Survival Slingshot? - Page 1

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Posted: 4/20/2021 12:35:37 AM EDT

I have some nuisance animals in my back yard, so I started looking into slingshots as a way to deter these animals from hanging out.

Started looking into which one to get, ended up ordering a couple different ones with some different sized band sets and some clay ammo for city shooting and steel ammo for hunting. I don't want steel balls all over my yard and I also don't want to kill these animals, so clay is perfect.

I've been having a blast with my boys shooting soda cans in the back yard. As soon as I'm done with work, they're asking me to go shoot.

1000 clay balls is $18, and if you shoot them into a catch box, you can re-use them.
1000 3/8" steel balls is $20, and again, practice shots that hit the catch box can be re-shot.
Lead balls can be cast for cheap
Rocks are everywhere(although not really ideal for shooting for accuracy but in a pinch will do

Was thinking of adding slingshots frames, bands, and ammo to my 'survival kit'.

Pros:
Very quiet, you're not going to draw attention to your location killing food with a slingshot
Everything BUT the bands can be found/crafted
Cheap
Unregulated

Cons:
Can't take medium/large animals(unless you get the arrow shooting sling shots...which is a thing)
Requires practice to be proficient

Doesn't require an absolute ton of practice though. I've only shot about 100 clay balls so far and I can generally hit a soda can at 15 yards within 5 shots. So, I would imagine that given a couple months of practice, that can be significantly better.

Anyone else have slingshots as a part of their plan? I figure they're extremely quiet, powerful enough to kill small game, ammo is re-useable OR free(rocks). You can create a frame out of a tree branch crotch if necessary, buy bands and some ammo, and boom, you have a way to procure food and a very

Posted: 4/20/2021 1:05:08 AM EDT

[#1]

Not really part of my plans but I had a lot of fun with a slingshot as a kid and need to break it out again.

I could have a LOT of fun with a slingshot at an ANTIFA ~~riot~~ peaceful protest.

Posted: 4/20/2021 1:20:40 AM EDT

[#2]

I, unfortunately, never had one as a kid. I lived in town and my parents weren't interested in my running the neighborhood shooting rocks all over the place. Probably smart now that I think about it. I made one out of some elastic I found in my mom's sewing area and a stick...but I quickly wore out the elastic and it didn't perform very well anyway. I lost interest at that point because I got a BB gun.

My oldest hit the can second shot this afternoon at about 10 yards, a very proud moment for both of us. He came very close at 15 yards, but wasn't quite able to make contact. This is making out to be a great, cheap, alternative to taking him shooting while ammo prices are elevated. We still go shooting, but this distracts him between range trips.

Posted: 4/20/2021 8:57:17 AM EDT

[#3]

When I was a kid I killed rabbits with a wrist rocket and we cooked and ate them. Not sure about the legality of hunting with them but it works. I used spent bullets from the back stop of a local range for ammo. Wadcutters from 38 special worked the best

Posted: 4/20/2021 11:30:45 AM EDT

[#4]

Chief AJ Sling Bow for the win!

I have a couple and extra bands. They're dual use, so I can use (mostly lead balls) solid shot or arrows. I would hate to get hit with a .44 caliber lead ball form a 35lb band

My accuracy with arrows is only out to about 15 yards, but I'm working on improving that. We have turtles all over our lake so I use marbles to hone my solid shot accuracy. While I'm far from good, I can walk the lead balls into a small turtle at 50 yards with three or four rounds. I've had to replace the band on one sling (I a have a few extra). How you store them is important. I also spray some 303 Aerospace UV Protectant on them and seal them in a Ziploc for storage.

ROCK6

Posted: 4/20/2021 4:19:18 PM EDT

[#5]

My best friend and I used to be very good with them when we were younger; squirrels, doves, rabbits, etc. We shot slingshots a lot and also took up using traditional slings, blow guns, atlatls and then recurves; he still bow hunts a lot but mostly compound bows. They all take practice but you can get surprisingly good with them if you keep at it and yeah, I can see how you could kill someone or at least take them out of the fight if you were handy with any of them. That said, no I'm no longer very good with any of them anymore following some orthopedic work.

I still keep a folding Wrist Rocket and a container of ball bearings in my truck for messing around with and there's an old Marksman fixed version in the garage with some of my camping gear; both have the heavy bands on them. Nothing fancy like Joerg shoots. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVZlxkKqlvVqzRJXhAGq42Q

Posted: 4/20/2021 4:42:26 PM EDT

[#6]

I have a folding wrist rocket type slingshot and couldn't hit the side of a barn if I was standing IN the barn.

