Slinging.org Forum - Glades & Cavitation

Steven Wintergerst

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Glades & Cavitation
Mar 18^th, 2006 at 11:35pm

When I first learned that the old lead sling bullets (Glades) were not round, I was baffled. It's not hard to make a round object, and round projectiles resist wind best.

I figured that the funny shape of glades must have had a major benefit to it. Otherwise, why not just make them round, right?

I thought maybe it had something to do with the pouch, but that idea doesn't seem to hold water. Sling shot bullets are just bal bearings sooo....

Then it occured to me, there would be no way to make a funny shaped bullet go through the air without tumbling all over the place.

Tumbling... Anybody remeber that sniper that used an M-16 from the trunk of his car? The news kept going on and on about how a little bullet the size of a dime could cause so much damage, through "Caviation."

When they make m-6 bullets, they make the point slightly crooked. When that bullet point hits flesh, it gets jerked sideways, and TUMBLES through your body. The process is called caviation, and is what leaves those messy holes on the other side of the target.

I'm wondering if sling glades cavitated.... Anybody got some spare watermellons they can sling at?

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Matthias

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Re: Glades & Cavitation
Reply #1 - Mar 18^th, 2006 at 11:53pm

High performance modern sling glandes, and you would have to assume ancient military ones are made oblong precisely because they are significantly more aerodynamic, and can be thrown further, faster than spherical ammo. An impact would also be expected to penetrate more, if the glans hits point first.

The "trick" with ellipsoidal ammunition is that most conventional slings put heavy spin on the object throw as it rolls out of the pouch on release. This spin can be easily observed using larger rocks or patterned balls, and the effect on tragectory can be dramatic if the axis of spin is angled to the flightpath - a golf slice has nothing on a poorly executed sidearm!

Using a palm-forward release, clever pocket designs, consistent windups, or other advanced techniques, it is possible to throw a glans with American-footbal style spin. The lead spins like a bullet, and will remain stable in flight, presenting the slipperiest shape to the wind.

Matthias

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CanDo Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator Offline Posts: 1652 New England, USA Gender:	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #2 - Mar 18^th, 2006 at 11:56pm hah, with the blunt force trauma caused by five ounces of lead, i don't think we'll have to worry about cavitation. good thought though.
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chaosmage Senior Member Offline I love Slinging.org! Posts: 322	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #3 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 12:05am Yeah, I don't think caviation has anything at all to do with it. That's like claiming knives kill through hydrostatic shock.
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Altay Senior Member Offline Romans 8 Posts: 447 Gibsonia, PA (USA) Gender:	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #4 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 1:24am Quote: That's like claiming knives kill through hydrostatic shock. It would be awesome if they did though...
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chaosmage Senior Member Offline I love Slinging.org! Posts: 322	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #5 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 2:54am Well, maybe if you're like... Superman, both of these could happen.
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MammotHunter Interfector Viris Spurii Offline Give me a rock, a sling, and give me some room Posts: 1020 virginia, for now Gender:	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #6 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 9:46am I can tell you from my throwing of a 4.5 oz lead glande less than a week ago that I can throw the thing out of the sling on it's side, and due to its semi-teardrop shape, it will always hit the ground point first, and despite it being hard packed earth on a baseball field, will bury itself about 2-4 inches deep.
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siguy

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Re: Glades & Cavitation
Reply #7 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 10:23am

also, the tumble of the glande also helps it to travel further in alot of cases. that is why they are ablong, so that they will tumble through the air. also, if they are heavier on one end, they will almost always land point first, allowing you to intentiolanly make the end pointy for penetration. they will land point first unless one places a signifigant amount of spin over a short distance, but over long didstances, it is difficult to get the wrong point to land.

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SlingWolf Senior Member Offline Guns dont kill people... Magic missles do! Posts: 362 Kenmore, NY Gender:	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #8 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 6:56pm ive noticed things like that in ways i wish that rule never applied SlingWolf
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CanDo

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Re: Glades & Cavitation
Reply #9 - Mar 19^th, 2006 at 10:29pm

Quote:

I can tell you from my throwing of a 4.5 oz lead glande less than a week ago that I can throw the thing out of the sling on it's side, and due to its semi-teardrop shape, it will always hit the ground point first, and despite it being hard packed earth on a baseball field, will bury itself about 2-4 inches deep.

Did you make it yourself, fishing weight, teardrop shaped lead the perfect weight for slinging just laying around? Sounds quite cool. Have you tried shooting it at wood beams or other things that can explode?

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Steven Wintergerst Guest	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #10 - Mar 21^st, 2006 at 12:21am Well, there's only one way to find out for sure. 1:Get two kinds of ammo: Round, and oblong, of the same weight. 2: Throw at a soft target. 3: Look for differences in the size of the exit hole. I'm betting the oblong ammo will make slightly larger holes.
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CanDo Interfector Viris Spurii Past Moderator Offline Posts: 1652 New England, USA Gender:	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #11 - Mar 21^st, 2006 at 12:31am I'm with you on that one.
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chaosmage Senior Member Offline I love Slinging.org! Posts: 322	Re: Glades & Cavitation Reply #12 - Mar 21^st, 2006 at 1:35am I bet the opposite. A rounder, chubbier projectile will make a larger hole than one that is pointy (provided it lands on target point-first).
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MammotHunter

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Re: Glades & Cavitation
Reply #13 - Mar 21^st, 2006 at 8:08am

Quote:

Did you make it yourself, fishing weight, teardrop shaped lead the perfect weight for slinging just laying around? Sounds quite cool. Have you tried shooting it at wood beams or other things that can explode?

It was actually just lying around on the shore of a local river and I found it as I was walking along. I recognised that a 5 oz projectile is the perfect weight and so I snatched it up. My only modification was to tie a length of surveyor's red tape to it so I could find it in tall grass. This does affect distance, sadly. I could try throwing it at something like wood or carboard, to see which hole would be larger, I suppose.

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Unsapien

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Re: Glades & Cavitation
Reply #14 - Mar 21^st, 2006 at 1:36pm

Quote:

...My only modification was to tie a length of surveyor's red tape to it so I could find it in tall grass. This does affect distance, sadly...

Wouldn't the tape cause the glade to point in a certain direction? If this tape slows down the glade then it must be causeing significant drag on one end, so the tape might be what is causing the glade to land end first, and not the spin alone.

Perhaps this is simply becuase my technique is not yet matured, but I have noticed that my oblong projectiles tend to spin like a top through the air. It's hard to observe them after the 40 yards and they consistantly stay in that form. If I sling closer, I can't tell what is happening, there's just raw impact.

-Unsapien

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