Which catapult?

[Chasing Rainbows]

I noticed the last 'which catty' thread in my search was for 2004 so I can quite legitamately start this one I think.

In short, I need a new catty (we call them 'puggies' up in Scotland)

I noticed Hunter Catapults aren't doing buisiness right now, and there's nothing viable for sale on E-bay by gamekeeper John right now.

I got a cheap and nasty to practice with for £3 but it's a highly substandard chinese number. I'd very much like a powerful 'puggy' that matches hunter and gamekeeper. One to be held in Chinese grip style.

I'd very much appreciate any recomendations (please don't say barnett or any replicas/lookalikes).

 

[HillBill]

PM incoming mate

 

[Shewie]

Get in touch with Fish, try putting "hunter catapults contact" in google

He's still got some stock to clear I think

 

[HillBill]

Good point Rich

 

[marcelxl]

Had a Hunter and it was OK, powerful and easy to get (reasonably) accurate with. The thing that bugged me was when I was out the elastic bindings kept coming undone and whilst its not that hard to re-do it, its a pain in the bum in the field. I had it come undone several times and in the end I just sold it on.

I have one off Terry Kidd (smallholder1 off britishblades) which I good but the humble strike 9 for me, have an extra band in the bag and when they start to go its usually on the frame so a knife, some spit and about a minute sees it repaired. For about a fiver - bargain!

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Thanks very much! Two glimmers of hope. I'll be trying to get a hold of fish tomorrow. If not then a homemade one will be perfect. Messaged returned BTW Hillbill.

That's cheered me right up.

 

[Rod Paradise]

I've a big bit of Theraband gold - so if you decide to go with making your own you're welcome to enough for a couple of double tapered bands like on the hunters.

 

[21st century pict]

I use a chief AJ modified Trumark S9 with Barnett red magnum bands shoots real good,a very stable and consistent shooter, hardly ever have a problem, but you have got ditch the Barnett pouch just way to slow, to thick and heavy and replace with a trumark pouch which is a lovely piece of leather with plastic tube conectors, I also use the black plastic adaptor cap's to stop the tubes tearing.
For a spare the basic Barnett strike 9, 138grams is a real comfortable slingshot to use, again with the red magnum bands, and it will easily fit in a pocket,Probably draws around 19 lb, And or is a great set of prongs for a homebuilt mod handle. and as MARCEIXI said the Barnett strike 9 is a bargain!
Strangely enough I prefer the bottom of the range slingshots because they don’t have all the Carlos fandango extras!
The more expensive slingshots tend to have too much extras a folding wrist brace is ok but anything with stabilisers, long rods or sights are just too bulky,more designed for target or tournament shooting and not really very practical for hunting.
I prefer to shoot with tubes as the Therabands just don’t last that long they look very untidy and worse of all they are very noisy with a lot of slap. My pal shoots his Hunter, 66 grams and Cougar, 245 grams with flat bands and he is endlessly having problems with hand slap, the pouches tearing, bands coming off, or bands snapping for no apparent reason, possibly UV, But credit where credit is due they pack a ton off punch.
PS,up in this part of Moray we call it a TWEEK.
.

Trumark pouch, plastic tube conectors, and adaptor cap's.

 

[marcelxl]

Where do you get those trumark pouches then?

Cheers!

Marc

 

[Chasing Rainbows]

Hi all, thanks for the responses, there's alot of food for thought in there. I've left this thread alone for a wee bit too long, lots to type. I'll start with an update on 'puggy-quest'.

Salvation here came from an unexpected angle. I've been in dialogue with two of the makers in this very forum, and have been able to make some very nice arrangements. Kepis still had one catty left for sale in the makers thread for a very reasonable price. Four days after asking in this forum I'm pleased to say that I have that catapult in my jacket pocket. I really like the thing, it feels alot like an old milbro that's been bitten by a radioactive spider. Result!

But not the end of the story. HillBill has kindly agreed to craft a custom slingshot from yew for me. I have to admit I'm seriously excited about this one. The thought of a slingshot I could be (secretly) proud of had never crossed my mind. I don't want to jinx it by being overly optimistic, but I'm imagining something I can take care of and still be using in 30 years.

So, things have happened just because I asked here at BCUK. Many thanks to Kepis and HillBill.

Marcelxl: It's interesting that you went down a notch to tubular bands. Reliability and ease of use/repairs are two factors I'll be keeping my eye on.

Rod Paradise: Thanks for the offer mate. I do plan to carve my own at some point, it's a welcome break from spoons and spurtles. I've already seen the branch I'd like to carve it from. It would also be handy to have spare theraband for repairs. Soon I will buy my own roll and a rotary-cutter, but in the meantime some spares would be great. I'll PM you right after I'm finished here mate.

21st Century Pict: A tweek eh? My family are from up Moray way so I should really have known that. I looked briefly at the pro models with added fandangos myself. No way are those fitting a pocket eh.

I do like your set up, and would be adopting something similar but for a matter of personal taste. I'm more of a chinese grip kinda guy, I like the stability....it just feels right to me. The most important thing for me is the bands though, I'm a big softie and in a hunting scenario I want to minimise the chance of having to follow up (or even worse a badly injured escapee).

