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General >> Project Goliath - The History of The Sling >> Wind
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Message started by kellach77 on Jul 16th, 2012 at 11:33pm

Title: Wind
Post by kellach77 on Jul 16th, 2012 at 11:33pm
Today I went to the top of my hill to sling my sand projectiles, and I ran into a problem.  The wind.

The wind was blowing at least 30 mph, and it was throwing my slinging off.  My projectiles are almost perfectly round, yet the wind would curve them way off to the side. I had to give up, because I couldn't even tell where my shots were landing (I was testing out distance slinging).

So this got me thinking, did the ancients ever have problems with wind?  During a battle, strong winds could mess up any projectile weapon, right?  I know dense projectiles have less air resistance, but they can only cut through so much.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Mauro Fiorentini on Jul 17th, 2012 at 4:32am
I bet every bullet has to deal with wind - unless, perhaps, big trebuchet stones  :D
What were your bullets made of?
Greetings,
Mauro.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by bigkahuna on Jul 17th, 2012 at 5:10am
Wind can be a big problem no matter what you are shooting. You just have to adjust your shots and figure how much the wind is going to effect the direction of your shot to the right or left.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by jlasud on Jul 17th, 2012 at 5:31am
Stones and lead wouldn't be too much affected,sure not to the degree to be unusable.And yes every projectile weapon is affected by wind,the faster,and the bigger distance ,the more.
Round projectiles spinning fast plus the wind could make the magnus effect stronger,hence the curve.It's just my guess though.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Rat Man on Jul 17th, 2012 at 11:34am
 I've never slung lead but I know that wind can throw stones off course.  A strong wind makes hitting a small target at a good distance almost impossible even if you use a large stone.  Aiming is a guessing game in this case.  

Title: Re: Wind
Post by kellach77 on Jul 17th, 2012 at 11:42am
I was using sand, since that is readily available to me in my area.  

The problem with trying to adjust my aim was that the wind kept switching.  I would move it off to the right to make it go straighter, but then it would go even more to the right, and vice versa.  I guess it could be the spin of the projectile as it flies.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Dan on Jul 17th, 2012 at 1:48pm
Compared to arrows, wind effect on a slingstones is minimal. You won't be hitting small targets at long distances, but then again most slingers can't do that anyway even on a calm day. I would think with really good rocks or lead glands that would have been used in battle, there would be little effect. Plus if you were slinging the exact same ammuntion for a couple minutes staight, you could probably work it in if you had to.


Title: Re: Wind
Post by kellach77 on Jul 17th, 2012 at 3:57pm
I guess if you were aiming at a big mass of people with lead glans, it'd be kind of hard to not hit something.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Dan on Jul 18th, 2012 at 8:26am

kellach77 wrote on Jul 17th, 2012 at 3:57pm:
I guess if you were aiming at a big mass of people with lead glans, it'd be kind of hard to not hit something.


Exactly. Plus those guys were really 'Professionals' and were far above most slingers today so they could still probably be a pretty effective force in inclimate weather.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Bill Skinner on Jul 18th, 2012 at 8:56am
Probably a lot more effective than archers.  A strong wind will move an arrow quite a bit at 25 meters, plus, the arrow hits at an angle which limits penetration.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Steven on Jul 18th, 2012 at 1:42pm
Any thing ballistic requires a windage aim-point offset before being launched. If the ammo is ballistic it is effected by the wind.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by xxkid123 on Jul 20th, 2012 at 6:48pm
My range drops from 100 yards optimum to around 20-30 yards with light stones. It makes each shot just about as strong as my normal hand throwing range is. But I think with lead this problem will be much less.

Title: Re: Wind
Post by squirrelslinger on Dec 28th, 2012 at 7:32pm
I must say, that clay biconical projectiles are affected less by wind than light stone.
and the wind has little effect on my actual range, but it chops my accurate range from around 10 meters(guessing ;)
to about 0(not guessing) ;D

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Thearos on Jan 5th, 2013 at 11:39am
The real killer is not wind, but rain-- which puts archers and slingers out of action. See battle of Magnesia (190 BC).

Title: Re: Wind
Post by curious_aardvark on Jan 6th, 2013 at 12:21pm
Hmm, rain is bad for archers as the natural gut of their bowstring tends to stretch in the wet.

I don't see how it would drastically effect slingers though.
Slings are still 100% functional in the rain.


Quote:
See battle of Magnesia (190 BC).


got a link ?

Title: Re: Wind
Post by Thearos on Jan 6th, 2013 at 1:22pm
Check Livy 37.41 (rain and mist was bad for bowstrings, slings, and javelin-thongs).

Title: Re: Wind
Post by squirrelslinger on Jan 6th, 2013 at 1:22pm
I have a link-
www.google.com

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