# misfires



## mrcharly (Mar 24, 2015)

I've made a basic slingshot, wooden handle, ring bolts and gold therabands. don't have a pic, will take one sometime.

Shooting with M10 nuts. If I don't very carefully position the bands (no twists), then I get 'misfires'. The nut doesn't come out of the pouch, drops on the floor.

Could this be because the rings are too close together? They are about 4" apart.

Only tried about 5 shots, using an old bag as a backstop. Tried putting a strip of 4mm ply in it as a target, was a bit disappointed that the ply survived unscathed, just gets knocked out of the way.


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## Nobodo (Nov 5, 2014)

Can you post pictures of the slingshot and the pouch? That might help identify the problem.

The problem you describe can be caused by problems like ammo that is too big for the pouch, a 'speed bump' effect where the pouch release is not very smooth, or a few other causes.

You definitely want to be careful and wear good eye protection, because if you're having this problem you could also see a 'return to sender' shot (rts) where the ammo stays in the pouch and gets flung back at you.

I recommend reading the pinned threads "How to avoid fork and hand hits" and "Return to sender shots" that are in "The Art of Shooting" subforum.

Here are links to those threads:

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/23909-how-to-avoid-fork-and-hand-hits/

http://slingshotforum.com/topic/22097-return-to-sender-shots/


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## reset (Apr 13, 2013)

I noticed you were saying something about needing no twist in bands to shoot. Absolutely you have to install your bands with no twists from the fork to pouch and equal lengths too. And you must take the twist out each time you shoot when loading the pouch. And lengths of bands should be set depending on your draw length. Somewhere around 4 to 1 ratio.

With nuts you need to be very careful putting the nut in the pouch edge wise and dead center. Nuts are not something i would use as a newby. Id be looking for very round objects like say marbles or larger bb's like say 8 to 15 mm till you get used to shooting.

Nuts are great and i love shooting them but they are a bit fiddly to use when new guy. Others may not agree with me about the hex nut part. Im trying to save you some hurt where you whack your hand or get a return back at your self. Both very painful.

As others have and will most likely say here a picture of your setup would help.


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## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

:yeahthat: and definitely always post a pic of the problem your having other wise it's like explaining a funny noise to a mechanic without showing him the car,all the best


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## mrcharly (Mar 24, 2015)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bh8296Vo88juw4KRlozlV5jlUS2SmAh3pSFuLCwqRgo=w155-h207-p-no

I can't embed an image from googlemail for some weird reason.

I had another go tonight - very erratic results (accuracy and misfire) and I think I know why. The stub cord is really too long and are 'tangling' - I'd be better off attaching bands directly to the rings. That or make another catapult without rings.


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## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

mrcharly said:


> https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bh8296Vo88juw4KRlozlV5jlUS2SmAh3pSFuLCwqRgo=w155-h207-p-no
> 
> I can't embed an image from googlemail for some weird reason.
> 
> I had another go tonight - very erratic results (accuracy and misfire) and I think I know why. The stub cord is really too long and are 'tangling' - I'd be better off attaching bands directly to the rings. That or make another catapult without rings.


the rings aren't the problem ring shooters are really good shooters i would try putting the bands directly to the rings and see how that works i looked at the picture it may just be the tabs because your shooter looks good and solid and the rings look like they are positioned right so just lose the tabs before you give up on the shooter all the best hope this helps


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## mrcharly (Mar 24, 2015)

Ta muchly, I'll give that a go


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

Buddy, You got me stumped on that one, as long as I have been associated with sling shots (50+ years) I have never had a misfire.

Your slingshot looks good and the width of the forks look fine ... got me stumped ?

wll


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## treefork (Feb 1, 2010)

The problem is the way you are gripping and releasing the hex nuts . Try round ammo and you should be fine . Now go back and place the hex nut in the pouch so you're gripping the side with the hole with thumb and forefinger .Grip the ammo and not the pouch in front of the ammo . Have fun .


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## mrcharly (Mar 24, 2015)

Treefork, that grip advise you've given contradicts the info in the Bill Hayes vid that you posted in the slingshots 101 thread. I'll give it a go (as well as moving the bands).


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## SteelBallViking (Apr 6, 2014)

Always grip the ammo not the pouch in front of the ammo, treefork is correct. This is most likely where your issue is.


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## tyrone8511 (May 2, 2014)

I shoot quite a lot of nuts and I definitely second Treeforks advice.


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## mrcharly (Mar 24, 2015)

Altered both grip and the way the bands are attached.

Misfires not happening now, thanks for the advise.

Accuracy is pretty rubbish - I should have expected that, I have shaky hands, was always a problem when pistol shooting.


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