Slingshot

A slingshot or catapult (UK), ging (primarily Australian and New Zealand), shanghai (Australian and New Zealand) or kettie (South Africa) is normally a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand (nondominant hand), with two natural-rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the projectile. The dominant hand grasps the pocket and draws it back to the desired extent to provide power for the projectile—up to a full span of the arm with sufficiently long bands.A 1922 diagram showing the construction of an arrow-firing slingshotA folding, steel framed wrist brace slingshot using tubular bands. Marketed by the Riley Kitchen Air Rifle Company.Modern slingshot with ergonomic grip (center), arm support (left), stabiliser and sight (right)Violent helmeted protester fires a slingshot during clashes on February 18, 2014, in Kiev, UkraineSimple slingshot using a wooden fork, tubular bands, and a leather pouch.Steel ball used as slingshot ammunition A slingshot or catapult (UK), ging (primarily Australian and New Zealand), shanghai (Australian and New Zealand) or kettie (South Africa) is normally a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand (nondominant hand), with two natural-rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the projectile. The dominant hand grasps the pocket and draws it back to the desired extent to provide power for the projectile—up to a full span of the arm with sufficiently long bands. Slingshots depend on strong elastic materials, typically vulcanized natural rubber or the equivalent, and thus date no earlier than the invention of vulcanized rubber by Charles Goodyear in 1839 (patented in 1844). By 1860, this 'new engine' had already established a reputation for juvenile use in vandalism. For much of their early history, slingshots were a 'do-it-yourself' item, typically made from a forked branch to form the 'Y' shaped handle, with rubber strips sliced from items as inner tubes or other sources of good vulcanized rubber and firing suitably sized stones. While early slingshots were most associated with young vandals, they were also capable hunting arms in the hands of a skilled user. Firing projectiles, such as lead musket balls, buckshot, steel ball bearings, air gun pellets, or small nails, slingshot was capable of taking game such as quail, pheasant, rabbit, dove, and squirrel. Placing multiple balls in the pouch produces a shotgun effect (even though not very accurate), such as firing a dozen BBs at a time for hunting small birds. With the addition of a suitable rest, the slingshot can also be used to shoot arrows, allowing the hunting of medium-sized game at short ranges. While commercially made slingshots date from at least 1918, with the introduction of the Zip-Zip, a cast iron model, it was not until the post World War II years saw a surge in the popularity, and legitimacy, of slingshots. They were still primarily a home-built proposition; a 1946 Popular Science article details a slingshot builder and hunter using home-built slingshots made from forked dogwood sticks to take small game at ranges of up to 9 m (30 ft) with No. 0 lead buckshot (8 mm  diameter). The Wham-O company, founded in 1948, was named after their first product, the Wham-O slingshot. It was made of ash wood and used flat rubber bands. The Wham-O was suitable for hunting with a draw weight of up to 200 newtons (45 pounds-force), and was available with an arrow rest. The 1940s also saw the creation of the National Slingshot Association, headquartered in San Marino, California, which organised slingshot clubs and competitions nationwide. Despite the slingshot's reputation as a tool of juvenile delinquents, the NSA reported that 80% of slingshot sales were to men over 30 years old, many of them professionals. John Milligan, a part-time manufacturer of the aluminium-framed John Milligan Special, a hunting slingshot, reported that about a third of his customers were physicians. The middle 1950s saw two major innovations in slingshot manufacture, typified by the Wrist-Rocket® which was produced by the Saunders Archery Co. of Columbus, Nebraska. The Wrist-Rocket was made from bent aluminum alloy rods that formed not only the handle and fork, but also a brace that extended backwards over the wrist, and provided support on the forearm to counter the torque of the bands. The Wrist-Rocket® also used surgical rubber tubing rather than flat bands, attached to the backwards-facing fork ends by sliding the tubing ends over the tips of the forks, where it was held by friction or adhered with the addition of liquid rosin.