Hi fellow slingers,

I have been using various typès and weight of ammo.
Granite rouned beach pebbles 85g to about 150g
Lead egg bullets 56g and 84g
Hand made and moulded clay ovoids 90g, 110g and 125g.

Love them all, but!

I have discovered forged solid mild steel balls.
Check out your local wroughtiron components suppliers.

I bought x50 30mm dia 111g/4oz (36p each before vat and shipping) for £26 delivered. Will be painting them hi viz yellow, the suface is quite rough and should take paint well.

25mm dia weigh about 70g and 35mm dia about 170g.

These things fly, no effort and accuacy is great. But deadly, take great care when you use them. Stating the obvious.

I sling on an old disused british gravel all weather football pitch so can find steelballs easily.

As I have said, x50 4oz missiles for about 50p each and a bit of time to paint, perfect.

Check out that wrought iron supplier, i think they are used to weld on to fence posts. Enjoy.

Slingingrocksforfun now balls of steel.

Would love to see a video! How much did they cost?

I've used a 2 inch steel ball and I've got some smaller sized ones that I haven't wanted to use in fear of loosing them. They really do pack quite the punch.

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Not sure how to post photos or video.

My steel balls are not shiny they are a dull grey mild steel finish. They need to be painted a bright colour to help find them after slinging.

They cost 36p each before vat and shipping.
Shipping can be a killer, depends where you live.
There may be a wrought iron components supplier near you, I found a company on line and postage wasn't too bad.

Slingingballsofsteelforfun

You add them as attachments or, for video, it can be easier to put them on YouTube then add a link.

Well I got all curious and started searching online, I found these. They are cast and have a seem, not sure if that would matter.

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Can be found cheaper then that.  Alot of slingshot shooters, I know can help me out to find  wholesalers. What part of Maine are you jn?

I don't know how to resize photos so i hope this is not too large.

30mm 4oz forged steel balls before painting

There are a number of UK online sites. I got mine from North Valley Forge Ltd

Slingingballsofsteelforfun

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Hi Vetryan15.

Alot of slingshot ammo is too light for a sling.
These are more substantial.
35mm balls weigh 170g; (6 oz))
30mm 111g; (4 oz)
25mm 70g ( 2 1/2 oz).
Mine do not have a seam, don't think it would matter too much.

Slingingballsofsteel

For anybody living in Ireland check out KScroll LTD wrought iron specialists.
Forged steel balls;
30mm, 130 gram, (4  1/4 oz) 33p each before vat and postage.

slingingrocksforfun wrote on May 11^th, 2019 at 6:21am:

Hi Vetryan15. Alot of slingshot ammo is too light for a sling. These are more substantial. 35mm balls weigh 170g; (6 oz)) 30mm 111g; (4 oz) 25mm 70g ( 2 1/2 oz). Mine do not have a seam, don't think it would matter too much. Slingingballsofsteel

Yeh, the smaller ones are, I agree. But I know people within the slingshot world who shoot 1in ball bearings.  1/2 in is a very common ammo used with slingshots.  I use 45 cal. Myself.  But using a 1/2in (use multiple or even singular) can cause damage or 1 in ball bearing, Is a good size as well

Steel balls are effective. Here's an my old video.
(38mm/240g ball bearings)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BdcX1pyBPw

Is there a ricochet problem? I switched from steel to lead for catty ammo because the steel is in my op too dangerous (ricochets).

hit a solid target and yes they will richochet.

Though the difference hers seems to be that, these aren't ball bearings.
Which are milled, but a cheaper steel that is forged in moulds. Like making a lead glande.

So might deform easier and not bounce as much.

But still, pretty lethal ammo to be slinging on a regular basis.

check out bottom of this thread for picture resizer - try and aim, for no larger than 1024x768
http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1258292684

https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/groups/0513D__Steel_Spheres_and_Hemispheres

   Though I've never done this, on previous threads some of the guys mentioned using ball bearings from junk car wheels.  This might be a viable, cheap option.

Curious Aardvark wrote on May 12^th, 2019 at 1:12pm:

hit a solid target and yes they will richochet. Though the difference hers seems to be that, these aren't ball bearings. Which are milled, but a cheaper steel that is forged in moulds. Like making a lead glande. So might deform easier and not bounce as much. But still, pretty lethal ammo to be slinging on a regular basis.

Yes. These are soft steel. Ball bearings are very hard steel.

ball bearings are just dangerous, damn things bounce almost as much as rubber balls. Almost no deformation so the energy is reflected back into the ball.
About the only thing worse are golf balls. And slinging gold balls at a hard target will give you supernatural fast twitch reflexes !
Did it once - and only once lol

Very large steel balls (like the 2 inch one) against wood with a sling, I've had no problem with. They're too heavy to reflect back very far. Small ball bearings in a slingshot against anything even remotely solid... No. That's a really effective way of going blind even with safety goggles. A steel ball going at over 100mph is just going to laugh at your safety goggles and give you a new piercing instead.

Hi,

I use a plywood target at 36m and 48m in the middle of disused gravel type football and hockey pitches.

No major riccochet when i hit target.

Problem is when i miss the balls roll a long way on this surface and i have lost two already in the rough. 

Paint (hammerite smooth white) is also chipping. Any advice on a durable flexible metal paint. Still have some balls unpainted.

I share this space with the occasional dog walker, i do not sling whilst they are around. Some stop for a friendly chat. No problem, I am always safety concious.

Srff

Yep! It is safest that only I throw ball bearings.  :D
I've slinging at them for over 30 years, because I can get them for free. I'm not gonna stop. So has been fun.  :D
Well, you've learned to know me. :)

@ timpa

LOL

Quote:

disused gravel type football and hockey pitches.

where on earth in the uk are you ?

never heard of anything like that round here.

Did have  athough for picking the iron balls up. Good magnet on the end of a stick :-)

Already buggered up one achilles tendon rockpicking in mallorca - these day I work smarter :-) 

CA,

I played on these pitches when i was younger, used to cut your knees open if you fell. Used to play with rock hard mitre balls which stung when hit on thigh or elsewhere.

Yeah, they are like a mixture of small aggregate foundation, topped with a kind of non drying cement powder with fine gravel on top of that. Blackie grey colour.
When dry, It gives of a puff of dust when missiles land.

All the Shools and Parks had at least one of these, the grass pitches get boggy here in winter.

I'm a Belfast boy. When shipyard guys rioted they used shipyard confetti, nuts, bolts and rivets, don't think they used slings though.

Srff

ireland has a strong tradition of sling usage - though probably best the shipyard workers didn't use them for rioting. ;-)

Around here, any patch of land that size would have had a housing estate built on it by now :-(

i don't know if they are available where you live
but 50 caliber balls for black powder weapons might pack a punch

@ Eudave

Good idea - maybe. I have lots of .44 and .50 caliber lead round balls left over from my catty days. Tiny pouch; thin cords should work well :)

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Tungsten is pretty crazy, you don’t get much projectile for the weight. And it’s hard as!!!