# The Lil Ranger, an homage to the Milbro type shooters



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

This one was made as an experiment to test the narrow fork configuration and length of some of the classic milbro designs using different bands, configurations and ammunitions. 
As you can see it has close to the same dimensions, but the shape is quite different in some ways.
There's 45 mm between the smaller than usual universal forks. The very first shot I took with this one was taken close to 85' from the soda can sized target... and it was a hit!

I made it a little longer than the usual Milbro, it's just under 6" long X 3.25" wide and 5/8" thick. It's a VERY fun little shooter that just LOVES 3/8" and under ammo.

This one's design drawings, sans universal forks, will be in the shared design forum pretty soon.


----------



## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Them guys over in England will put square lacky on that and shoot lead balls at rabbits. To many of our poachin' cousins that size is a hunting catty, not a "fun" lil' shooter.
Excellent job, Bill as usual.


----------



## bleachbone (Nov 15, 2010)

i love the smallness of the design. yet apparently it is till very powerful


----------



## Tex-Shooter (Dec 17, 2009)

Loofs like a great little shooter Bill and I like the Star! -- Tex-Shooter


----------



## jmplsnt (Jan 1, 2010)

I'm looking forward to seeing this in the Shared Designs Forum. There's a lot of good potential in this one and I appreciate both your creativity and moreso your willingness to share your great work and designs with others. You're a real credit to Slingshot World.


----------



## grant (Feb 22, 2010)

Dayhiker said:


> Them guys over in England will put square lacky on that and shoot lead balls at rabbits. To many of our poachin' cousins that size is a hunting catty, not a "fun" lil' shooter.
> Excellent job, Bill as usual.


amen brother


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Tex-Shooter said:


> Looks like a great little shooter Bill and I like the Star! -- Tex-Shooter


That's an old style Texas Ranger badge style star, like the ones made from the old Mexican Silver Pesos... in miniature. I've been putting 'em on my personal shooters, so my Wife doesn't get them confused.
I might pick up some new style badges from the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame next time I'm down there to put on some of the newer designs I've been making for others though!

For everyone's information... the "Shooting Star" is Bill Herriman's trademark for his slingshots.... yet at the same time the symbol for Waco and where I live, is a gold star much like the one on a modern style Texas Ranger's Captain badge.


----------



## whipcrackdeadbunny (May 22, 2010)

If memory serves, the 'Deadshot' catapult, very similar to the original 'Milbro' was a little longer too; great work as always, Bill.


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Dayhiker said:


> Them guys over in England will put square lacky on that and shoot lead balls at rabbits. To many of our poachin' cousins that size is a hunting catty, not a "fun" lil' shooter.
> Excellent job, Bill as usual.


Yeah, that's for sure!
When I tested it out (the original Milbro style) it was just a bit to little and unstable for my shooting styles... I even got a couple of fork hits when using some larger ammos. But I wanted to try out and give a fair shake down to this general concept... so I modified the Milbro to suit me and a couple of other testers a lot better, and this is what I came up with.

It's thin, light and narrow.. yet can be shot easily and accurately with a variety of hand sizes and hold styles, a myriad of elastics and attachments and can shoot through the forks, or over the top.

All that said... I call it more of a back up piece, because I'm more accurate with my larger and more stable designs... such as the Hathcock and Vergo mods.


----------



## Rayshot (Feb 1, 2010)

Another winner Bill.

That is roughly a size I very much enjoy shooting my BBs with. As noted, heavier and bigger works with that size.


----------



## Devoman (Oct 15, 2010)

Very Nice!


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Alrighty then.
Today I took the Lil' Ranger out and left my regular shooter in the house.
Got 6 grackles at ranges from about 50' to around 150'. Here's a link to the Lil' Ranger's first kill: http://www.haysgreyhounds.com/pics/rangerkill.jpg

I normally like to hunt with larger ammo like .50 cal... but like I mentioned before, I'm not confident using the larger ammo through this shooter yet... so I used .375 cal steel. A little reluctant to try and use 3/8" ammo on birds at first... I got the hang of it pretty quick.

It's certainly no mystery to me how the guys in the UK can stack up the game with a Milbro after todays little jaunt around the farm!

Here's a pic of my Target Ranger in comparison to the Lil' Ranger... When using the big one and shooting .50 steel or .44 lead I'm able to kill whatever small game I see, usually fairly easily... but it's starting to look like the 3/8" ammo sizes might be a viable option as well. Looks like I'm going to have to me get some 0000 buckshot pellets!


----------



## jmplsnt (Jan 1, 2010)

Great shooting Bill and an excellent demonstration of your slingshot's capabilities.

I've killed a pile of grackles in my time with various devices, but those I felled with a home-made catapult were by far the most satisfying. They are a very destructive bird (crops and nest-raiding) and there's few sights finer than one of these falling to earth after being hit by a .38 lead round ball high up in a tree.


----------



## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Beautiful slingshot and great shootin' -- you are the man!


----------



## stelug (Feb 6, 2010)

HI BILL, GIVE A TRY TO 3/8 LEAD (4grams), it is reloading staff, youl'd enjoy some very good sped accomplished with some destructive power.


----------



## NaturalFork (Jan 21, 2010)

Excellent stuff as always!


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

stelug said:


> HI BILL, GIVE A TRY TO 3/8 LEAD (4grams), it is reloading staff, youl'd enjoy some very good sped accomplished with some destructive power.


I've got some 0000 super buckshot ordered... that is .380 caliber. It should be interesting.

As I finish my website (pocketpredator.com)... I'm thinking about putting the Lil' Ranger style shooter on there at a price point of around $50 in G10 with no badges... not sure if there'll be much interest in them as they are smaller than what most in the USA are used to shooting.... but we'll probably see!


----------



## Frodo (Dec 19, 2009)

Bill Hays said:


> HI BILL, GIVE A TRY TO 3/8 LEAD (4grams), it is reloading staff, youl'd enjoy some very good sped accomplished with some destructive power.


I've got some 0000 super buckshot ordered... that is .380 caliber. It should be interesting.

As I finish my website (pocketpredator.com)... I'm thinking about putting the Lil' Ranger style shooter on there at a price point of around $50 in G10 with no badges... not sure if there'll be much interest in them as they are smaller than what most in the USA are used to shooting.... but we'll probably see!
[/quote]

If 3/8 lead weights ass much as 10mm steel i see no reason to use it. Of course if you cast it on your own it's cheaper.

I like those smaller catty's and i think other do the same!


----------



## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Frodo said:


> If 3/8 lead weights ass much as 10mm steel i see no reason to use it. Of course if you cast it on your own it's cheaper.
> 
> I like those smaller catty's and i think other do the same!


You're right, the smaller cattys do kind of grow on you.

Also, according to a reloader's guide, 0000 buckshot weighs 5.4 grams per ball, and 10 mm steel weighs right at 4 grams... so there's actually quite a bit of difference!
Like I've said, I have some 0000 buckshot ordered... and I'll have a more educated opinion once it gets here.


----------

