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Do you olduns Remember catapult's


deny essex
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Found this whilst raking through some old boxes in the shed.

How many of you remember the must have catapult of the day a "Barnet Strike". or a "Milbro"

Before them I used to make mine from a forked branch with model elastic and a strip of leather ,usually from the tongue of an old boot.

catapault (600 x 400).jpg

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52 minutes ago, ditchman said:

what about "the wrist rocket"

I had one of those for firing out boilies when carp fishing.

During my school days I made them from a forked branch, leather and 1/4" square elastic which was sold for renovating the cushions on snooker tables. The best form of ammo was 9mm Sten Gun bullet heads liberated from the army ranges near Aldershot.

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35 minutes ago, martinj said:

I had one of those for firing out boilies when carp fishing.

During my school days I made them from a forked branch, leather and 1/4" square elastic which was sold for renovating the cushions on snooker tables. The best form of ammo was 9mm Sten Gun bullet heads liberated from the army ranges near Aldershot.

i had 2 ammo choices

  1. 3/4" unf nuts
  2. carefully sorted 3/4" gravel...used to look for roundish stones with hairline cracks it....then when we fired at sparrows on the concrete apron at the farm...the stones used to explode on contact with the concrete and frag the quarry....used to be able to kill 2 or 3 sparrows every time......
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48 minutes ago, dipper said:

Had a milbro it used 3/16 rubber .Shot a sparrow a very long shot.first thing I ever killed pI was gutted.That was about 65 years ago.

 

I was totally dismayed first time I hit anything - we brought the injured casualty home to a mate's garden and kept it fed and watered until it disappeared, probably eaten by a cat.

35 minutes ago, ditchman said:

i had 2 ammo choices

  1. 3/4" unf nuts
  2. carefully sorted 3/4" gravel...used to look for roundish stones with hairline cracks it....

Fearsome ammunition

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I had a deadshot catapult, never missed my thumb once. 😁 When i got used to it i knobbled all sorts, pheasants, rabbits and the odd glass insulator on overhead power lines.  

 

 

Got caught once lining up on a pheasant on the estate i now shoot vermin on. I told the keeper i was having a wee. 

Dead-Shot-Catapult-Slingshot-Vintage-rare-to-find.jpg

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3 hours ago, B725 said:

I used to make my own and throwing arrows. 

Me too. Catapaults made as described by Denny. But like others we too called throwing arrows French arrows.

The most lethal piece of kit were two bolts screwed (just)  into either end of one nut (3/8th whitworth I think) with a chemical mix in between. Chuck them down the road and they went off like mini grenades. In those days (late 50's) bomb sites were our playground. You could buy chemicals for your chemistry set from model shops and chemists and experiment. In many ways, sadly I have forgotten the powder mix formula. Probably just as well!

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The big break through was when square elastic became available, we used to collect marbles and ball bearings to use in the catapult. We also searched for the straightest sticks for the throwing arrows, never indoors always outside looking for the next adventure, and October was the start of collecting wood for bonfire night down the field's with a saw or small axe and dragging back what ever we could. Life was so much simpler out all day wind, rain or shine back home when your belly started rumbling, happy day's. 

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