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Catapult?


CaptC
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Looking to regain my youth via a good catapult which I can then hopefully knock some of the squirrels off the bird feeders which sit above a permitted right of way which precludes the use of my air rifle!

Please PM me -----

Thanks!

Edited by CaptC
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50 minutes ago, Salmo said:

Look on fleebay ..... loads 

Thanks - I did spend a while looking at eBay's offerings but I was totally baffled by the jargon/types!

I note that the Black Widow also comes with ammo!

Cheers

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52 minutes ago, clakk said:

If your bored drive up to Brixham and a ave a butchers in the tackle shop he has black widows hanging up for sale and cheaper 1,s made by ying tong industries atb

Thanks clakk - By the time I fire up the 4x4 and drive up to Brixham any savings will be lost! Much appreciated though!

52 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, you will not go wrong buying a barnet black widow paul, the arm rest makes a much better accuracy,  try the 6.35mm ammo,  

Thanks Gordon, noted that there are plenty of Black widow's with ammo and will probably go for one although a lot of reviews complain about the rubber(s) failing very quickly?

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They will all fail if the rubber gets knocked. Its basically a tube of rubber, and i wore a few out by firing stones instead of ball bearings. Also pulling to hard 😂 

Think new rubbers come in sets of 2, and cost (or used to) about a fiver. Not a lot really, not for something i have no doubt would kill a person, nevermind a squirrel. 

There is another barnett one called the diablo, it has sights. Forget that and save your money. 

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1 hour ago, CaptC said:

Thanks - I did spend a while looking at eBay's offerings but I was totally baffled by the jargon/types!

I note that the Black Widow also comes with ammo!

Cheers

homemade using theraband from the local docs....ammo 3/4 nuts............norfolk boys weapon of choice..

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I thought that being a Norfolk boy you might use the elastic from your underpants but thought again and realised that Norfolk boys do not wear underpants?

 

2 hours ago, strimmer_13 said:

They will all fail if the rubber gets knocked. Its basically a tube of rubber, and i wore a few out by firing stones instead of ball bearings. Also pulling to hard 😂 

Think new rubbers come in sets of 2, and cost (or used to) about a fiver. Not a lot really, not for something i have no doubt would kill a person, nevermind a squirrel. 

There is another barnett one called the diablo, it has sights. Forget that and save your money. 

Thanks strimmer - I see that some are triple banded which must surely effect accuracy? I shall keep it simple! 

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8 hours ago, CaptC said:

I thought that being a Norfolk boy you might use the elastic from your underpants but thought again and realised that Norfolk boys do not wear underpants?

 

Thanks strimmer - I see that some are triple banded which must surely effect accuracy? I shall keep it simple! 

Norfolk boys hold their pants up with  bailer twine. 

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2 hours ago, ClemFandango said:

Norfolk boys hold their pants up with  bailer twine. 

Until the sad end of plastic bags the Cornish used to cut two holes in the bottom and pull them on. Like the Norfolk men bailer twine was used but not around the waist, we used the carrier bag handles to make braces.

Washable and wearable for weeks!

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I went down the 'Chinese tube' route, allow 2,4 or 6 tube sets depending on what size ammo 6mm, 9/10mm and 12mm steel bb's.
 

I found the mass of the tubes and pouch are too much for barnetts to fire the 6mm ammo well.

 

10 hours ago, CaptC said:

Thanks strimmer - I see that some are triple banded which must surely effect accuracy? I shall keep it simple! 

Nope, I can hit telegraph poles at up to 100 yards with mine. I use catheter tubing(natural latex) which is sourcable from any medical supplier on the Internet and make up my own band sets.

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12 hours ago, ditchman said:

homemade using theraband from the local docs....ammo 3/4 nuts............norfolk boys weapon of choice..

One of the joys of a catty is making your own....ok back in the 40s and 50s you could go to the shop and buy square section catty elastic over he counter...can you still do that ?   Then have a look in the hedgerows or woods for a nice even hazel forkit and cut and fettle that to attach the elastic to.  A piece of soft leather for the pouch ...tip put a small hole in the centre about 5p size as that centres the projectile nicely.  Then the choice..go for standard catty elastic or 1/4 inch.......back in the 1950's  having 1/4 inch elastic was like owning a Porche.  My grandfather was an artist at making them and would dry out newly cut forkits in the top oven of our old black cooking range...... memories memories.