If I have to rely on it for food, I'm gonna starve to death.

Posted: 4/20/2021 6:58:22 PM EDT

[#7]

We used homemade slingshots to great effect on birds, rabbits and even a wild cat. Practice makes perfect. Oh and learn to use stones for ammo...may lose or run out of bearings.

Posted: 4/21/2021 4:51:48 AM EDT

[#8]

Had the slingshots that use a wrist or arm brace. 30 years ago when paintball was catching on some friends would play in the woods. With a special cup, home made, so the paint ball did not get squished, you could launch paintballs with the sling shots.

the wrist or arm brace allow a lot more pull force to be applied, so those are the only ones I look at.

I would also recomend you look into basic home made bow and arrow setups. They are much lower powered than today's compound bows and what not but honestly a lot of it does come down to shot placement. Being able to make your own bow and string it and use basic simple arrows is interesting as well.

Anytime this sort of thing comes up I tend to ask people what they have for 22lr rifles. Same when we get into the more serious bb guns as well.

A good bb gun with cb rounds can be awfully accurate and deadly if you keep in mind what you have.

I grew up in the burbs a few decades ago. I remember firearms were not allowed to be shot in the burbs but once researching they added in bows and arrows, bb guns, sling shots, paint ball guns, and more than that I bet.

A bow and arrow does not need the rubber elastic a sling shot needs. Nothing against a sling shot, but depending on what you want to accomplish this is one of those things where I would learn this skill and enjoy it and then research and move onto bow and arrows. If you research em using today's materials you will find folks using all sorts of stuff out of the hardware store to make a bow.

Posted: 4/21/2021 9:15:43 AM EDT

[#9]

Quote History

Quoted:
Anytime this sort of thing comes up I tend to ask people what they have for 22lr rifles. Same when we get into the more serious bb guns as well.

View Quote

I think it's just a good additional skill to acquire. We have deer that come into our open field all the time and a simple tree stand would give me a 10 foot or less shot with my sling or regular bow. Saves ammo. Also, unless you're running suppressed, they're quieter. We also get a crap ton of geese seasonally in our lake and eventually shitting all over our front yard. I can use larger rocks to get them to move (dog helps to, but only when I'm watching him...he's lazy and likes geese-company). We've had stray dogs around before and it's unnecessary to shoot them, but sling some marbles or rocks at them is quite way to get them to leave.

I have enough ammo to last a decade-plus in various calibers, but I enjoy the quiet, inexpensive practice with the recurve bow and sling-bow. I'm not invested with air rifles, but I would think they fill the same category with a little more precision at distance...

ROCK6

Posted: 4/21/2021 11:05:10 PM EDT

[#10]

Guess I didn't finish my thought on the 22lr stuff. Cheapish and home made slingshots and bows work and are a nice skill to learn and use time on.

Some people spend a ton of money on things and in some cases they will outdo a 22lr with cb ammo but back when you could find cb ammo easily I would rather spend couple hundred dollars on the quiet ammo than on a super spiffy bb gun. And some spiffy bb/pellet guns need somewhat expensive ammo. Might not be as big a deal now but back then I preferred to just stock 22lr.

The cb ammo is low powered and very quiet even without a silencer. It is primer and tiny bit of powder maybe, not sure. You used to be able to find cb shorts and cb longs. The cb short seemed louder to me. Just good for close in shooting and what not.

I learned when I bought some cheap bb guns that cheap bb guns just are not very accurate. The cb 22lr stuff worked great in a bolt action and usually the loudest noise was the firing pin and then the bullet hitting the phone book I used for a target.

Posted: 4/21/2021 11:33:29 PM EDT

[#11]

Many a bird was dispatched with my trusty wrist rocket back in the day.

Posted: 4/22/2021 12:12:43 AM EDT

[#12]

Quote History

Quoted:
I have a folding wrist rocket type slingshot and couldn't hit the side of a barn if I was standing IN the barn.

If I have to rely on it for food, I'm gonna starve to death.

View Quote

Tubes are notoriously inaccurate, especially the cheap bands on cheap box store slingshots. Affix flat bands to that frame, or just buy a frame that's designed for flat bands and you will have a lot more luck.

Posted: 4/22/2021 12:13:41 AM EDT

[#13]

Quote History

Quoted:
We used homemade slingshots to great effect on birds, rabbits and even a wild cat. Practice makes perfect. Oh and learn to use stones for ammo...may lose or run out of bearings.

