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Sling Ranges

 

The range of the sling has always been a point of contention among enthusiasts and scholars. Present literature generally underestimates the sling's range. Consider this snippet of text from Thom Richardson's "The Ballistics of The Sling", which provides an overview of some of these statistics:

"The more conservative estimates are around the 200 m mark (Ferrill 1985: 25), Connolly suggests 350 m (1981: 49), Korfmann estimates 400 m (1973: 37) while Demmin and Hogg go to 500 m (1893: 876; 1968: 30). The few accurately recorded observations are rather different. Reid records 55 m with a 227 g stone, and 91 m with 85 and 113 g balls (1976: 21). Burgess threw stones with his reconstructed Lahun sling between 50 and 100 yds, but admits to being unskilled at the art (1958: 230). Korfmann observed Turkish shepherds sling ordinary pebbles, ‘in 5 out of 11 trials the pebbles reached 200 m, and the three best casts were between 230 and 240 m (1973), while Dohrenwend has himself thrown beach pebbles over 200 yds (1994: 86)."

Since many of these statistics are formulated from authors' experiences, the ranges that are creeping into literature, and becoming the standard, might not be representative of the true potential of the sling. The sling is a demanding weapon; range varies considerably from amateur to expert. Below is a table documenting the varied ranges of some members on slinging.org's forum. It's also important to consider the projectiles used in the test. A stone or softball will not perform as well as a biconical lead projectile, like those often used in antiquity.

For comparison, the current World Flight record for a "historically accurate" English longbow and horn/sinew composite bow is 306m and 566m respectively. It should be noted, however, that these ranges were achieved using light-weight flight arrows designed for range, and not for combat.

If you would like to add your data to this chart, please contact me at info@slinging.org.

 

Slinger Date Sling Type Projectile Type Projectile Mass Throw Style Sling Length Range
Jerzy Gasperowicz 2006   Bipointed, lead   Sidearm   505m
David Engvall * 1992 Pouch-less, special release Dart 62g   127cm 477.0m
Larry Bray * 1982   Stone 52g   130cm 437.1m
Melvin Gaylor * 1970     212.6g     349.6m
Vernon Morton *       283.5g     258.2m
LoboHunter 2/6/05   Foos ball 42.5g Underhand 109cm 88.2m
LoboHunter 2/6/05   Egg-shaped stone 85g Underhand 109cm 177.3m
LoboHunter 2/6/05   Clay gland 85g Underhand 109cm 148.6m
LoboHunter 2/6/05   Weighted golf balls 162.5g Underhand 109cm 196m
LoboHunter 2/6/05   Lead egg sinkers 170g Underhand 109cm 198.2m
Alsatian 2/10/05     ~90g   ~60cm ~60m
Alsatian 2/10/05     ~90g   ~100cm ~100m
Alsatian 2/10/05     ~90g   ~120cm ~120m
Zorro 2/11/05   Stones     84cm ~100m
Douglas 2/11/05   Heavy stone ~500g     ~90m
Douglas 2/11/05   Lead gland ~85g     ~250m
MammotHunter 2/15/05   Bipointed, clay 34g   94cm 101.5m
Thomas 2/15/05   Softball 312g     95m
Thomas 2/15/05   Hard baseball 148g   129cm ~120m
Oscar 3/1/05   Golf balls   Underhand 91cm 171.3m
NonkinMonk 3/1/05   Stones ~70g   91cm 182.9m
Sammy Atif 3/6/05   Ice-filled plastic egg       ~90m
Jerzy Gasperowicz 2/15/05   Light stones ~25g     ~250m
Jerzy Gasperowicz     Ice balls       ~120m
Jerzy Gasperowicz     Snow balls       ~90m
Tint 3/11/05   Golf ball   Overhead "tennis serve" 48cm ~170m
Tint 3/11/05   Golf ball   Helicopter 167cm ~195m
David T     Golf ball       ~230m
David T     Cement ball 164g     ~150m
Mike Greenfield 4/5/05   Stone 82g Nwmanitou's Overhand 85cm ~100m
Colonel Walker     Orange ~454g Modified Underhand 122cm ~130m
Colonel Walker 10/15/05   Stone ~112g Underhand 64cm ~107m
Crater_Caster     Stone ~113g Underhand 60cm ~107m
Curious_Aardvark     Stone     58cm ~210m
Curious_Aardvark 2007   Stone ~57g Side-Arm ~74cm ~220m
FunSlinger 6/05   Stone ~85g Figure 8 208cm ~219m
SEB     Stone 300g Side-Arm 130cm ~220m
SEB 10/05   Stone ~100g Underhand 80cm ~173m
Naiyor 9/05   Lacrosse ball ~142g Underhand 66cm ~160m
Naiyor 7/05   Salt flour glande ~56g Underhand 66cm ~80m
Leeds_Lobber 5/20/05   Lead ball 42g Side-Arm 175cm ~180m
Zorro 9/05   Spherical stone ~40g Overhead 71cm ~119m
Africa_Slinger 6/05   Golf ball ~45g Figure 8 107cm ~200m
MammotHunter     Golf ball     99cm 101m
Peter van der Sluys   Woven hemp Bipointed, clay 11g   ~50cm 119m
Peter van der Sluys 10/16/07 Fabric Bipointed, clay 6g Helicopter 76cm 180m
Peter van der Sluys 10/16/07 Fabric lead, fishing weight 10g Helicopter 76cm 200m
Peter van der Sluys 10/16/07 Fabric lead, fishing weight 15g Helicopter 76cm 210m
Stephen Fitzgerald 3/13/06   Smooth stone ~70g Oblique Greek 105cm ~180m
Stephen Fitzgerald 3/13/06   Golf ball 45g Figure 8 105cm ~190m
Stephen Fitzgerald 3/13/06   Lead egg 57g Oblique Greek 105cm 200m
Stephen Fitzgerald 5/15/07   1" steel ball 66g   105cm 212m
Ben Croxon 7/11/06   Golfball-sized rock   Underhand 90cm 70m
Saulius Pusinskas 8/08 Braided, leather pouch Bipointed, cement 100g Pseudo Figure 8 90cm 220m
Saulius Pusinskas 8/08 Braided, leather pouch Stone 70g Pseudo Figure 8 90cm 220m
Sobieski 2/11   Stone 90g Side arm 112cm 180m

 

 
* Current or previous Guinness World Record holders

 


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