# can you shoot airsoft with slingshots?



## linkypete (Feb 12, 2013)

I love to do airsoft, and I was wondering what the best way is to shoot 6mm plastic BBs at your friends with a medium-low power slingshot. A slingshot is my weapon of preference in airsoft, but I am often getting slap-backs.


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## Pawpawsailor (Jun 8, 2012)

I use the heavy ones for plinking in the backyard, but I prefer light tubes on a small frame. Otherwise, hand slaps can make it pretty uncomfortable.


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## worserabbit (Apr 16, 2012)

If you use Thera-band gold, use 10mm strips.


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

You can actually go as light as 1/8 to 1/4 inches on the thera gold. Those 6mm BB's weigh like nothing! Better accuracy and performance with the down sized rig.


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

If you're happy shooting airsoft pellets, why not save yourself a few bucks and go grab a bag of popping corn.


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## TimR (May 22, 2011)

treefork said:


> You can actually go as light as 1/8 to 1/4 inches on the thera gold. Those 6mm BB's weigh like nothing! Better accuracy and performance with the down sized rig.


Thanks for the idea. I'll have to try this. I bought a jar of airsoft BBs but the handslaps were pretty bad.


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## harpersgrace (Jan 28, 2010)

I use 2040's to shoot BBs and chickpeas should work airsoft, and if you shoot TTF hand slap isnt a issue


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## primitive power slingshot (Apr 5, 2013)

1/4 inch tbg is perfect for this.


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## Phoul Mouth (Jan 6, 2015)

http://www.amazon.com/Alliance-Sterling-Ergonomically-Correct-25405/dp/B001HA8J1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459203945&sr=8-1&keywords=sterling+117b

I use these for BB shooting. For airsoft if you cut these bands and use just one strand they should be perfect, and one box will supply you for..... well.... life. haha


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## truthornothing (May 18, 2015)

I use 1/2 inch Theraband blue to shoot airsoft bb's it works well


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## ccolapietro (Apr 12, 2016)

Any tricks to pouch tying with 1/4" Theraband gold?

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk


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## TheNewSlingshotGuy (Oct 11, 2014)

1/4 inch Theraband gold is too much! 1/4 straight TBG is equivalent to 3/4 inch straight TB blue. I use 20mm x 8mm tapered TB Blue cut about 11-12 inches long, and i use it for .20 gram airsoft, 4.5mm bbs, up to 7.62mm steel and it rockets them all extremely well! I can penetrate a quarter inch into an orange with the .20 gram airsoft and those bands from about 10 feet! I can zip all the way through an orange with 1/4 inch steel. But if i was ONLY shooting airsoft, i would go with 15mm x 5mm TB blue with a very tiny pouch, like leon13's smallest one made from very thin leather.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

TheNewSlingshotGuy said:


> 1/4 inch Theraband gold is too much! 1/4 straight TBG is equivalent to 3/4 inch straight TB blue. I use 20mm x 8mm tapered TB Blue cut about 11-12 inches long, and i use it for .20 gram airsoft, 4.5mm bbs, up to 7.62mm steel and it rockets them all extremely well! I can penetrate a quarter inch into an orange with the .20 gram airsoft and those bands from about 10 feet! I can zip all the way through an orange with 1/4 inch steel. But if i was ONLY shooting airsoft, i would go with 15mm x 5mm TB blue with a very tiny pouch, like leon13's smallest one made from very thin leather.


 dont know if apple is stronger than orange. But i use .4inch tbg 8inches active and i shot right through an apple with the lighter airsoft pellet. Bit lighter than yours i think.


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## TheNewSlingshotGuy (Oct 11, 2014)

pult421 said:


> TheNewSlingshotGuy said:
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> > 1/4 inch Theraband gold is too much! 1/4 straight TBG is equivalent to 3/4 inch straight TB blue. I use 20mm x 8mm tapered TB Blue cut about 11-12 inches long, and i use it for .20 gram airsoft, 4.5mm bbs, up to 7.62mm steel and it rockets them all extremely well! I can penetrate a quarter inch into an orange with the .20 gram airsoft and those bands from about 10 feet! I can zip all the way through an orange with 1/4 inch steel. But if i was ONLY shooting airsoft, i would go with 15mm x 5mm TB blue with a very tiny pouch, like leon13's smallest one made from very thin leather.
> ...


By .4, do you mean 4/10ths of an inch? Thats alot of rubber, way too much for just airsoft bbs. That would be a decent bandset for 8mm steel, which is more than 10 times as heavy as an airsoft bb. An apple is not as tough as an orange, the orange has many layers and tough inner sections, as well as a tough outer peel! But, getting all the way through an apply with a 6mm plastic bb is impressive. I bet you had some bad handslap though..lol


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

TheNewSlingshotGuy said:


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 i meant quarter inch. You confused me with your 4 10ths wizardry lol


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

And not that bad a hand slap. I flip fast and use a bb shooter.


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## TheNewSlingshotGuy (Oct 11, 2014)

pult421 said:


> TheNewSlingshotGuy said:
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Ahh okay! In decimal form, 1/4 inch would be .25 inch. 
Even so, 1/4 inch is still a bit heavy for the plastic bbs. Regular .177 (4.5mm) metal bbs would work better with that bandset.

To get an appropriately sized bandset for airsoft bbs with TBG, 1/8inch would be about right.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

ccolapietro said:


> Any tricks to pouch tying with 1/4" Theraband gold?
> 
> Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk


 cotton butchers twine. I find it works better with the thinner rubber. Thicker rubbers have more of an edge i feel the cotton twine diminishes the thicker bands life.


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## pult421 (Aug 13, 2015)

TheNewSlingshotGuy said:


> pult421 said:
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 whats funny is that i knew that.. but sometimes i brain fart sometimes ????


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## TheNewSlingshotGuy (Oct 11, 2014)

pult421 said:


> TheNewSlingshotGuy said:
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Tell me about it, lol!!


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## ccolapietro (Apr 12, 2016)

Sorry, shooting BBs mainly with my setup, good suggestions on tying  wax coated leather stitching string in a constrictor knot seems to be doing the trick.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Soy beans are almost round, in the 5 or 6mm range, superior to any grain except chick peas, peas and garbanzos...but soy is cheap and hard as plastic and won't part in two like peas. We made low power nattie mini SSs in grade school and used soy right out of the fields around there. Boy did they sting when hit! Our SSs were confiscated by the playground teacher at recess once she saw what we were doing and the "Ouch!" squeeling from our targets, usually girls. We used pretty hefty rubber bands from the office supply...I'd say about 4mm wide or so and really small pouches. It was fun while it lasted....1950s airsoft.

Hand slap is caused by the bands lurching forward with a lot of unexpended energy which makes them stretch in front of the slingshot and bounce back with force. Gloves can partially solve the problem but it's best to power down a bit, experiment with velocity vs banding and you'll find the sweet spot.

Edit..

Soy beans were my ammo of choice for bean shooter wars. Instead of using the standard giant soda straw for a bean shooter, I copped an old plastic fly swatter handle given to me by mom for she knew I would need it sometime or the other. It was a few inches longer than the standard corner store bought bean shooter tubes...I called it my Buntline Special (after Wyatt Erp's pistols which had long barrels made by a gunsmith named Buntline). I had the most range and accuracy of any of my peers which gave me a distinct advantage in bean shooter wars. The rest used either soy or regular white Navy beans. I could get more soy beans in my mouth for "full auto" than white beans. The minigun of beanshooters. I would, being a farm boy, also eat them..taste sort of like raw peanuts. Kids'll do the dangest things.

So try soy...get it cheap at the local feed and seed store.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

soy ammo and other round seed ammo... and you plant food harvests at the same time.

Good things from the slingshot... slingshot in the valley, valley of the jolly, ho ho ho, green slingshot. (pictured below)

Have you thought of using a long tube like an airsoft blowgun? (add an Amazon Indian costume for effect, see below). Nothing like surprising your adversaries.


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## TimR (May 22, 2011)

I just made one. I used a small pouch template, thin leather, and cut it down a bit in the middle. I cut a file band, standard walmart 7 inch file band, in two pieces and used one on each side.

It shoots soft air great, not real hard but very accurately, and no hand slap. It lofts a BB pretty well, not enough to hurt anything though. I haven't tried popcorn.


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## TimR (May 22, 2011)

Okay, I am officially declaring popcorn worthless.

Except to eat.

I succeeded in hitting my 50 foot target, a 2 qt laundry detergent bottle, with soft air.

I did not get within 3 feet with popcorn. It corkscrews in flight.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

Round seeds of the sorts I included above worked for me and believe it or not, olive pits! Try a few olive pits. If you have a friend who lives in an olive producing area you're in luck. They are basically lightweight hard cylinder ammo. I never tried popcorn, seems pretty screwy to me too in that they are not round and would fly errantly and randomly. Best to use butter and salt on it and eat it.

Airsoft pellets are not expensive anyway and are accepted by the playing fields of course.

Coming out of a slingshot pouch is not like coming out of an airsoft barrel. Slingshots tend to release ammo spinning rather than non spinning. Even with ball bearing type sphericals I get curves sometimes as well as with lead sphericals.

The physics of curve balls, the "magnus" effect...a spinning sphere curves in air to the inside of the spin...check the vid..from a soccer mom no less...






In tennis and ping pong, a 'top spin' curves the ball down prematurely and fakes out the opponent as well as bounces fast forward on the first bounce. Conversely, a 'back spin' or 'chop' floats the ball and it doesn't fall as soon as it should, again faking out the opponent as to the planned/seen trajectory, and that ball wants to stop more on the first bounce like a dead ball. Side spin is used in baseball to produce 'sliders' which appear to be out of bounds for a 'ball' but suddenly curve inward into the strike zone for a surprise (to the batter) 'strike' from the umpire...faking out the batter. Top spin produces a sinker. Spin on spheres in an atmosphere produce forces that affect its flight. With no spin a sphere just acts 'normally' and goes on a predictable trajectory to the impact.

The stitches on a baseball actually improve it's speed as it breaks up the air flow on the ball's surface and produces less drag in doing so. Dimples on a golf ball do the same thing, it goes further than if perfectly smooth. A projectile exiting a slingshot is no different...if the surface is irregular the projectile retains velocity better, flies flatter and therefore goes further. This isn't just theory, it's physics. Not that it matters much for the velocities and distances we slingshoters shoot.

This is why, subconsciously, some prefer cubic ammo or cylindrical ammo, they seem to fly better. They feel better in the pouch to many shooters than standard spherical ammo too.


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