Ever Shoot One of These

drifter

drifter

Well-known Member
image.jpgMost of you won't know what this is, but no matter that's mine and in my town and on my block, I'm the champ. I don't own a gun; I forego that privilege, but give me a slingshot (either kind) and I'm something else. What does that mean? Not a dang thing. But if you've ever used one, i thought you'd like to know some of these are still in existence.
 

I have one, it's an antique, made by an uncle when he was a boy in the 1930s. It's made from the fork of some small tree branch, dunno the wood and looks like inner tubing tied to the prongs. The rubber still seems workable but I haven't fired it for 40 years and doubt I'll ever test it again. I was a rubbish shot with it anyway. Just kept it for sentiment, it doesn't take up much room.

Many kids had them, boys anyway, even in the city when I was a kid but they gradually clamped down on them and they're essentially banned now.

We called them Shanghais, pronounced Shangeyes, dunno why. Even though banned they're still sold on eBay, or were a few months ago when I stumbled on some. Might be a problem with customs here though.
 

Very dodgy Phil, the pollynannies worry some toddler may stick one in an orifice and be traumatised and psychologically damaged for life.

Every week or so someone does a gasping and wide eyed 'report' on the dangers to toddlers of hanging themselves on venetian blind cords or something else that's happened once in the history of the human race. They haven't yet banned 4wds that back over and squash them with alarming frequency though, strange that.
 
I remember having one as a child and we called it a 'Catapult'

At the time I never thought it was a dangerous weapon.

I guess they are still available but in recent years I have not seen young people using them.

.
 
I do own one, but rarely shoot it. My grandson however, loves to use. It looks similar to the one pictured.

However, my best friend is an expert and has a more high tech version. It is made of metal with an arm brace, and will shoot metal balls. She is deadly with it and prefers it to a gun. She uses it to shoot all kinds of vermin on her farm.
 
My favorite ammo is marbles. I like the size better. Used to could buy for decorative or accent purposes, small river rock in various configurations. Those small rocks make the best ammo, but I haven't found any here in Oklahoma. I also have two metal slingshots, one with the arm brace. I've got my eye on the fork of a small tree in my back yard. The handle is some what oversized but i can whittle it down. It won't take much because my hands are large but this fork looks like it would make a fine slingshot. I've got rubber for several in my desk drawer which I change out from time to time. I actually like the flat band rubber best. Well, thanks for reading and commenting. I just wanted to show you what I used once upon a time to bring home
our supper.
 
Wow that takes me back, we used slingshots a lot when we were kids, nothing that nice though. I can remember getting a forked stick and big rubber bands and making them. And we used pieces of inner tubes for the sling part.

Thanks for the memory Drifter and I love your sling shot.
 
I never had a store bought one.All the boys in the neighborhood made them from a fork of a tree limb. I've made several over the years. Too expensive to shoot marbles or steel balls. We used small rocks for ammo.
 
Warrigal said:
We just used a green stick with a lump of wet clay on the end.
We hurled the clay with a whipping motion of the stick.
At each other.
Click to expand...
This is making me laugh.

I am picturing you or any of us telling a kid about what we did for fun as children, what kinds of toys and or gadgets we had.

"Well Sonny we had sticks, yes sticks I tell you and mud, we had lots of mud. Boy those were the days. "
 
I used to make Catapults.
I would cut a shaped branch of a tree. Cut a bicycle inner-tube into strips and use a bit of old Tyre to use as some were to put the missile in.
Another one I used to make.
I used to get a strait stick. Make a flight on one end and put a dart head on the other. Wrap a load of string around it and throw.The string unwound and it would go a long long way.
 
We used to make our own too from branches. I was never a good shot, but there were a few kids that could hit a squirrel out of a tree. I know that sounds sadistic but that's what they did. I think they just used small pebbles.

I remember making our own kites from sticks and strings and Mom's old nylons. That was more my speed.
 
water-balloon-giant-slingshot-xl.jpg
 
My brother had a homemade one when we were kids, I think we just shot little pebbles and rocks with it.
 
Old Hipster said:
This is making me laugh.

I am picturing you or any of us telling a kid about what we did for fun as children, what kinds of toys and or gadgets we had.

"Well Sonny we had sticks, yes sticks I tell you and mud, we had lots of mud. Boy those were the days. "
Click to expand...
Well, if we ever got our hands on some string we could make bows and arrows from the sticks and then we could play a game of Robin Hood. Such fun.
 
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