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9 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

One of the joys of a catty is making your own....ok back in the 40s and 50s you could go to the shop and buy square section catty elastic over he counter...can you still do that ?   Then have a look in the hedgerows or woods for a nice even hazel forkit and cut and fettle that to attach the elastic to.  A piece of soft leather for the pouch ...tip put a small hole in the centre about 5p size as that centres the projectile nicely.  Then the choice..go for standard catty elastic or 1/4 inch.......back in the 1950's  having 1/4 inch elastic was like owning a Porche.  My grandfather was an artist at making them and would dry out newly cut forkits in the top oven of our old black cooking range...... memories memories.

i still make mine out of cherry forks,..........and the leather comes from the toungue out of an old leather shoe..........much prefer using hollow theruband now but it dosnt last as long as square section as it is not UV stabilized......

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My grandfather would also seek out a likely young forkit in the hazels which grew in the bottom of our orchard and he would cut a two inch piece off an old brush stail and then put this in the forkit and tie it in, the forkit would then continue to grow but would shape itself around the shape of the stail. He would visit a few times and adjust as necessary. I only wish to this day I had saved some of his creations.  Watching him fettle wooden stakes for snares and his favorite was a 'rat spring trap' using a six foot length of hazel with a snare made from three strands of rabbit snare attached to the end and a peg in the ground alongside a rat run and a small piece of holly shaped with a notch which engaged in a notch in the peg, also holly. The hazel would be bent down and the notches engaged and a small loop/snare mde and set like a rabbit snare over the run.  Rat runs down, head through snare, disengages the 'sear' and the hazel springs back up with rat hanging off the ground unable to bite it's way free.   He would set thre or four down a hedgerow leading from out dutchbarn back to the buildings, then put the Corgis in the straw and flush rats out. Any which ran down the hedgerow hwere doomed even if the corgies didn't nab 'em first.   Ours were not the fat wobbly corgis you see, but hard muscled cattle dogs which loved a day out rabbitting or ratting. 

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1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

One of the joys of a catty is making your own....ok back in the 40s and 50s you could go to the shop and buy square section catty elastic over he counter...can you still do that ?   Then have a look in the hedgerows or woods for a nice even hazel forkit and cut and fettle that to attach the elastic to.  A piece of soft leather for the pouch ...tip put a small hole in the centre about 5p size as that centres the projectile nicely.  Then the choice..go for standard catty elastic or 1/4 inch.......back in the 1950's  having 1/4 inch elastic was like owning a Porche.  My grandfather was an artist at making them and would dry out newly cut forkits in the top oven of our old black cooking range...... memories memories.

Indeed memories, local sports shop sold lengths of 1/4" square elastic which we also used to launch model "jets" - two "volunteers" about 10' - 12' apart, hook on the home made balsa "jet! and away it would go. Accidents happened frequently because if the "jet's" trim was not correct it would loop the loop and hit a !volunteer!"

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1 hour ago, ditchman said:

i still make mine out of cherry forks,..........and the leather comes from the toungue out of an old leather shoe..........much prefer using hollow theruband now but it dosnt last as long as square section as it is not UV stabilized......

Where do you find shoes in Norfolk?

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Happy days as a kid, we used to gather on the pond behind our houses, probably half a dozen of us, catapults and bike torches then wait for the rats to swim across from the island, probably two lads using torches with others all firing at the same target, I've no idea if we ever actually killed anything.

much more fun shooting swimming rats with the air rifle 😄 whack!

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1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

Got a Barnett Pro Diablo gathering dust - sight is long gone but totally useless anyway - got the 3 balance bars and a reasonable band on it but most likely needs replacement - yours for the price of posting - about £4 I think.

PM'd

1 hour ago, bruno22rf said:

Got a Barnett Pro Diablo gathering dust - sight is long gone but totally useless anyway - got the 3 balance bars and a reasonable band on it but most likely needs replacement - yours for the price of posting - about £4 I think.

PM'd

Many thanks to all those who replied - there are some really good PW's out there!

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