SpudFiles

Bill Hays is exciting the slingshot community with his totally new designs. He makes frames that look like nothing else, but work just perfect and are amongst the most comfortable slingshots tested in The Slingshot Channel so far.

Three different frames are shown, one even has a 16 round steel ball magazine.



Enjoy!

Jörg

After several clumsy Sling-X-Bows, I wanted a compact plinking toy. A pistol!

Regarding the design, I always liked the Ruger MK2 .22 pistol. So I borrowed the grip/trigger look for my rubber based "competitor".

In order to have some amount of power, I turned the lock around (Stu's idea, in fact) and set for 45 cm (18") draw length (= total length of the weapon).

The trigger is really easy, just a lever that keeps the locks in place and releases them once the trigger is pulled. It is held back with a rubber band, this time it is not visible (under the lock plate).

The lock dowels are drilled off center, so that they are adjustable for different ammo size. Especially the small 8mm balls need very tight settings.

The three TB gold bands (2cm x 1,5cm x 11cm, effective length 8cm) are mighty hard to draw, about 12 kg draw weight.

The weapon shoots the 8mm steel ball with about 70 m/s, 230 fps. Not bad for the cold temperatures (freezing).

It is however more accurate with larger caliber ammo, maybe because the larger balls open the locks more evenly.







No video, it is already dark outside... maybe next week. This will give me time to make it nicer.

Jörg

It's cute
Nice velocity also for such a small package! Good work.

I have painted it black, attached rubber scales, even glued washers on in order to make them look the Ruger logos.

Optimized the fork as well, it is now a bit higher, for low powered shots (below 30% draw).

Here is the video:



Jörg

Looks awesome, just a few questions before I start my version this week.
How thick is the trigger notch in the body? Does it weaken it? And also how is the fork held in place? Just friction? any special cuts or anything. I plan to glue 4 1/4 pieces of plywood together just to save money as I have not need for a 4x8 sheet of 1 inch, does this sound ok.

clemsonguy1125 wrote:Looks awesome, just a few questions before I start my version this week.
How thick is the trigger notch in the body? Does it weaken it? And also how is the fork held in place? Just friction? any special cuts or anything. I plan to glue 4, 1/4 pieces of plywood together just to save money as I have no need for a 4x8 sheet of 1 inch, does this sound ok.

Yes.

Use gorilla glue, and clamp the heck out of it when you glue it.

Done right, it'll actually be stronger than a 1" piece of plywood.

Ok good tips, but i havent had good luck with gorilla glue. From my experiance wood glue is cheaper and more effective. Ill probably but a few 5 gallon buckets of water on it.
Thanks

Here it is - my new sling-x-bow for shooting Sabaca's really cool darts.

It works really good, and has that sniper-like look I borrowed from .50 Browning rifles.

I used 11 mm plywood for the outer two layers and an inner layer of 18 mm plywood, with the trigger/lock part left out. This results in a nice, thick stock that is very comfortable.



It is equipped with Thera Band Gold, 1,5 times hunterband strength. Even in this cold weather it shoots pretty hard.



The lock is slotted so it is easy to notch the flechette into it. One moving part is enough for the entire trigger and lock.

You load it by stomping on the fork and pulling the flechette upwards. Easy and not dangerous.

This is fun!



Jörg

Joerg, your simplfied sling-x-bow video a while back inspired me to build my own version.

Since then I have built another that has an internal locking mechanism for the fingers that hold the pouch. For the second one I just need to get some Thera-bands to give it some real kick (right now it has some weak tubes).

Gaderedguitarist, great job! Are you pleased with the shooting results?

Jörg

... and through distant skies came the Lady of the Ash.



The humble acolyte of the slingshot cult meditated for hours in time until he began the ritual of transformation.

First he carefully removed the worn clothes from the body of the beauty.



The acolyte suddenly saw the hidden features, well embedded in a wooden shell.



Like Maestro Michelangelo experienced ages ago, the acolyte knew his mission by heart. The beauty had to be freed from her imprisonment.



After many hours of hard work, the shape of the Lady became obvious for the first time.



At the end of the day, the Lady was beautiful and smooth.





The acolyte finally gave her a new coat - polyurethane, polished to a glass like shine.



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I added strong paracord as a lanyard and also I attached my favorite bands for the 8 mm steel ammo, real thin TB gold.



I am quite pleased with the outcome, one of the nicest frames I have in my collection.

I wanted to leave the original curves intact, just carve it into something really unique. The handle was longer on this one, so I added a very unusual eye for a lanyard.

I never did much with naturals, but this kind of excessive processing has a lot of appeal.

I hope you like it!

Jörg

Wow, I love it. It has an almost bone-like shine over it.
Gotta try it myself!, I have some poly-urethane laquer lying around,,

I have been making natural slingshots since I were eight or so.

Gaderedguitarist, great job! Are you pleased with the shooting results?

I am very pleased. I just finished my second build where the trigger mechanism is internal, somewhat similar to your pistol. On the second one, I made a thumbhole stock with a cheek piece and it is much more comfortable to shoot.

I seriously have to thank you though. Your inventions and designs are always inspiring.

OK, I do know that Neanderthals did not have rubber... but what if?

Took the antler I picked up on ebay a few days ago and sawed a huge fork off.





Then I cut out the rough outline, with a monstrous palm swell.



I had to leave some of the outer material intact in order to maintain stability.



Attached a set of bands from Bill Herriman.



It shoots well, is very comfortable in the hand. And it has this Flintstones look!

Jörg

I did a short video, presenting four of my recently made slingshots.

Enjoy!



Jörg