rayo Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 (edited) It’s been 50 years since I last used a catapult and totally out of the blue I thought I wouldn’t mind another one remembering the fun we had with catapults in the early 70s . So browsing flea bay I’ve bought a used hedgerow hunter Inow I’m quite looking forward to rekindling my childhood plinking cans in the woods 😁 Edited November 19, 2023 by rayo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratlegs Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Mind your thumb hurts when you twang it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldypigeonpopper Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 (edited) hello, i bought a black widow thinking i would relive my youth 🤔 never used it, 🤔😁 Edited November 19, 2023 by oldypigeonpopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 I remember my Barnett Diablo. I used to pull the rubber back that far, even with the wrist support at times it would flick the wrist back knackering up the shot. All great fun. Rayo, keep us posted on your 'rubber bandypult' exploits. 27 minutes ago, Ratlegs said: Mind your thumb hurts when you twang it And the air turns blue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbyduck Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 2 hours ago, 7daysinaweek said: I remember my Barnett Diablo. I used to pull the rubber back that far, even with the wrist support at times it would flick the wrist back knackering up the shot. All great fun. Rayo, keep us posted on your 'rubber bandypult' exploits. And the air turns blue! Also the nail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobba Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Gosh. Takes me back. Probably aged about 14 (1957) our playgrounds were bomb sites. Scarecrow type targets and bows and arrows, French arrows with nail heads bound in with copper wire from transformers in old discarded radios, and home made catapults. kept us amused for hours. We made our own “catties”. forked stick, 1/4” elastic from the model shop. Old leather boot tongue for the pouch, all held together with dubious whippings. Best Ammo was ball bearings, when you could get them. Looking back it was a lethal mix of boys own armoury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSpredder Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 Thank goodness there is at least one person left alive who made his own catapult rather than buying one from a shop. 3 hours ago, Bobba said: Looking back it was a lethal mix of boys own armoury. I always took a cut-throat razor to school in the early 1960s, because it was an essential item in the dissection kit for anybody studying A-level biology. Perhaps no more lethal than the sheath knives carried by all those scouts and guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miserableolgit Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 4 hours ago, Bobba said: Gosh. Takes me back. Probably aged about 14 (1957) our playgrounds were bomb sites. Scarecrow type targets and bows and arrows, French arrows with nail heads bound in with copper wire from transformers in old discarded radios, and home made catapults. kept us amused for hours. We made our own “catties”. forked stick, 1/4” elastic from the model shop. Old leather boot tongue for the pouch, all held together with dubious whippings. Best Ammo was ball bearings, when you could get them. Looking back it was a lethal mix of boys own armoury. My old man used to make some decent catapults out of forked sticks, bits of leather and elastic too. Showed me how to do the same. I got blamed for breaking the glass in next door but ones greenhouse but twernt me guv, honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 " knicker elastic " 😄😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nublue 22 Posted November 19, 2023 Report Share Posted November 19, 2023 You'll get in to trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUNKS Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 (edited) It was quarter inch square elastic for me too back in the 40s. I remember how deadly i was with stones from a local river bed. Made one again a few years ago and could not hit a damn thing. "exept my thumb" Edited November 20, 2023 by DUNKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbyduck Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 5 minutes ago, DUNKS said: It was quarter inch square elastic for me too back in the 40s I remember how deadly i was with stones from a local river bed. Made one again a few years ago and could not hit a damn thing. "exept my thumb" apparently its illegal to kill any animal in Britain with stones ! something to do with the stoning to death act . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 I used to use marbles. Then Mum wanted to know why the solitaire set was incomplete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobba Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 1 hour ago, derbyduck said: apparently its illegal to kill any animal in Britain with stones ! something to do with the stoning to death act . No knowledge of that act but curiosity got the better of me and it seems that it falls within the Wild Mammals (protection) Act 1996, to commit unnecessary suffering by mutilating, kicking, stabbing, impaling, stoning etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUNKS Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 1 hour ago, derbyduck said: apparently its illegal to kill any animal in Britain with stones ! something to do with the stoning to death act . Does not matter if its legal or not. If it moved we shot it! I will go and hand myself in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derbyduck Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 8 hours ago, DUNKS said: Does not matter if its legal or not. If it moved we shot it! I will go and hand myself in! Good luck with that one ! if your cop shop is owt like ours there's nobody in there to deal with it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUNKS Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 1 hour ago, derbyduck said: Good luck with that one ! if your cop shop is owt like ours there's nobody in there to deal with it ! We do have a cop shop. Cant just walk in, there is an outside phone which puts you through to another cop shop 15 miles away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 11 hours ago, derbyduck said: apparently its illegal to kill any animal in Britain with stones ! something to do with the stoning to death act . Steel ball bearings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 Some were devotees of 3/16 others were 1/4 fans. A bit like shot and choke preferences. I couldn't use a catty at all. What I didn't know back then was about master eye. I am left master eye but I shot the catty right handed so I missed the can by about six inches to the left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 3/4" nuts...........they make a nice Hiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssss/....................so my mates used to tell me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted November 20, 2023 Report Share Posted November 20, 2023 So they didn't fly true then BUT if they did connect they did the biz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratlegs Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 Got this in the 60s, not a lot of twang left in the lastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondoggy Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 6 minutes ago, Ratlegs said: Got this in the 60s, not a lot of twang left in the lastic Had one of those, but then who didn’t? No one seemed to bat an eyelid when you carried such things in the street. I carried a pen knife everywhere, even school. I felt naked if I didn’t have a knife in my pocket and no one ever said anything when you took it out to sharpen a pencil or a stick. Happy, happy days, never to return and I feel extremely lucky to have lived in such times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehb102 Posted November 21, 2023 Report Share Posted November 21, 2023 19 hours ago, Yellow Bear said: Steel ball bearings The favourite tool of today's youth with catapults. We've had steel ball bearings shot into house windows, car windows, pigeons and at women. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted November 22, 2023 Report Share Posted November 22, 2023 On 20/11/2023 at 21:26, Minky said: Some were devotees of 3/16 others were 1/4 fans. A bit like shot and choke preferences. I couldn't use a catty at all. What I didn't know back then was about master eye. I am left master eye but I shot the catty right handed so I missed the can by about six inches to the left. You needed a crossover handle for the catty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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