# Store bought rocks



## matt1019 (Sep 24, 2014)

Anybody know of a good store bought bag of rocks that will shoot straight and would be ok for hunting?


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## Urban Fisher (Aug 13, 2014)

Maybe not rocks, but marbles should work. Also they sell the 3/8" and 1/4" steel shot at Academy.


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## matt1019 (Sep 24, 2014)

I would rather shoot steel but they are expensive.


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## ChapmanHands (Oct 14, 2013)

Dollar store marbles man. Closest think to a perfect rock other than.... a perfect rock. I've taken squirrel with them


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## slingshooterPT (Feb 22, 2014)

For me the fun of shooting rocks is that they are free and you can find them anywere!!!  If you want to "buy" go for cheap marbles


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## mr. green (Nov 3, 2012)

1willi4 is selling .38 lead in the "for sale" section.


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## D.Nelson (Feb 20, 2014)

Rocks really don't fly straight beyond 10ish yards. I would order some .38-.44 lead.


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## Susi (Mar 3, 2013)

D.Nelson said:


> Rocks really don't fly straight beyond 10ish yards. I would order some .38-.44 lead.


I did a beauty on my hand a couple weeks ago shooting rocks out back of a restaurant waiting for my meal to be served. I had a wide deep fork SS with me, shooting an old water jug with holes in it (added a few). For an unknown reason a rock I shot, shot my hand right at the fork between my thumb and forefinger, I was using as always a hammer hold. Danged rock did a doozie on me. I returned to my table with blood on my hand, Susi rescued me with a paper napkin. I was sure embarassed, Susi gave me the "you know better than to shoot rocks" look. DO NOT SHOOT ROCKS. If you can't afford ammo, work a little more and buy marbles. Life isn't free. Almost but not quite, hehe.

See Susi's dough ball post in her gallery...home made hard dough balls. Not hunting ammo but almost. If you want to hunt you'll want to use steel or lead, Fred although marbles will nab various rodents and birdies especially with head/thorax shots.

Marbles are glass. Glass is quartz (a very hard rock) fused/melted with a few more things added..basically marbles are rocks but uniform so they fly straight. Rocks curve and zing every which way...not reliable past five or six yards. Marbles have the same specific gravity as quartz (rock).

There are alternative ammos also. Hex nuts for one...bags of 100 come cheap if just black iron elcheap o from China. The thicker the hex nut the better. Acorn nuts are also good, again, elcheap o ones. Nuts have holes so they are not as massive as solid ammo however.

Check Salvation army and church good will type stores for bags of marbles.

Bicycle shops will GIVE YOU ball bearings that they've removed from bike handle bar races. I scored a cigar box of them various sizes. After I sorted them I had a lot of SS shootable ball bearings. The small ones I loaded into my 12 ga shotgun shells, work great. That was when I was in the states 20 years ago before I moved to Ecuador.

I would not be caught dead buying ammo. I make 10mm ball ammo it from lead wheel weights in a round ball mold (I made). Lead wheel weights can be purchased usually, broken and useless for anything else but melting, for 50 cents/lb. since they have steel clips that are useless for molding. A mold and mold handles, lead pot and lead dipper etc. of course will cost you but once you have them, they're good for a very very long time.

Chuck


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## devils son in law (Sep 2, 2014)

I'll second the dollar store marbles, they are also fairly easy to spot and retrieve in the grass after target practice.


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

matt1019 said:


> I would rather shoot steel but they are expensive.


Hey Matt here's a pretty good buy on 500 3/8 steel for $15.29 shipping included.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290833916157?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT#ht_1092wt_952


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## MasterOfEnk (Mar 3, 2012)

The more spherical the object the straighter it will shoot 

I second everyone's suggestion of dollar shop marbles, but also try making a simple catch box for your dedicated ammo. My ammo costs (both in time and money) have gone down to almost zero since making a quick one from some MDF and a few old towels.


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## SonoftheRepublic (Jul 3, 2011)

Well, I'll chime in a little . . .