View Quote

I'm assuming that if someone can aim and hit targets, switching to rocks shouldn't be an issue. They're less accurate, so there's no telling where it's going to go really. So it's going to be some luck involved in shooting rocks.

Posted: 4/22/2021 1:24:07 AM EDT

[#14]

"Can't take medium/large animals(unless you get the arrow shooting sling shots...which is a thing)"
What ya do here is shoot the people with your stealthy sling shot. Then, you take their guns and ammo to use on medium/ large animals.

Solved....
Next?

Posted: 4/22/2021 4:43:00 PM EDT

[#15]

Just wanted to add, I found your comment on how you got started very amusing.

Its the exact same reason I bought a Daisy Red Ryder. Starting a neighbor war is never ever a good thing and nothing starts one faster than killing their pet. Yet, same neighbor has no problem their pet torturing the hell out of yours, killing it, or destroying your property. The Red Ryder is an excellent solution. Its very quiet, stings like hell but doesn't penetrate the skin, and pets can't speak English so can't tell on you. Best part, ding them a couple times in the butt, they don't come back.

I don't see the Red Ryder as a survival tool unless you count Robin Gumbo as a survival food (Cajun's will appreciate that last comment.) Airguns as a survival tool is a topic for another thread which I have my share of that too. Slingshots, I grew up literally playing war with the things in the woods.

Got a funny sling shot story. Our side of the mountain when we were kids use to war with the boys on the other side. It was usual stuff, build a fort, defend it, and take the enemies with retreat as good a victory as we hoped not really hurt some other kids. Sling shots were part of our arsenal and like a shot gun with shells, you could have all sorts of ammunition from marbles for consistency, railroad rocks as fort destroyers, and dirt clods for close in action. We were so into them, we had the best you could find which in those days was aluminum frame with tubing and a arm brace.

One day us guys decided we were all going to the high school football game. It was the arch rival game complete with the usual pranks of the day like painting graffiti on the rival school etc. These were intense feelings back when I was a kid not like the everyone is sensitive until some nut goes off and kills a bunch of people like today. My generation someone ticked you off, you punched him one. Not very pretty but we weren't out killing each other.

Anyway the rival running back was heading for the end zone when from behind me I hear the familiar "flap" of a sling shot and see this projectile fly out into the field hitting the kid in the leg. It was a perfect shot, amazing really when you consider the distance but then we all had had some practice. Down the kid went giving our team time to catch him. They scored the next play anyway but holy crap were they looking for whoever did that. LOL Turns out it was our buddy "Head" and needless to say we didn't call him "Head" because he was the sharpest tack in the box. After chastising him and a few kicks in the butt and hits to his shoulder, we got Head out of there. As they searched everyone leaving, we handed off the offending weapon behind our backs. A short diversion, and one of us already through the search got the final hand off. Yes, we were brazen in those days. Meanwhile back in school, the search continued as not only did the authorities question and threaten all of us but pleaded for a confession on the school intercom daily for almost two weeks. Head never was caught but every game after that, we searched him. LOL

Ironically Head after a misspent youth, married, ran his own electrical company, and had two beautiful daughters both cheerleaders. You guessed it? They were cheerleaders for the team their father had shot the running back.

Like the movie "The Mummy's Return" slingshots can come in handy especially as a distance distraction.

Tj

Posted: 4/22/2021 5:39:59 PM EDT

[#16]

I keep one of the folding wrist rockets in a drawer in the kitchen. Combined with pieces of baby carrots or roasted almonds, it does a good job of removing the neighbor's dog from my yard before he has an opportunity to leave any "presents" out there for me to find while cutting the grass.

Posted: 4/29/2021 4:10:04 PM EDT

[#17]

https://simple-shot.com/slingshots/1b212xxx/hammer-bundle-xt-slingshot-head-xt-handle

Posted: 4/29/2021 8:04:56 PM EDT

[#18]

Quote History

Quoted:

Tubes are notoriously inaccurate, especially the cheap bands on cheap box store slingshots. Affix flat bands to that frame, or just buy a frame that's designed for flat bands and you will have a lot more luck.

View Quote View All Quotes

View All Quotes

Quote History

Quoted:

Quoted:
I have a folding wrist rocket type slingshot and couldn't hit the side of a barn if I was standing IN the barn.

If I have to rely on it for food, I'm gonna starve to death.

