Quote:When a sling can send a .690" round ball at 900-1000fps(typical musket velociety) then I'll believe that a staff sling would be better then a musket, until then I'll stick with the musket. That being said, if you can't get a musket a sling would be better then chuckin' rocks with your bare hands, a lot better.
Lmao - okay what you can do with a staff sling and about an hours training.
Hurl rocks a pound in weight well over 100 yards.
Clear tall obstacles - trajectory adjustment with a staff sling is very easy - I put a golf ball about 200 yards the other day and it went so high I almost lost sight of it.
So staff slings can drop much heavier missiles/grenades behind barricades - muskets can't do this. They can deliver much heavier missiles to the same or greater range than a musket.
And with the right staff and attached sling - yeah I'll go with staff slings having a greater average range than a hand sling. Which means they easily outrange a musket. They certainly have a much faster rate of fire.
Took my matial arts teacher to the end of the carpark with the staff slig the other day. He had 3 throws, all went dead straight and all over 100 yards.
Try that with a hand sling
At short range a musket is potentially more lethal - but anything beyond 75-100 yards staff slings rule, no question.
And shooting a staff sling does not send up a cloud of smoke that obscures your vision or create a huge bang that gives away your position.
A staff slinger could drop grenades or rocks on a musketeer from concealement without the musketeer having the slightest idea where they were coming from.
Other reason they are better than muskets: anyone can make one. Ammunition readily available, don't require gunpowder, weigh considerably less than a musket.
Won't explode in the users hands if you ram a bit too hard.
Nope give me a company of staff slings over muskets any day.