I've been on a rock-shootin' spree all summer long. I have found road-side sources in my area that have (Free!) nice-sized rocks, (about 3/4"), and I pick through them to find the ones that are fairly round/spherical shaped or square-shaped.

My Rock-Shooter of choice is the Trumark FS-1, custom outfitted with Tex's medium-weight (1/8 I.D. x 3/16 O.D.) pure-fresh-dipped-amber-latex-tubing. (Note: I don't care for the RR-1 tubes that the FS-1 is packaged with . . . I lose accuracy with those tubes.)

The combination of Tex's tubing and the wide forks on the FS-1 make a perfect (for me anyway) Rock-Shooter! No fork hits or hand hits in thousands of shots. And with the right size and shape of rock, (and plenty of practice), pretty darned accurate, and powerful, out to around 10 yards . . . Wouldn't hesitate to hunt with rocks with this rig either.

Best and "Cheapest" shooting there is!

(If you were to ask me that is).


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## flipgun (Nov 14, 2012)

If you just Wanna shoot rocks, try your local Lowes/Home Depot in the garden section. Ask for river rocks.


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## Sst der Kleine Steinschlag (Dec 5, 2011)

Go to a commercial gravel pit, they usually have screened gravel almost at any size desired. a trunkload won´t cost much, most of the time i can manage to persuade the workers there to load me a portion for just a few bottles of beer.


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

River clay rolled out into balls sun baked then fire harden works really good also.


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## JohnKrakatoa (Nov 28, 2013)

Stick to smooth river stones and you wont get a forkhit. Try to look in places where they are used as mulch, by supermarkets or stores. Or try to find A local construction material shop. Or just look in rivers.


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## Pebble Shooter (Mar 29, 2014)

In my view, rocks are perfectly safe to shoot providing that:

- They are round or oval-shaped, smooth, and symmetrically shaped to obtain a straight trajectory (balanced mass);

- They are not assymmetric in shape and/or jagged with dangerous cutting edges;

- Their size does does not exceed roughly 40-45% of the available fork width and depth;

- Their respective weight is more or less calibrated to the available draw weight;

- They are very well centered in the slingshot pouch and the bands are well aligned with the forks prior to shooting;

- The pouch release with the index finger and thumb is handled correctly i.e no "twisting" of any kind.

Riverbeds or lakeside/seafront beaches are great places to find nice rounded rocks (or pebbles). An ample supply of free ammo!

I have not yet (touch wood!) had any nasty fork hits based on this approach - as shown in my video on the subject:


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## Susi (Mar 3, 2013)

ghost0311/8541 said:


> River clay rolled out into balls sun baked then fire harden works really good also.


See member "Susi" FDA ammo (Ferric Doughball Ammo) in my gallery. Doughballs that dry hard and biodegradable. They sink in water meaning they are fairly dense. The recipie is on the gallery page.

Chuck was shooting rocks AGAIN this evening, fork hand it the first rock and it was fairly uniform...in his new ugly, the one made from an electric drill handle. I don't know how shooters can not get fork/hand hits using rocks!!!! Luck or extremely wide deep forks? Every darn time Chuck loads a rock he regrets it.


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## Craftsman (Sep 17, 2014)

found a great source for Target marble ammo, 5.400 (approx) 11 mm (7/16") 30 lb. $45 Free shipping.

http://www.mcgillswa...ar-marbles-e15i

100 3/8" (9.25 mm) Chromed steel balls $10.37

http://www.vxb.com/p...ngBalls/Kit8595

Matt1019, I think this addresses your question ...

Has anyone tried the horticultural grade expanded clay pellets as ammo for "plinking" (biodegradable, relatively inexpensive, more like shooting natural rocks) $10 for 10 L worth In a pinch, can also be used for hunting, but since they are less aerodynamic than the manufactured glass / steel / lead balls, less accuracy (more like natural stone ammo)

http://www.htgsupply...y-Pellets---10L#


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