The Slingshot News Magazine is online!

As announced some time ago, I have added another format to The Slingshot Channel.

From now on, I will pick about ten different, interesting new stories from the forums, and present them in a video.

Every community needs a newspaper, and this is my small contribution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPViGeS2HRc

If you think I have missed anything (I am sure that is the case), let me know. Also, if you feel that you have seen something that MUST BE in the next issue, send me a message.

Best regards from Germany (currently a loud, drunk country, thanks to soccer).

More fun with the Sling-X-Bow

It was such a nice day, I decided to shoot with my crossbow some more.

Drove a 16 mm lead ball through 2 cat food cans and right into a third! All of them filled with water.

Used three Thera Gold strips per side, 50% stronger than hunterbands.

Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMpQjdsosQ

Video: Fast reloading, no more handslaps

Have found a simple, yet effective way to reduce the dreaded handlslapping. I simply use a really weak, thin rubber strip (single strand of Thera Tube Tan), tied around my wrist, and attached to the pouch.

This means you loose a tiny bit of power, but it is not measurable.

It really works!

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaHOxcflc7I

Slim Forky: Sunken for 2,000 years

Life is about balance.

After presenting a brutal, ugly, frightening slingshot crossbow today, I needed to make its counterpart.

A humble, basic, pleasing frame.

I chose moor oak for the wooden part, sunken for 2000 years in airless depths. It got resurrected, and then turned into a slingshot!

The wood is very dark, and also very lightweight. I had to strengthen it with stainless steel to give it back the sturdyness it once had. 12 mm!

The wood "skin" has 2 mm walls, that is all.

I left the handle a bit rectangular towards the end (the "butt"). I like it that way! I will shoot it in the index+thumb-on-the-fork style.

The polished steel and the dark wood are very pleasing to my eyes. It is very smooth. Again, the wood is natural, no staining, no coating.

How do you like it?

Sling-X-Bow vs. Ballistic Gelatin

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOd6r2x-j7I

Unbelievable, the .63" (16 mm) lead ball went through the cat food can filled with water, then on through 40 cm of ballistic gelatine...

As a bonus, I also fired some other crossbows and the boncrushers through the gel.

Enjoy!

Sling-X-Bow now with stock and scope!

Have done it - I converted an old rifle stock for the slingshot crossbow, and I also attached a scope.

I strengthened the barrel by adding to more "rails", as the 3 stripes of Thera Gold per side bent the single steel tube slightly upwards. Now everything is OK!

Used a training band to adjust the scope and to test the accuracy - 10 meters, it shoots hole in hole in hole.

It is really long for a crossbow, but I love it!

Will do a video tomorrow, already prepared the ballistic gelatin...

Here is the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCqotybf7y8

A slingshot at the golf club

Have been at the Gevelsberg "Gut Berge" golf club today and shot golf balls with my Poseidon slingshot, from their driving range.

I was accompanied by Steffen Bents, the resident golf pro. A great guy!

He was a bit sceptical, but you could see his jaw dropping when I made my first shot. Even though the range is very much uphill, I got to about 190 yards!

With his "longest" club, he did a little more than I could, but he said that he was completely surprised by the power of the slingshot.

Will upload the video soon!

Jörg

Slingshot Beauty Contest - Be a Juror and Win a Cougar!

I made a total of six slingshots in my "Beauty" line.

I want to find out the most popular style, so I am conducting a weeklong inquiry.

If you want to have a chance to win a "Limited Edition Cougar", just leave your vote as a comment to this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TpAeNsTuBU

Thanks!

Jörg

Full power slingshot crossbow

OK, it was time for this.

Took the trigger part from my slingshot pistol and eliminated the two problems I had with it:

1. The low power (I simply gave it 87 cm draw length)

2. The dangerous and awkward loading (I added a sliding fork, so you can load it easily and cock it when you are ready to fire).

This is technically and legally a crossbow now, so you have to be 18 to own it in Germany (no problem here - sigh...).

It is a great shooter! I am amazed by its accuracy. I may add a good sighting system.

Thos would probably be a fairly good Zombie weapon. Silent, accurate, and powerful enough for skull penetration. Add a pointed steel rod or a bayonet to the front of the "barrel" and you have a spear as well.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOduqZyBrhU

Slingshot Pistol

Made this a while ago, a simple slingshot pistol. It has ball bearings in the release part, though.

Threw it into some corner after I hit my thumb loading it, but now that it has healed I dug it up again. You just have to use weak bands, otherwise loading is dangerous.

Because of the very short draw length, it is weak anyway. But precise, and fun to shoot!

Huge Golf Ball Shooter "Poseidon"

Now that the outdoors swimming season has started, I made a "maritim" inspired slingshot.

I laminated aluminum plates (stepping board) onto the Multiplex (birch plywood) frame! This reminds me on a pool ladder. It also makes the frame pretty much unbreakable, I guess.

Oh, and Poseidon loves golfing... that is why I made the frame real big, I designed it to chuck golf balls from it. Which I do in the video, at 160 km/h (over 100 mp/h).

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOdJlkpmDe4

"Direct Touch" Pouch Design

I have been playing with pouches, too.

This time I am not so much after power (imagine that!), but I want precision. Releasing the pouch evenly is important for that.

When I fooled around with the shotgun pouch, I found that if you cut real large holes into the pouch, left and right to the center, then it allows you to directly grip the ball instead of the leather. The ball is locked very firmly into the hole, much like in a double cupped pouch.

You pinch the leather in front of the ball and pull right against the smooth steel surface. SO you can hold on very tight, and when you release, the smooth surfaces of the ball will ensure a very even motion flow.

This works really good.

I think you should try it!

Cocobolo design - the video

Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVEJlDZ-im0

Enjoy!

Jörg

Cocobolo spike

Guess what... made one more today!

I think I forgot how it is to spend a lazy free day...

But I got this piece of Cocobolo and I just had to make a frame from it.

It is a variation of my "Double T" model, but this time, the over-the-top crossbars are Cocobolo, too. Of course there is the usual "heart of steel" - that is why I cut the Cocobolo rods in the middle, hollowed them out, then filled them with epoxy and laminated them to the frame. This will last forever.

The grip is absolutely gorgeous, it is so smooth that you can see your mirror image in it. The smoothness is just unbelievable. The shape is also really comfortable to hold!

I like it.

"3 Pillars Of Destruction" - The Strongest Slingshot

Have made a How-To video again, this time with only one thing in the focus:

POWER.

So I had to make a metal slingshot, but without welding - therefore, heavy bolts and nuts have been used. It had to be the "W" design as this is simply the most efficient frame I ever encountered (thanks to Bill Herriman again, who pointed this out to me some time ago).

I followed Dan's "core" idea and removed the fancy things a power slingshot does not need - no rotating handle, no hinges, straight forward.

The slingshot came out great!

I glued the grip and fork tubes over the threaded bolts, which holds 110%.

In the time the glue needed to harden, I quickly made a "Mini W". You actually hold it with two fingers against the fork and with the middle finger around the grip. Not bad! Could even make it smaller.

The picture with both slingshots also shows the ammo I used in the video (which will come up later), 18 mm hex nuts (41 gramms), bonecrushers (70 gramms) , and 30 mm steel balls (120 gramms). In comparison, I added a 3/8th (9.5 mm) steel ball...

I am shooting it with two strips of Thera Black per side, 14cm x 6cm x 20cm.

And here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGtVGjajQxU