Fish Hunter Catapult Testing

[1 pot hunter]

Duncan - I'll answer your points on open forum as I believe it would clarify some items.

I didn't see Siberian Fury's post until a day or so after it was made and there were already a number of replies - thankfully none that mentioned "Going Hunting" or the species again. I do realise that in certain circumstances the taking of one type of prey with a catapult (permissions and accuracy aside) would not be necessarily illegal - however when the post mentioned that practice on accuracy would enable him to "go hunting" not every reader of this forum would equate that phrase with "so long as everything else is in order - it merely precis as "practice till you think you're good enough and then go and shoot whatever you want".
It does not take a great leap of imagination to see that, for some people it could be taken as "the guys on BCUK said its alright to hunt with a catapult" and our name gets dragged through the mud and we're all labelled as "survivalist nutcases"! Our forum rules forbid any discussion of illegal activity and I like to think that we moderate to that level - no one can stop a person using a catapult for plinking practice and that is lawful in anyones eyes - the sticky point comes with a progression on from that view to actually using it to take prey.

There have in the past been solicitors letters requesting information from the forum owners and administration after dubious practices have been discussed and we must remember that our written word can be read by anyone including police, wildlife crime officers and anti-hunting activists. I for one, would like to show an over zealous moderating style and not be constantly under scrutiny from them, looking for ways and means to do us down.

I hope this goes some way to explaining my viewpoint.

Yours

Ogri the trog

Hunting with a slingshot is legal I think the political correctness on this forum needs to be toned down ,just my opinion.

 

[1 pot hunter]

Can you (or anyone) do a video of yourself shooting 4" groups at 25 yards using theraband gold? I'd love to see that - I'm kind of doubting it's possible for your average mortal. I'd love to be proven wrong.

My friend can headshot woodpigeons regularly at 70 yards with 8 mm steel

 

[1 pot hunter]

I'm not assuming anything, I'm saying in simple terms, that a powerful catapult, particularly of the type that use flatbands are difficult things for anyone to master to hunting level accuracy. Far harder than an air rifle. It seems to me that some folks here think it's OK to just buy one, have a few shots in the back garden and then go blasting at animals. Every single thread on the subject, talks about hunting with them from the start. I'm trying to add a little bit of balance. Shooting a catapult that is beyond your ability at a live animal is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, and not everyone on this site thinks it's OK, regardless of the law. I'm sorry if that point of view annoys a few people, but a lot of hunters take a lot of time honing their skills to make sure their kills are clean. That's as it should be. When people disregard that, they bring all hunting down with them.

Hunting is not a clean activity 100% time no matter what tool u use Iff you don’t like it take up knitting instead

 

[1 pot hunter]

I have no particular interest in debating the merits (or otherwise) of hunting with catapaults.

The one thing I will say though is that the idea that 18ft lbs of energy is sufficient to ensure a kill in a non-lethal zone and without a well aimed shot is very, very odd to me.

Whilst this may appear to be "half as much again as basic air rifle", I will invite a different comparison.

Lets try "one fifth as much as a .22 rimfire cartridge....with an absolutley rubbish comparable ballistic coefficient". A .22LR rimfire round imparts about 100 ftlbs of energy. Granted it has different terminal ballistics than a .44 ball, however the idea that "a hit = a kill" on a .22LR is clearly nonsense. I cannot see how a round carrying less than 20% of the power, with lower range and less accuracy would impart such certainty.

As I said, I have no particular interest in the merits or otherwise of catapault hunting, however, I can. with some assurance, state that a hit in a non lethal zone, using a .44 ball carry 18ft lb of energy (and bearing in mind this energy decays FAST over range) would not necessarily equal despatched prey.

Red

Rabbits have very thin skin shots in none lethal zones with lead go right through them and knock them for 6

 

[Stew]

Hunting is not a clean activity 100% time no matter what tool u use Iff you don’t like it take up knitting instead

You’re responding to posts that are from 13 years ago and Martyn hasn’t even been here for 7 years.

 

[slowworm]

My friend can headshot woodpigeons regularly at 70 yards with 8 mm steel

Are you sure? That's about the size of a 2p and not many people could do that with a .22 rimfire free standing or even benched. Having shot patched ball from a smooth bore I doubt the round ball would be that accurate regardless of how it was fired either.

 

[Toddy]

I grew up watching my Dad be that accurate. So was his brother and so was mine (as an aside all three won prizes for sharpshooting in the army)
My Dad said that his Mum and her brothers were crack shots, and it was one of his Uncles who'd taught him to use a catapult.
I think some folks just have that knack. I know two others who can do it too.
I think a lot of practice helps though, but some folks definitely have an edge.

Illegal now, but my brother was as accurate with a blowgun too.

M

 

[British Red]

Are you sure? That's about the size of a 2p and not many people could do that with a .22 rimfire free standing or even benched. Having shot patched ball from a smooth bore I doubt the round ball would be that accurate regardless of how it was fired either.

I shoot hand cast .457" lead ball from a rifled barrel over 30 grains of FFFG black powder. I would tend to agree that, even spun from a rifled barrel traveling at firearms velocity, I've never seen that level of consistent accuracy with a ball projectile. I would love to see a video of someone achieving it with a catapult, that would be a sensational achievement

 

[Mesquite]

It probably could be done at a much closer range as this old boy demonstrates but 80 yrds? I'm rather skeptical...

 

[Disabled Preppers]

I always find hunting threads a giggleto read because there will always be the i can this or that and then there are the people that use commonsense , one guy claiming he can kill rabbits out to 150 yards with a 12ft/lb air rifle now i did offer to go stand 150 yards away and catch the pellet because i have some lovely tuned guns and i am a fair to middle shooter my wife is far better but again shooting a rabbit at 150 yards with a 12 ft/lb rifle would may be tickle it at best , i have to ask a catapult out to 70 yards so 210 feet and head shooting a pigeon , i would first ask how young the shooter is and how good their eye sight is because even with a 3-9 x 40 scope out to 210 feet to drop a head shot hmmm l ike i say there will always be the people that can hit the man in the moon if you ask them but in truth the barn door is much closer .

Sorry i have loved pult since a kid and used most anything from the old milbro to diablos fully balanced weighted and again even in my hay day i recon 25 yards was the very best bunny i ever hit .

I am of the mind set if you can not be sure of a kill kill then do not take the shot , i stand by that and yes i know sometimes after the projectile has left be it a pellet a round or a ball the animal can move a little but i say never take a shot if you are not sure , better to kill clean than wound and then have to track the animal or worse have the animal bolt and die in pain .

Sorry to rant but i use to go out with a game keeper and many times he would be out tracking down foxes that a farm hand had popped a round in and it bolted , i also had and uncle that was a persdon of feeding the family off the land as he called it poachr i call it lol , he taught me much and it is better to learn the skill of getting close to the animal to be sure 1 shot 1 kill .

 

[1 pot hunter]

Are you sure? That's about the size of a 2p and not many people could do that with a .22 rimfire free standing or even benched. Having shot patched ball from a smooth bore I doubt the round ball would be that accurate regardless of how it was fired either.

Absolutely

 

[1 pot hunter]

I shoot hand cast .457" lead ball from a rifled barrel over 30 grains of FFFG black powder. I would tend to agree that, even spun from a rifled barrel traveling at firearms velocity, I've never seen that level of consistent accuracy with a ball projectile. I would love to see a video of someone achieving it with a catapult, that would be a sensational achievement

Check out Bill heyes on YouTube he headshots grasshoppers from far distances with slingshots he’s world best n does far to many feats to mention here

 

[British Red]

Check out Bill heyes on YouTube he headshots grasshoppers from far distances with slingshots he’s world best n does far to many feats to mention here

Is that your friend then?

 

[Toddy]

You don't see kids wandering around with catties these days. It used to be common, and the cattie was almost an extension of the boy's hand. They used them so often that sighting something and hitting it were so instinctive that accuracy was not a question.
Cost nothing to use but whatever wee stone they could find....or if their Dad's /Uncles/Big brothers/Cousins/neighbours worked in an industry and ball bearings were easily put in a pocket to bring home to the lads.
Nobody thought anything of it, but some of them went foraging.
My brothers and their friends did. My Dad and his friends did it. One of Bother2's friends still hands me bags of stuff for my Husband's dinner. Pigeon breast burgers this week for instance.
He uses a shotgun and a .22 these days, but then he's in his sixties now. He's still pretty blooming accurate with a cattie though.

Same with the 'pea' shooters/ blowguns....before those were banned they bought bags of beads of the right diameter to fit snuggly. Glass beads will take out sitting pigeons I'm told.

Accuracy is three things; it's ability, it's practiced skill until it becomes instinctive, and it's the desire to hit just where you want it and the focused will to achieve it.

Catapults aren't 'hunting/shooting/fishing' crowd type of skill though, just dinner.

 

[Broch]

Sorry, edited all out, 'cos there's little point in fanning the flames.

 

[Nice65]

Wow, a 13 year old thread started by a bloke who hasn’t been in since 2017, involving several now banned members, stirring up the exact same controversy it did all those years ago.

I’ll give Martyn his due, he might have destroyed BritishBlades, but he could put up a good argument.

 

[Broch]

Wow, a 13 year old thread started by a bloke who hasn’t been in since 2017, involving several now banned members, stirring up the exact same controversy it did all those years ago.

I’ll give Martyn his due, he might have destroyed BritishBlades, but he could put up a good argument.

Yeh, you're right, should have let it stay dormant

I've edited it all out

 

[Nice65]

Yeh, you're right, should have let it stay dormant

I've edited it all out

It wasn’t directed at you mate, just an observation on the subject as a whole. I started reading it from page one and got a few pages in before the deja vu set in.

 

[slowworm]

I wasn't going to reply as it seems to be almost like arguing over religion, but as it's a rainy day and now you've mentioned it.

I take exception at the distance of 70 yards as someone who regularly shoots and scores targets at a measured 50m (55 yards). Just a quick look at the ballistics shows a 1" group @ 70 yards to be somewhat fanciful. The best I could find was something like 2" at 25 yards so I had assumed yards and feet were being muddled.

Just running some numbers through an online calculator - someone shooting an 8mm steel ball at target at 25 yrds in a light 5mph cross wind you will have drift of about an 3 inches. But at 50 yrds drift is 14" and the drop 67", at 75 yrds drift 36" drop over 260".

So unless there is no wind at all and every pigeon is exactly the same distance you will not get near them. The ball will also take over a second to get there so chances are it has moved its head.

 

[1 pot hunter]

Is that your friend then?

My friend doesn’t have a YouTube channel but like I said check out bill heyes slimgshot channel youl be shocked