm holding it steady in the pouch just ready to shoot , .................the twine loop with the torn off cartridge top would then just fall down on the floor not to foul with the bands(on the last picture you can view some spent cartridge tops) .

I have made a few shots on a stuffed envelope filled with a folded supermarket flyer(two buckshot and five or six single) , ..........as it seems , this buckshot charge does not have as much penetration power as my teakwood shooter shooting single 5,5mm pellets , .........also the charge did not quite separate from the cartridge remainder on the short distance of about 8 or 9 feet down the basement , ........it still sticks in the envelope target , as you can see on the pictures ,...... also there are no clear exit holes on the envelope compared to the performance of the teakwood shooter .

But I've made some more buckshot shots out of the window at a tree root about 45 feet away ,....... I could clearly see the copper-plated leadballs of the charge separate well time for time , it would cover a plane of about a kids ballon size at that distance .

But I could also figure out , that the buckshot charge has a slower velocity compared to a single projectile shot with the teakwood shooter with the red bands , ......even though the draw of the buckshot shooter is quite a bit harder , .........guess I still need to tinker with the bands to achieve a higher velocity , ........any advice welcome !

Anyway , ...just an experiment to fool around with , .....I wonder , if it would be possible to make bigger indents on leather pouches to hold more shot ,...... thinkin 'bout 16mm to even 20mm , ....but even the most wet leather cannot be stretched out unlimited , I guess ?

Still I had great fun with my experiments , ....I'll probably make an outdoor shooting video of it some day , .......probably I could even provide some input to people in here , ...........my credits go to Jörg and mxred91 , as they've inspired me as well !

Greetz , Holzwurm


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## btuer (Jun 17, 2011)

Very interesting.

I have been playing with making similar shot shells, but without much success.

Hope to see more posts with your future results/tests.


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## NoSugarRob (Jun 3, 2010)

excelent ! i think this has a very high cool factor, cos of its coolness..


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

good idea!


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

Thanks a lot , folks , .........on Saturday I've done the first test shooting with these paper buckshot shells , ........did it on a floating target to be able to observe the impact of the projectiles and also the grade of separation of the entire buckshot charge .

You may watch my test shooting in here , ...still very poor , but compared to my first video I'm slowly getting better , I guess ?






Sorry about the malfunction of the camera through the last 4 minutes of the first video , .....dunno why this happened !

I now really wish to design pouches , that would hold more shot(at least 9 to 15 balls) and also gain more penetration power , as later I've found 5 airgun pellets inside of the tobacco container , ..........single shots with the "teakwood shooter" would surely penetrate entirely(and I was unable to hit the target with the aluminium ammo magazine shooter at all) .

In the second video I'm taking some buckshot shots with pellets loaded one by one into the pouch , those paper shells were all spent at this time .






greetz , Holzwurm


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## NoSugarRob (Jun 3, 2010)

is it very difficult to shoot from a boat ? it must be moving about like mad ?


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

NoSugarRob said:


> is it very difficult to shoot from a boat ? it must be moving about like mad ?


I'm sure , you reckon this , 'cause I hardly hit







?

............it's just my lack of practice , mate , ..........I'm shooting from an angling platform resting on poles rammed into the swampy bottom , .......this is why this thing is occassionally shaking







!

greetz , Holzwurm


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

Looking forward to a video if you ever get the chance!


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## NoSugarRob (Jun 3, 2010)

Holzwurm said:


> is it very difficult to shoot from a boat ? it must be moving about like mad ?


I'm sure , you reckon this , 'cause I hardly hit







?

............it's just my lack of practice , mate , ..........I'm shooting from an angling platform resting on poles rammed into the swampy bottom , .......this is why this thing is occassionally shaking







!

greetz , Holzwurm








[/quote]

no no ! wasnt about you not hitting







i thought the boat was very still and you were about to tell us how you kept the boat from moving


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## Holzwurm (Nov 5, 2010)

NaturalFork said:


> Looking forward to a video if you ever get the chance!
























??????

.............sorry , mate , ......can't quite dig this , ..............do mean shooting from a boat ?

@ NoSugarRob

The only way to prevent a boat from swinging around is to utilize at least two anchors , ......one of each place at stern and one at the bow , ......still better four anchors bow and stern on portside and starboard alike , ...........but would be pretty complicated to place all of them correctly .

Still the boat would rock on the waves , .......it just won't swing too much anymore .

Cheerio , Holzwurm


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## BCLuxor (Aug 24, 2010)

Try the small .177 copper bb's I load 15 or so by hand into my pouch and shoot up to 60"ft they all punch through a Target a4 sized. speed is good also but the practicality of taking any game is slim they would just injure, but heck birdshot for a slingshot whatever next.


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