Crossbow's ?????

Originally posted by Straight Razor
As for slingshots, they are essentially toys and pseudo-weapons of the last resort.

I disagree with you here, a decent slingshot such as the Diablo has a draw-weight equivalent to a 40-50lb bow. The key is to practice regularly until you can hit a rabbit-sized beer-can at 50 yds using BBs or marbles...you may not get the penetration of an arrow using BB-shot or other similar projectile, but it certainly has enough impact energy to kill small prey

On the other hand, a 30" arrow fired from the same slingshot (with a little modification to add an arrow-rest) has the same kinetic punch as using an equivalent draw-weight bow/xbow...it's bloody deadly and surprisingly accurate too!

Originally posted by citizen smith

Originally posted by Straight Razor
As for slingshots, they are essentially toys and pseudo-weapons of the last resort.

I disagree with you here, a decent slingshot such as the Diablo has a draw-weight equivalent to a 40-50lb bow. The key is to practice regularly until you can hit a rabbit-sized beer-can at 50 yds using BBs or marbles...you may not get the penetration of an arrow using BB-shot or other similar projectile, but it certainly has enough impact energy to kill small prey

On the other hand, a 30" arrow fired from the same slingshot (with a little modification to add an arrow-rest) has the same kinetic punch as using an equivalent draw-weight bow/xbow...it's bloody deadly and surprisingly accurate too!

Killing cans does not a weapon make.

Mod Note: One Line Post – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 18-6-2008 by elevatedone]

Originally posted by Straight Razor
Killing cans does not a weapon make.

Beercans are a cheap and effective target-practice medium, and around the same size as the prey I intend to hunt (fluffy bunnies) and in addition to range-practice, I'm also developing my stalking skills...There are wild rabbits a-plenty where I am, and I can regularly stalk the blighters to well within killing-range.

You could have the best bow since sliced bread was invented, but if you don't have the skills to get within range for a clean kill of your chosen prey, you'll be going hungry...you may consider the 'slingbow' a crude close-range weapon, but I can attest to the fact that the concept does work, and because of the limited range, makes you work harder at improving other skills to get within range of your intended target

Also, If I can hit beercan-sized targets at 50yds, then a human headshot would be just as easy, and lethal too at that range...

If you still dont believe me, try it for yourself...it's cheap, legal, and develops the same hand-eye coordination skills you'd use for archery...consider it a 'complimentary skill' in case you break or lose your primary weapon

reply to post by Straight Razor


I guess all the game I've bagged with a wrist rocket including a mature boar racoon didn't count. I know of one professional hunting guide whose bagged whitetail deer with one using .375" steel shot.

Wrist braced slingshots can easily puncture most medium sized game's torso and skulls enough to kill them. Energy wise the easily exceed the UK airgun FAC levels. I wouldn't want to get hit with a projectile from one under 30 yards.


[edit on 18-6-2008 by crgintx]

Response to O.P.

Talk about narrow minded...ie ME..

I totally dismissed standard recurves from my first reply..See what happens when you get too reliant on tech.

You can get very powerful recurve bows which you can,of course,repair 'in the field'

Best of the best?..
Excalibur Exomax .

Yowch..

225lb pull
consistently over 340fps..
But get the add-on rope crank unless you can dead lift 100kg with your fingertips
.................................

Originally posted by Straight Razor

The man in the picture was recently charged with killing his mother, and he shot her with a cross bow.

REALLY????
Coz I've been living in a cave on the moon and I didn't know that..

Anything man made to help his survival is a TOOL..

It's the person using it that decides whether said tool is to be used as a WEAPON.

Weapons don't kill people.
People kill people...



Well unless you're building a really large crossbow and it falls on your head...
or you get a splinter and it gets badly infected...
or maybe you choke on the small parts.....errrr.. you know....

reply to post by crgintx


And BB guns kill some people some of the time. A slingshot, like a BB gun, is a dangerous toy, not a serious weapon. And, if you had to depend on it for food you would starve. If you had to depend on it for defense you would be dead. It is an affectation or used out of desperate necessity. One can get far more game with a bola.

Originally posted by Straight Razor
reply to post by crgintx

 

And BB guns kill some people some of the time. A slingshot, like a BB gun, is a dangerous toy, not a serious weapon.

So many things wrong with that sentence I don't know where to start.

Why do pro slingshots carry a "This is NOT a toy" warning??

A bearing fired from one of these can maim easily or even kill in a vulnerable place.

BB guns do not generally have more than 1 joule power rating..1.4ft lbs
they rarely even break the skin.

....

As for the bolas..definitely a good hunting tool yes,but not really an easily acquired skill for the average Joe..

reply to post by Straight Razor


I disagree. You certainly will not starve with a cheap pellet gun or even a slingshot. You'll just be limited in the size of animals that you can kill. Of course, that's not a serious problem. In a survival situation, small game such as rabbits, birds and squirrels will be much easier to come by than larger ones such as deer. In fact, that's true anytime. Small animals tend to be much, much more common than large ones.

Self-defense? Well, that's another matter entirely. A slingshot is going to be much more effective due to its heavier projectile (and they're capable of hitting very hard at short range), but its not something I'd want to rely on in that instance.