# Steelies V's Lead And Know Your Limits...



## Hunter69 (Jun 23, 2011)

Been doing a few experiments with steelies and lead of the same size 9.5mm....

With airguns they say you need a minimum of 3 to 4 ftlb of energy to dispatch a rabbit so a rifle firing at max 12ft lbs or just under at the muzzle would still have plenty of energy left out to forty maybe fifty yards but being as the pellet is travelling very fast and its small size it usually penetrates well out to these ranges.....

What about a 9.5mm steel ball weighing in at 54.6 grains doing let say 240fps that works out only 6.98 ft lbs so down range it will lose more energy than a pellet a drop off in trajectory more so than an airgun pellet being heavier ?

Then the same test with a 9.5mm lead ball weighing in at 83 grains doing 240 fps works out to 10.61 ft lb of energy which should retain enough for fair ranges providing you are good at distance.

Then it all comes down to the max power you can get from your band set up some who draw very long will be ok but i have a fairly short draw length of approx 76cm or it feels short to me but can probably max this out to 80cm just compared to some people who draw very long, I shoot best gangster style so this limits your pull length but I have only ever taken live quarry at very close ranges because of this probably out to 25 to 35 ft max.

Shooting instinctive style my pull is longer but the hits are few are far between and only good at a dustbin sized object







so would not even try to take any game animal or bird like this but at short ranges with my prefered and practised gangster style I can get a good hit each time even a squirrels head but I find waiting in the woods under a tree you see them on works best they always venture out again when they think you've gone.....

I no longer have a chrono so cant really test my set up properly but know its fine at my short range sessions....

Anyone have any more info on this subject please feel free to comment,

This is one I got this afternoon,

Cheers,

Deano


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

Good shooting. Looks like you have ample power for the job.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## DaveSteve (May 16, 2012)

Nice shot. Getting closer to the game makes you a good hunter.


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## Allen Welsh (Nov 13, 2012)

i can go out with the Air rifle and harvest half a dozen rabbits no problem Taking them at 40 yards with a head shot .
But What I realy love is the Stalk . taking one or two rabbits with my Slinger at 25 to 30 feet max is to me the essence of hunting.
Other days I take nothing but its the beeing out there Thats the real buzz.
Taking any game with a Slinger means that you are a HUNTER and you can feed you and yours.
I use 440 lead to hunt with and it realy does the job on Bunnys Wood pigeons Tree rats and duck. Cant get better meat on yer plate









Keep up the great shootin mate.

Cheers
AL


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## Hrawk (Oct 25, 2010)

Be sure to check out the Blogs, in particular, ZDP's

He has quite a few going into a LOT of details on subjects like this, with lots of pretty pictures and graphs for those who like that kind of thing.

http://slingshotforum.com/blogs/


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## Hunter69 (Jun 23, 2011)

Thanks for comments everyone, it is nice to be able to put meat on the table with a slingshot you made totally yourself , it gives a great feeling inside when it all comes together.

I have a knack of creeping up on the game species so well its scary every step perfectly placed watching for snapping twigs under foot and getting in position very close to your intended target, this alone takes years of practice but I would crawl 100 yrds on the ground if need be to get close enough for a confident shot....

I saw 2 squirrels running around this tree yesterday and when they were rushing up and down I made my move and walked then stopped every few yards or so until I was in a perfect position.

The one I shot came down the tree bark from high up headfirst right on my side of the tree so I slowly raised the hand and got ready to draw as he was still moving down then he froze approx 10ft from ground and stared at me...by now the shot was primed and ready to go the squirrel motionless flattened out against the tree upside down I aimed at the tip of his nose ajusted slightly to be a skull shot between the ears dead centre and let go..smack a spine tingling skull crack that seemed to echo throughout the wood then a drop few twitches of the leg then nothing.

By now I knew it was a good shot but was very surprised to see the damage to the top of its head dead centre it had struck and penetrated the skull imparting all of its energy and then coming to rest at the back of the neck underneath the fur as you can see from pic just behind the ear tips the unnatural bulge in the back neck area, this is the lead ball, it sounded like from the crack to go right through but I guess it penetrated the skull went on through bounced off the tree and back into its final resting position.

I think if it was'nt flat against the tree but its head was in a clearing I think the shot would of past straight through ?

I did have the double thera band gold fully drawn at the edge of my limit ..this plus the short range was a deadly combination, the 2nd squirrel ran up further due to the noise and stopped in a forked gap but due to the steep angle and the small visible part of the body I saw I did not feel comfortable so did'nt take the shot.....

It is going to join a couple of others I have in the freezer and become squirrel pie, which i pressure cook until meat falls off the bone then its added to a potato, leek, carrot, celery, onion, swede semi mashed mix with some of the veg still small cubes season with salt and black pepper and herbs of your choice then with the cooking stock I add some chicken oxo cubes thicken slightly with corn flour then spoon the mixture into puff pastry in idividual pie tins pour a touch of the stock over filling then add pastry lid brush with beaten egg wash and bake in the oven .......delicious free range and virtually fat free meat... this recipe works well with chicken and rabbit too, always use what you shoot where possible even if its food for your dog,

Deano


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## NCLeadSlinger (Sep 18, 2012)

Good shot, its about your effectiveness, and if your effective range is a shorter distance than another, who cares!. Bruce Lee once said if you cant kick as high as you used to, then kick lower, but do it really well....The sam goes for almost anything, do what you can really well.

Happy Hunting.

Paul


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

A truly lovely account of your hunt. And that sounds like a great recipe! Thanks for this post.

Cheers ..... Charles


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## Hawkman (Oct 18, 2012)

Im really hungry now.


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## rapidray (Dec 15, 2012)

Great shot! I can see the lead shot now that you told us were to look! Thanks for sharing.


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## Berkshire bred (Mar 4, 2012)

good information and a good shot on that squirrel. i personally prefer steel for the flat trajectory and i find that it still has plenty of hitting power.


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## Thumper (Jun 8, 2012)

Great account, I love squirrel hunting.


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