My Favorite Slingshots

If you're not a slingshot shooter; I'll repeat what I've said many times before. "You're missing out on a lot of fun!"  I own guns and bows but I shoot a slingshot the most!

You may even think slingshots are all about the same. Slingshots are like anything else; once you learn more about them, there is more and more to learn.  Slingshots are truly simple, but so is running, jumping... and not all of us are going to the Olympics.

I started with a Marksman 3040 which is a wrist braced slingshot.

This one has Trumark's heavy black tubes on it.

• I tried others but that old Marksman is my favorite braced model. 
• The long flat wrist brace is comfortable in use.
• I like the narrow forks on this slingshot.
• It folds compactly and slides into a back pocket easily.
• I don't like the plastic tips where the tubes attach. 
• I learned that few experienced slingshot shooters use wrist braces.

It took me years to learn to shoot a non-braced slingshot as well as I shot that old Marksman. (Not to give the wrong impression I never shot the Marksman that well, but better than others.)  The wrist brace is sorta like training wheels; once you get past needing them, they get in the way.

My favorite slingshot for the past several years has been the Trumark S9. 

The one above has Trumark's standard tubes.

• It's a very simple slingshot made from aluminum tubing. 
• The grip will hold and dispense standard 5/16 Trumark steel ammo.
• The grip is two clear pieces of plastic and feels flimsy.
• When filled with ammo it rattles and adds considerable weight.
• Some like the wider forks, but I don't.

With some of those points in mind I simply tied, wrapped, and glued a piece of rope which pulled the grip/forks together.  The rope did a pretty good job of fixing the things I didn't like.

This is the same Trumark S9 with my simple modifications.
This one has Trumark's red tapered tubes.

• Narrow forks now
• No rattling ammo
• No flimsy grip feel
• The small board magnet is handy for picking up steel ammo.

I used common Marksman, Daisy, or Trumark single tube bands.  I learned that there is a considerable difference in the tubes and their ammo pouches.

• Marksman's tubes have not been of good consistent quality.
• Daisy's tubes are ok, kinda hard to pull, but I hate their small pouches of stiff leather. 
• Trumark's standard gold tubes are better and all their pouches have soft flexible leather.
• Trumark's red tapered tubes are my favorites, easy to pull and they shoot a little harder.
• Trumark's black tubes are hard to pull, shoot little if any harder, but they last a long time.

I used the slightly modified Trumark S9  slingshot for several years. There is nothing wrong with the setup, but more experienced shooters often use flat latex bands or Chinese tubes.  

Several things happened to make me look for something new.

• The Academy Store dropped Trumark and only carries Daisy and Barnett bands. (?)
• BassPro has the Trumark bands but they cost about 25% more there.
• I've been getting some tubes/bands which don't last very long lately.
• I learned that some shooters are using regular old rubber bands with fair results.
• I was ready to experiment with something new! 

More in my next post!

NOTE: 

If you enjoy this blog please spread it around!

I enjoy writing it, but I'm getting a little discouraged with the low numbers.