# Mini Pistol Grip Shooter



## forest dude (Dec 28, 2010)

Hello folks,
Well it finally got warm enough in my unheated shop to make a few slingshots that I've had in mind for awhile. This first one is something I saw Bill Hays post as an experimental bb shooter. I'm having Bill make me one of these in G10 but I had a suitable piece of maple lying around and I thought I'd play with this design today. I had fun making it but this design is best in thinner G10 with his TTF attachment so I am looking forward to that when he's finished.

I like this design since it offers a nice ergo pistol grip but swivels flat and fits in my shirt pocket.

We finally had a spot of sun and a bit warmer weather up here in Indiana finally. Shooting outside is way more fun than inside and now I have some dents in my drywall to patch where a shot didn't make it in my catch box. oops.


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## John-Boy (Oct 15, 2010)

*Sweet, *that looks fantastic!!


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## builderofstuff (Feb 14, 2011)

man that is awesome!!!! I love it!

Chris


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## Dan the Slingshot Man (Nov 21, 2010)

that is a cool design


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## Devoman (Oct 15, 2010)

Like they say "You got game" Nice job.


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## BaneofSmallGame (Sep 22, 2010)

Very very neat looking little Derringer you have crafted...

That is the normal human being way of Dgui's point and shoot style...

I commend you for finishing up with such a nice shooter, that looks very similar to one of Jack Koehler's (King Cat) so called failures in trying to achieve no wrist strain. It is a great design, and I'm sure you came up with it entirely by yourself as his "failure" is a very obscure design....

Cheers - John


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## Jaybird (Dec 20, 2009)

Bane of Small Game
I don't understand your post?Are you saying the"King Cat" is a failure?And if so why?


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## BaneofSmallGame (Sep 22, 2010)

No no no, not at all, he is so very far from a failure, in fact that is the reason I put quotes around it. I remember seeing a video or topic with him showing 3 or 4 designs he tried to eliminate wrist strain and couldn't quite get it. He then deemed them all failures, yet still decent designs (I thought they were great myself!







) ...and in no time he was able to come up with what is not the wonder of the King Cat slingshot.

He is not a failure, but he had old prototypes he considered failures, this slingshot looks like one of them, and it supports the idea that these old ideas were indeed very good, just not as good as the mighty King Cat.

I'm sorry if my post was not clear, I will do some rooting around the net to find where I saw these designs...

Cheers - John

Looking back the "so called" doesn't stand out very much so it is very easy to pinpoint the misunderstanding...


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## forest dude (Dec 28, 2010)

Actually this design was posted by Bill Hays as an experiment and I take no credit for anything good or unique about this little shooter.

The idea struck me last night when I was making a modified credit card shooter and it kept slipping into a natural place in my hand:









Then I remembered seeing Bill's post for his mini bb shooters. It's a wonderful little design.

Did Jack Koehler have a design like this? His King Cat has a very good reputation. I'd love to shoot one someday.

best,
Steve



BaneofSmallGame said:


> Very very neat looking little Derringer you have crafted...
> 
> That is the normal human being way of Dgui's point and shoot style...
> 
> ...


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## Jaybird (Dec 20, 2009)

Bane of Small Game
Sorry I misunderstood your post,my fault.


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## King Cat (Dec 19, 2009)

Baneofsmallgame is absolutely correct; I did consider some of my earlier designs to be failures. The post he is referring to is titled "Unique Designs". I don't know how to incorporate it into this post so, if interested; you will have to "search" it.
Jack Koehler


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## BaneofSmallGame (Sep 22, 2010)

Aha!!! The man himself, so my memory did serve me well. I have found it, and it is indeed very similar, I cannot fathom how he could have considered it a failure, yet nonetheless he has exremely high standards for achieving as close to perfection as possible.....

Here it is : http://slingshotforum.com/topic/1315-unique-designs/page__p__10747__fromsearch__1#entry10747

http://slingshotforum.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=1296

Incredible, how we all end up thinking alike about things on such a simple tool.... quite comical as well.

Regards - John


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## forest dude (Dec 28, 2010)

Found your post and love your designs! I forgot to mention that I had your book "Slingshot Shooting" on order at Amazon and it just arrived today. Perfect timing! If there is anybody out there that has not checked out this book, you should!

-Steve


King Cat said:


> Baneofsmallgame is absolutely correct; I did consider some of my earlier designs to be failures. The post he is referring to is titled "Unique Designs". I don't know how to incorporate it into this post so, if interested; you will have to "search" it.
> Jack Koehler


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## Bill Hays (Aug 9, 2010)

Those designs of Jack's do look similar. But this is the first time I've seen them.
When I designed and made the first little BB shooter, which is a lot smaller and of a different form, I modelled it from the ergonomics of a Thompson Sub-machine gun 1928 model front end pistol grip. Then added the "trigger" guard for slap protection. I also added a bearing based rotating top, with an experimental band attachment as well. The top is self centering... but I found it to really not be necessary because the alignment is really good anyway without it. 
The Thompson SMG was an ingeniusly designed piece who's ergonomics are a valuable lesson even today.
While involved with SERT/SWAT I had the opportunity to shoot a lot of different weapons... none, and I mean not ONE modern day weapon has better ergonomics than the Thompson... it is still my favorite and one day I'll get one of my own.


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## forest dude (Dec 28, 2010)

Yes, my copy of Bill's design is larger because I can't machine maple as small and still be safe to shoot like Bill can with G10. As I mention in my original post, this was fun but it was only meant to hold me over until Bill finishes up with a smaller G10 version for me. This was probably more recognized as connected with Jack's designs because of the wood I used. 
But Bill's design is way better than the "copy" I tried here. I used brass bushings and an OTT setup but that doesn't allow the forks to swivel because the pull from the bands is too far up to make this "self centering" work. But bands attached lower as in TTF and using bearings instead of bushings would make this more functional. The rotating forks have two purposes for me, one is for portability as it folds up and fits in your pocket, and the other is the "self centering". I've been playing around with wing shooting and I have a tendency to hit the fork as I'm tracking the object to shoot. Good shooters like Bill do not need this and with the fork width of my Hathcock Target Sniper he made, I probably wouldn't need it either. But until I get better with the small fork width, a self centering fork would be helpful for me.

[quote name='Bill Hays' timestamp='1298137063' post='56661']
Those designs of Jack's do look similar. But this is the first time I've seen them.
When I designed and made the first little BB shooter, which is a lot smaller and of a different form,


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## Dayhiker (Mar 13, 2010)

Great looking little slingpistol -- top craftsmanship too! I like it a lot.


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## Chepo69 (May 1, 2010)

Se ve muy simpática la pistoresor jeje!

Looking very nice!


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