# Mechanical Release



## snath (May 28, 2013)

I picked up a Trufire bow release and modified it to grip a 3/8 inch pouched ball.

I removed and discarded the wrist strap and replaced it with a loop of paracord (that I hook around my ring finger), machined off some bits, and made a couple of stainless loops, beveled the inside edges, and silver soldered them on.

I mounted it and a slingshot on a piece of plywood and after I dialed it in (I found that it likes a thin pouch, and ball placement in the pouch is pretty critical) the balls started going in pretty much the same place.

I may make another one with bars (like the Dankung release) instead of loops.

Here are a few picutures.

A few shots of the modifications:



























10 Meters to the target over my plywood "shooting fixture". The red line is not a laser; rather, it is braided red rubber bands at 32 inch draw.









The target after about 50 shots from the shooting fixture.









A close up of one of my exhaust pipe slingshots (I posted about them on the Homemade Slingshots Forum a few days ago)


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Nice job on the conversion. You may know that Dankung makes a mechanical release specifically for slingshots.

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/19680-another-mechanical-release-from-dankung/?hl=%2Bdankung+%2Bmechanical+%2Brelease

I made a mechanical release from scratch several years ago.

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/8867-mechanical-release/

About 18 months ago Bill Hays suggested using a "pony clip" or spring clip for a mechanical release. His photos of it seem to have disappeared, so here are a couple based on his idea.

























I did not find that the use of a mechanical release improved my accuracy, and I believe Tex said the same thing. Certainly with a bench mounted rig, it is a different story. But it did not help me when using one by hand. I will be interested to get your reaction after you have used it for a while.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

Wow that is a brilliant idea!!!


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## snath (May 28, 2013)

Charles said:


> Nice job on the conversion. You may know that Dankung makes a mechanical release specifically for slingshots.
> 
> Thanks for the review and views of the internals of the Dankung release. As I noted above, I am considering making a Dankung cross bar-like modification to a Trufire release. Cross bars instead of loops may make ball placement in the pouch a little critical to accuracy.
> 
> ...


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

I used my release in the upright position, so there was no sideways motion to the ammo at all. I took the basic idea from ancient crossbow release mechanisms.

Joerg Spraave of the Slingshot Channel (Youtube) frequently employs mechanical releases on his contraptions. You might find it fun to have a look at some of his designs if you have not seen them before.

I well understand the problems with aging joints, and mechanical releases can certainly supply some relief in that regard. Just keep shooting ...

Cheers ....... Charles


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## dgui (Jan 12, 2010)

Not Practical.

Way too Slow.


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## Dr J (Apr 22, 2013)

Do finger and forearm exercise, such as squeezing a sponge ball. I find it helps.


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## Arturito (Jan 10, 2013)

maybe can harm accuracy, at least for me is very important the pouch feeling, ... lol dgui I am a way slow to load "normal", with this gadget slower even !!!

Cheers

Arturo


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