I guess the big equation seems to be reliability and ease of use vs power. I guess it's power for me, at least 'till the back of my hand is spanked raw and I'm sick of switching therabands.

Thanks all!

 

[21st century pict]

Hey MARCEIXI
I sent off to the states for some spare Trumark Slingshots Power Bands Heavy non tapered just for the pouches (I think they are available in the uk ). It wasn’t so much the pouch it was more the tube connectors they work great on the barnett bands. If you get the red magnum bands cut the leather pouch off and fold back the end and use the end with the hole on the side on the prongs to get the maximum length out of the tubes.
Hope that sounds clear enough Bro.

Hope you enjoy your new tweek Chasing Rainbows.
Later dudes.

 

[3bears]

gamekeeper john has a FB page and a forum, there are several for sale there.

John lives up the road from me, nice guy and the workmanship that goes into his cattys is second to none best 20 quid I've spent in a long time!

 

[SilverFox]

I would take a look on the www.slingshotforum.com site, there are plenty of suppliers on there who make some fine catapults.

As for Gamekeeper John's catapults, I purchased a Pocket Rocket 2 out of curiosity after seeing his youtube video's. I found it to be made out of very cheap wood with voids in and it was far too small for my hands. The bands also came off after the second day. All attempts at trying to contact John have failed, I really don't know why there seems to be any hype about his work. £20 for something that probably cost no more than a few ££ to make, I would look elsewhere! Just my 2 pence worth

 

[21st century pict]

Hey SilverFox.
Here is a picture of my pal's first Hunter brand new or only 1 or 2 week's old max and torn pouch and the handle is delaminating the dude at hunter was a nightmare to get hold of but he did replace the slingshot no problem. If I were to build my own tweek I think a skateboard deck would be the perfect wood for the job.

Correction Sorry my mistake fish @ Hunter catapults

 

[HillBill]

£20 for something that probably cost no more than a few ££ to make, I would look elsewhere! Just my 2 pence worth

Folk cant be expected to work for free you know.

 

[gowersponger]

check out bells of hythe in kent they got a website with some lovely catys

 

[3bears]

I would take a look on the www.slingshotforum.com site, there are plenty of suppliers on there who make some fine catapults.

As for Gamekeeper John's catapults, I purchased a Pocket Rocket 2 out of curiosity after seeing his youtube video's. I found it to be made out of very cheap wood with voids in and it was far too small for my hands. The bands also came off after the second day. All attempts at trying to contact John have failed, I really don't know why there seems to be any hype about his work. £20 for something that probably cost no more than a few ££ to make, I would look elsewhere! Just my 2 pence worth

i've seen over 40 of john's slingshots, none have any voids- he uses 18 layer birch multiplex for strength and durability it's coated in several layers of polyethylene, i've seen these take some nasty fork hits with 12mm lead balls and still be fine other than cosmetic damage.

as for bands, i've never had a problem, as well as being incredibly powerful (21 ft/lbs impact energy using 12mm leads)- the slingshots John makes are an over the top band attached design, a favoured band attachment method for most flatband shooters (inc Joerg Sprave for example...) if you hold it correctly there should be an issue, but held incorrectly it's very likely for the bands to come off.

yes there are slingshot vendors on the slingshot forum, making some amazing slingshots, (I'd love a Bill Hays G10 Ranger ) most based in the US, and after looking around you'll see that these can easily go for well over 50 quid without shipping.

for what you buy over here's it's Milbro style slingshots going for £30-40 or DanKungs for about the same price so for £20 IMHO John is very , very good value for money.

my own Pocket Rocket 3 made by John, as you can see, it's not junk....

 

[21st century pict]

The Pocket Rocket 3 in the picture above looks like a very nice bit of wood to me and I quite like the design so for £20 I will just have to give the flat bands one more chance and see for myself....Oh no back to the dark side!!!


Hey MARCEIXI .
Tubes with conectors and pouch attached ,Very tidy what.
..

 

[Rod Paradise]

i've seen over 40 of john's slingshots, none have any voids- he uses 18 layer birch multiplex for strength and durability it's coated in several layers of polyethylene, i've seen these take some nasty fork hits with 12mm lead balls and still be fine other than cosmetic damage.

as for bands, i've never had a problem, as well as being incredibly powerful (21 ft/lbs impact energy using 12mm leads)- the slingshots John makes are an over the top band attached design, a favoured band attachment method for most flatband shooters (inc Joerg Sprave for example...) if you hold it correctly there should be an issue, but held incorrectly it's very likely for the bands to come off.

yes there are slingshot vendors on the slingshot forum, making some amazing slingshots, (I'd love a Bill Hays G10 Ranger ) most based in the US, and after looking around you'll see that these can easily go for well over 50 quid without shipping.

for what you buy over here's it's Milbro style slingshots going for £30-40 or DanKungs for about the same price so for £20 IMHO John is very , very good value for money.

my own Pocket Rocket 3 made by John, as you can see, it's not junk....

That's what I've got - lovely bit of kit!

 

[marcelxl]

They do look the hounds rounds, but how well so the bands stay on?