Tubes are notoriously inaccurate, especially the cheap bands on cheap box store slingshots. Affix flat bands to that frame, or just buy a frame that's designed for flat bands and you will have a lot more luck.

I thought that slingshots were just hard to hit stuff with, never had flat bands.

I put a lot of hours into wrist rockets as a kid and a few as an adult. Shot a lot of rocks into the pond, which is super fun. Rocks are completely and wildly inaccurate, they will swing off 30 degrees or more while making a hellacious buzzing noise. It’s cool but you’ll never hit anything further than 3 feet away with a rock, at least not on purpose.

After years and years I finally killed a chipmunk from about 20 ft with a steel ball. I couldn’t believe it after the hundreds of misses on squirrels and chipmunks. It was fun but a BB or pellet gun will do you better for small rodents and a 22 for anything the size of a gray squirrel or bigger.

Also the shot will bounce, don’t know about clay or lead but rocks and steel sure do. Don’t shoot your eye out.

Posted: 5/2/2021 12:33:46 AM EDT

[#19]

Marbles from your brothers coffee can collection work, as do the dollar store variety.

Beware the bands break down over time sitting in a drawer or in a box under the bed, and may be prone to breakage at full draw. Ask me how I know.

Posted: 5/6/2021 1:36:03 AM EDT

[#20]

Quote History

Quoted:

I thought that slingshots were just hard to hit stuff with, never had flat bands.

I put a lot of hours into wrist rockets as a kid and a few as an adult. Shot a lot of rocks into the pond, which is super fun. Rocks are completely and wildly inaccurate, they will swing off 30 degrees or more while making a hellacious buzzing noise. It’s cool but you’ll never hit anything further than 3 feet away with a rock, at least not on purpose.

After years and years I finally killed a chipmunk from about 20 ft with a steel ball. I couldn’t believe it after the hundreds of misses on squirrels and chipmunks. It was fun but a BB or pellet gun will do you better for small rodents and a 22 for anything the size of a gray squirrel or bigger.

Also the shot will bounce, don’t know about clay or lead but rocks and steel sure do. Don’t shoot your eye out.

View Quote

Yeah, there's definitely easier solutions to procure small game. However, IMO, in a survival situation, 5 pairs of flat bands and 1000 steel balls will get you further in a much smaller, lighter, more reliable package than will a pellet rifle. Air rifles won't last long getting rained on and messing in the dirt constantly. Not to mention coming up with pellets in the wild is impossible. Pellets are not reusable, using them during target practice is using your hunting ammo that is irreplaceable in a long term survival situation. Practice

Clay will bounce off of things like bottles or tin cans, however, they're not moving very fast when they do. Clay hitting anything hard like wood will bust up and not bounce. Steel definitely is a bouncer. Lead much less so.

Shooting 5-10 rounds out the back door into a catch box every day at lunch for 3 weeks, I can hit a beer can pretty much 100% of the time at 40 feet. I have no doubt I could kill a squirrel/duck/goose or turkey(with a head shot) without much trouble if I could get within that range. Those 15 steel balls I've been shooting into the catch box for 3 weeks straight. Once I got 'decent' with the clay balls, I can hit the catch box all the time I switched to 1/2" steel balls for target practice. Those things hit with some authority and I haven't even optimized my band-set to shoot that weight yet.

I'm not saying slingshots would replace firearms, but I think they're not a bad choice for someone that's interested in them and has the time/desire to be good enough with them to sustain themselves if the need should arise.

Posted: 5/6/2021 1:39:58 AM EDT

[#21]

Quote History

Quoted:
Marbles from your brothers coffee can collection work, as do the dollar store variety.

Beware the bands break down over time sitting in a drawer or in a box under the bed, and may be prone to breakage at full draw. Ask me how I know.

View Quote

New band material is surprisingly resilient. Sunlight is the worst thing for them(besides harsh chemicals obviously...), but you can get containers specifically for that. Most band-sets now-days come in a light proof bag.

Studies have been done with 5-10 year old band sets and if kept in a good environment, they don't seem to show significant reduction in performance or lifespan.

Posted: 5/7/2021 2:00:08 AM EDT

[#22]

I started watching Fowler, who won the TV show Alone several seasons ago. He's got a really good YouTube channel. That guy is all about slingshots, and it inspired me to pick one up. Played with the old style ones with a wrist brace and surgical tubing when I was a kid, but the modern band material really takes these things to a new level. I bought a Simple Shot Scout LT, and I really enjoy it. It's great for flushing game, taking down nuisance birds and pest control. Plus they're really light weight and don't take much room, I consider it a great addition to a GHB or BOB.

