# roman slingshot



## vashshadow (Sep 12, 2014)

so this mite be odd but here we go. so me and a cowork were talking about the roman empire seeing how we both like history while i was working on my slingshot and he asked if the roman had the ability to make rubber would they make and use slingshots or use the sling. now ive used both and i really dont know and thought id ask the wonderfully people here for there ideas on this topic.


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## ghost0311/8541 (Jan 6, 2013)

They used rope to sling stones I am sure the would have used rubber also.


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## Quercusuber (Nov 10, 2011)

Cheers ...Q


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## bigron (Nov 29, 2012)

if they would have had the ability to make rubber they probably would have used slingshots,i say this because the ability it takes to become anything close to accurate with a sling takes alot longer than it would be with a slingshot,but there again a sling would be less maintenance in the field so i guess i'm as unsure as you are


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## vashshadow (Sep 12, 2014)

that video was good i forgot about that one. i will fully agree a sling takes a lot of time to get accurate but part of me wants to say that it has more power and range but that could just be me mainly cuz the longest i shot slingshot is about 60 to 100 feet.


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## Henry the Hermit (Jun 2, 2010)

I think if they had had the knowledge and technology to make rubber suitable for war slingshots, they would have been using guns.

Maybe I missed something, but did the Romans actually use shepherds slings for war?


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## wll (Oct 4, 2014)

vashshadow said:


> that video was good i forgot about that one. i will fully agree a sling takes a lot of time to get accurate but part of me wants to say that it has more power and range but that could just be me mainly cuz the longest i shot slingshot is about 60 to 100 feet.


A sling in the hands of the folks who really know how to use them are a deadly tool.

As for sling shots, of course they use smaller/lighter ammo and do not have the energy of a true sling projectile.

As far as your statement of 60 to 100 feet, (that is 20 yds to 33 yds) all my shots where I live are in that range at the shortest and most of my real hunting slings using 5/16od or 3070 tubes have over 12fpe at 50 yds (using 184gr - 314gr ammo). My Green Dub averages about 9fpe at 50 yds with 214gr lead ammo and my 3060 tubes with 214gr ammo get about 8fpe at the same distance.

You match the bands to the power source and stretch out ... the slingshot can put the hurt on at a far distance.

wll


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## vashshadow (Sep 12, 2014)

ya the roman did use slingers. where i do most of my target shooting i only have 60 to 100 feet depending on where i stand. and ya with a sling i started to get good to the point i could hit a man size chest target at 100 feet and i was using 2 inch rocks someof the guys i know wanted me to make one that could use 4 inch rocks but i just dont feel like making that cuz one wrong move and theres a lot of hurting. but i guess if i had the choice myself i mite go with slingshot its easier to aim and i can almost get to size rocks i was using in my sling


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## Charles (Aug 26, 2010)

A sling will hurl really big rocks a very long way (over 1000 feet ... 300-400 meters) with a lot of force ... and there really is nothing to wear out or that requires maintenance. They were often used by massed slingers and/or against a mass of adversaries, so individual accuracy was sometimes not that important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_%28weapon%29

It would be difficult or impossible to achieve that kind of range and energy with an individual rubber based weapon. However, for hunting small game at less than about 20 meters, a slingshot would be stealthier and more accurate.

Cheers ... Charles


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## James Haury (Feb 16, 2015)

vashshadow said:


> that video was good i forgot about that one. i will fully agree a sling takes a lot of time to get accurate but part of me wants to say that it has more power and range but that could just be me mainly cuz the longest i shot slingshot is about 60 to 100 feet.


I can shoot marbles 80 to 100 yards with my mass produced (daisy?) f-16


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

The Greeks and later the Romans used slings with lead ammo no less... potato shaped projectiles with Greek letters on them found profusely by archeologists.
https://militaryhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/aerial-insults-the-tradition-of-inscribing-lead-sling-bullets-in-antiquity/

Charles' link above goes into it further.

Put " lead ammunition slings Greek " into Google images and you'll get a feast of info. Lead, baked clay and shaped stone "bullets" were sling ammo back then.

http://p2.la-img.com/1026/28599/10984986_1_x.jpg is a collection of bronze points and lead sling ammo.

I love archeology.

BTW rubber wasn't invented until the 1700s so no slingshots were around when both Caesars were sniffing around Celopatra. Shakespeare didn't even know about rubber when he wrote MacBeth in the 1603. "Lay on, Macduff,And dam'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough' " Rubber was called rubber for if you rubbed it on a pencil marking it erased it.

The Challenger disaster, space shuttle kaboom was caused by cold rubber... read on MacDuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber and this link explains why cold bands are not as effective as warm bands...highly educational article here.

In ancient warfare a hoard of sling guys would hurl projectiles like rain on enemy formations at pretty respectable distances, it was a shotgun effect in great numbers rather than sling snipers. A bow and arrow were more precise especially at closer range wherein archers had pinpoint accuracy, whereas a sling could not penetrate light armor, just bludgeon a victim, and archers had the disadvantage of requiring lots and lots of hand made arrows with hand made points or cast bronze points, so ammo wasn't as prevalent as, say, rocks, fired clay or even lead projectiles which required less tech and time than arrows to mass produce.


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## Toolshed (Aug 4, 2015)

WOW!!! So cool to see that video. I built a small 12" rope-spring ballista catapult back when I was in High School for an exhibition my Latin class was putting on!


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