I was reading about these a bit ago and they're fascinating. For such an incredibly simple weapon, they sure do seem effective. I found some people that were hunting squirrels, rabbits, even fishing with them (same way you shoot for fish with a bow). So I had to give it a try. Naturally there's a lot more to it than at first glance!

I'm using a 3 foot section of old metal mop handle. Kind of short for a blow gun, but it lets me play for free (junk). Prototype 1 was just a wooden slug, basically a .30-06 bullet stretched out to twice its normal length. Doesn't work, it just exits the muzzle spinning crazily and goes about a yard. Prototype 2 was an elongated cone with a smaller-diameter tail, trying to get as much mass forward as possible. It went farther, five yards or so, but with no control whatsoever and still lots of spinning. Then I added some basic fletching. Prototype 3:



It flew point-first, but swerved a bit erratically. Probably my crappy feather.

Prototype 4:



Same idea. Enlarged head, tapered tail, but now the curves are much more gradual. I took a section of feather up a ways so it was straight, and made it up more like an arrow.



Now we're talking! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> That was only from five yards, but I'm a newbie. It still doesn't fly perfectly straight. My feather is still lopsided and I could probaly do more whittling to smooth the shaft. But it's an order of magnitude better than proto3! It's surprising how much it penetrated the target, considering it's high density foam for archery pracice.

I'm thinking my next prototype will be of a denser wood (this is ash). I'll raid my stocks of seasoned fingerling oak. Logic suggests that the thinner I can make the shaft without compromising on mass, the farther and faster it will go.

Anyway. I'm just pretty excited by my progress here, thought I'd share and ask for input.

Wow that is a cool experiment. Brings back memories of when i was a kid. I tried making one when i was like 9 but failed. I sharpened a small piece of wood and used a soda straw. Hahah yea i know. Man it failed big time. I almost swallowed the sharp wood one time. I stopped messing with that shortly after.

If you get it down pact let us know. I would love to try this one day. Thanks for posting.

That Dart is Awesome!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Great work! And great shooting too!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Cool what you can do with a few natural items in just the right form. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I've played with a Atlatel (spelling <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />) some, it's hard but fun.

Cool. Only stuff I've read or seen is from the CS Catalog.

Ive always wanted to try making and using a old school sling shot. The one where you spin it over your head and hurl a rock or other hard object. I tried that as a kid also but didnt do so hot. Ever try that momaw?

I'll try to post a pic of my gear. I made the bamboo one in Order of the Arrow years ago. The dart is made from 1/4" wooden dowel rod and fletched with thistle seed. The commercial darts in the orange box and blowguns I bought when I lived in Nebraska. Great fun! Sadly, I live in CA now where they are illegal.

What you describe is not a slingshot, it is a sling. The terminology is pet peeve of mine. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Slingshots, hand held and braced against the arm, operate on the principle of elasticity. Rubber bands. You put a marble or a ball bearing in a pocket, pull it back, and let it go. They are mainly toys, invented some time around the end of the 19th century. You can hunt vermin with the more serious types of slingshots but..

The sling on the other hand, a long cord with a throwing pocket in the middle and swing at arm's length, is a weapon dating back to several centuries BC. It operates on the principle of leverage, second class in this case, allowing the slinger to loft projectiles at extreme speeds by extending his arm. It was militarily deployed by many civilizations around the Mediterranean because it was dirt cheap to make, and the extra weight to the soldier was only a few ounces. Slingers from the Belearic islands off the coast of Iberia were reported to be the best of the best. It was written by period historians that accomplished slingers could out-range bowmen. When used with lead shot, it was capable of burying its projectiles into flesh over a hundred yards away.

So yeah. Slingshots are toys, slings are proven-effective weapons.

I also know that the sling is supposed to be really hard to learn to use well. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I know a little of the history of the weapon and I know they are easy to make, but I cannot help you with how to actually use one.

How do I post a picture here? I am new to this. I have it listed on photobucket and just need someone to tell me how to send it here.

There you go.

When you look at the image on photobucket, off to the side it has a couple of fields with the URL of the image in them. The one you want starts with IMG and ends with /IMG (in square brackets). Just copy the contents of that field and paste it here.

Thanks. I'll try that next time.

idk much about making them but...
my cousins got inexpensive ones for christmas and boy were they fun!!!

the would easily blow through a free standing 2 liter soda bottle and had a range of maybe 30 yards.
they were very cool.

yours looks like it has the potential to be pretty good, but my little cousins couldn't even cleanly kill a squirrel with his smaller one.(of course he was only 11)
it still sure looks like fun!


slingshots can be fun too, but yeah, def not serious weapons... except maybe three man slinshots... we launched some crazy stuff out of those. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> (flaming snowballs, hunks of metal ect.)

BDB: welcome to the forum. those look like some pretty serious blowguns!
have you taken anything with them??