Posted: 5/7/2021 2:12:03 AM EDT

[#23]

I like the look of these slingshots on aliexpress. Esp the release mechanism which greatly improves precision over traditional slingshots

Posted: 5/7/2021 8:12:49 AM EDT

[#24]

I don't know if I mentioned it but back when paintball was slowly getting started as a "thing for kids to shoot each other with" I eventually blew up my paint ball gun. But the sling shot with the long arm brace was already in hand. You can make a cup for launching things like paintballs that will not take the pressure of you squeezing the item.

Lots of options. I am pretty much seeing that practice is important. We somewhat come around to the concept of the man with one gun and that is based on practice.

You can shoot a lot of stuff well, but some of this stuff without sights or consistent ammo will need practice.

Posted: 5/8/2021 1:19:11 AM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
I started watching Fowler, who won the TV show Alone several seasons ago. He's got a really good YouTube channel. That guy is all about slingshots, and it inspired me to pick one up. Played with the old style ones with a wrist brace and surgical tubing when I was a kid, but the modern band material really takes these things to a new level. I bought a Simple Shot Scout LT, and I really enjoy it. It's great for flushing game, taking down nuisance birds and pest control. Plus they're really light weight and don't take much room, I consider it a great addition to a GHB or BOB.

View Quote

One of my slingshots is the reproduction of a slingshot he made called The Sparrow.

I'm actually starting to prefer it over the Scout LT that I bought.

Posted: 5/18/2021 11:03:54 PM EDT

[#26]

Watch Zach Fowler on youtube.

He is a master with a slingshot. He's also a master survivalist.

I believe he took a slingshot on a survival show for the history Channel, and he said he wished he had taken something else.

Slingshots are fun, and could put food in your belly, but I don't know how useful it would be in a survival situation.

Posted: 5/19/2021 9:19:26 PM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:
I like the look of these slingshots on aliexpress. Esp the release mechanism which greatly improves precision over traditional slingshots

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H9ae4b97f796a4da999c30e5de8925ba3a.jpg

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/H7e339b49654c413a998095f3e15525c6s.jpg

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Now that looks interesting. Anyone got any experience with these?

Posted: 5/25/2021 1:08:02 AM EDT

[#28]

Quote History

Quoted:
Watch Zach Fowler on youtube.

He is a master with a slingshot. He's also a master survivalist.

I believe he took a slingshot on a survival show for the history Channel, and he said he wished he had taken something else.

Slingshots are fun, and could put food in your belly, but I don't know how useful it would be in a survival situation.

View Quote

I mean, putting food in your belly is pretty important in a survival situation no? lol

I get it, it's not ideal. But they're so damn cheap and reusable ammo makes it even more enticing for me. It's not going to replace firearms for me, but it's definitely in the preps as a carry in the pocket, small game opportunist. How many times while out in the woods do you see an animal at shooting distance, but because you're doing something else(gathering wood, getting water, etc) you don't have the .22lr on you. But if you have a slingshot in your pocket, bam, squirrel for dinner and you didn't waste any time 'hunting' for it.

Posted: 5/26/2021 7:07:04 PM EDT

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:

I mean, putting food in your belly is pretty important in a survival situation no? lol

I get it, it's not ideal. But they're so damn cheap and reusable ammo makes it even more enticing for me. It's not going to replace firearms for me, but it's definitely in the preps as a carry in the pocket, small game opportunist. How many times while out in the woods do you see an animal at shooting distance, but because you're doing something else(gathering wood, getting water, etc) you don't have the .22lr on you. But if you have a slingshot in your pocket, bam, squirrel for dinner and you didn't waste any time 'hunting' for it.

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By all means buy one. I love shooting mine- 3/8" bbs and some good bands and it's minute of pop can at 15 yards.

Haven't shot a critter with it yet.

Posted: 5/27/2021 10:07:07 PM EDT

[#30]

Quote History

Quoted:

By all means buy one. I love shooting mine- 3/8" bbs and some good bands and it's minute of pop can at 15 yards.

Haven't shot a critter with it yet.

View Quote

I bought two before I made the OP. Simple-Shot Sparrow and Scout LT.

I have a couple natural crotch now as well that I built with my son. Gone through 6 bags of 1/2" 1000 clay balls already.

Keeps the geese out of my back yard as well. Don't even have to hit them. Splash the water in front of them a few times and they move on out.

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