[Northerner]

I don't want to hijack Skropi's pouch post so I'm starting another.

About a week ago I started getting very wild flyers with my favorite steel pincher frame (with hickory handle). This was my most accurate shooter and cut dozens of pop cans in half from 20 yards. The frame also did well for me out to 30-50 yards. Well, all of a sudden my shots with 5/16" steel started getting wild. Very wild! At 20 yards I would put one a foot high, a foot to the left or miss the catchbox all together. First I questioned my pouch hold and started the routine to figure that out.... with no success. My other frames were shooting fine so I suspected the bands. Switching out the bandset brought no relief (same pouch style). Small 1/4" ammo usually did okay but the 5/16" went wild more often than not. I wouldn't trust myself to shoot this frame indoors. For 3 consecutive days I tried to get it working but had no luck.

Today I noticed that this "favorite" frame had a different pouch than the frames that were still shooting great for me. All my frames wear the small microfiber pouches from China but this pouch was a bit different. This one came from a bag of pre-made bandsets that I got when I ordered a frame. It's the grey one with the alligator looking texture. It doesn't feel sticky but the material doesn't slide through my fingers like the other MF styles and my leather pouches. This alligator looking pouch drags. I started with this alligator pouch today and put a couple of shots into the dirt when trying for a can at 20 yards. I switched to a different band and different pouch and all was well again. I smacked the can many times and all misses were very close.

I pulled out several other slingshots to try my accuracy. One Lion Mouth had a smooth MF pouch and shot well but the other Lion Mouth gave me wild flyers and it had the same alligator texture pouch.

Beware of alligator texture pouches! They made a mess out of my shooting. Maybe my fingers are too sweaty or too dry for these pouches. Maybe they work great for you.... but I'm salvaging the bands and changing out all these pouches. The bands that came with them work fine.

My favorite all-time pouch is the stiff MF pouch on the left in the pic below. It's a shiny black finish on the outside and a grey suede-like on the inside with the GZK stamp. It doesn't stretch much, stays firm, slides smoothly and lasts for many bandsets.

 

[Northerner]

PS - The confusing thing with these alligator pouches is that they shot fine when first installed. After a while they started acting up. Some flyers at 20 yards would miss my catchbox and occasionally miss the 3 1/2 foot rubber mat behind it... and smack a dent into my fence. That's wild! I thought about taking a long break from the hobby. Then I would pick up a different frame (and pouch) and all was well smacking pop cans at 20.

 

[skropi]

Yep, pouch choice is important. This pouch on the left, the gzk one, I have one and it is very very nice, I like it a lot. I do band it the opposite way though, the shiny side as the ammo side.

 

[Alfred E.M.]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll take your word for it.

 

[AKA Forgotten]

Thanks for the warning. I have some similar green ones but I could never get on with them, felt too rubbery.

 

[SLINGDUDE]

Great post! I find these types of posts very interesting.

I have noticed that when my microfiber pouches gets "frayed" (see pic, this one has maybe one or two more bandsets before it's retired) it seems to shoot differently.

I haven't encountered those alligator print ones yet. Maybe you could do like scropi and try the alligator print on the ammo side? Or they would make good tabs.

 

[Pebble Shooter]

What I have noticed with Chinese ready-made band sets that either come with an ordered slingshot, or if one orders them specifically, is that the bands are mostly tied to the pouch for TTF-style slingshots.

This is not so great when you use the bands for aiming with the sideways stance on OTT slingshots, but one can at least use them nevertheless.

However, misaligned pouches relative to the bands on some of the read-made band sets are a real headache, because your carefully aimed shots will divert off to the right or left at roughly 10 degrees off-target, and you will be left wondering what you did wrong (when in fact you're doing everything right). I confirmed this fact by replacing a potentially faulty Chinese ready-made band set that sent my shots to the right with homemade made band sets, where the flat surface of the pouch was truly facing the target area. Think straight barrel of a gun vs. one that is angled slightly relative to the frame.

You can ascertain whether there is pouch vs band misalignment by holding the bands with the pouch at both extremities vertically, and seeing whether one of the bands was not attached symmetrically relative to the other. If something is off even slightly, this will be accentuated at 10 yards and beyond.

Ultimately, this is why I much prefer making my own bands for my OTT shooting style, as I can run my own "quality control" prior to using them. If anything, I wonder how many novice slingshot shooters are discouraged by poor results in spite of hours of practice based on the right techniques, but are unaware that the poorly prepared el cheapo band set ordered online (or received with the slingshot) is the real cause of their lousy grouping on the target.

On that note, band sets I received with a slingshot from GZK were perfectly cut and aligned for OTT relative to the pouch: quality costs more, but it's generally worth it at the end of the day.

 

[Northerner]

Sometimes when ordering a Chinese frame from AliEx there is an option to get a few or 5 bandsets for a dollar or a bit more. I usually opt for the bands and they have shot great. This bag with the alligator pouches is the first I have seen. The pattern is pressed into the MF and ridges can be felt around each hexagon shape. Maybe this contributes to the problem.

I have 3 small bags of Chinese bandsets left from my frame orders. Only the one bag had the alligator pouches. All badsets came tied with the trifold method like Slingdude shows above. With the alligator pouches the tabs are on the hexagon pattern side indicating that the pattern goes on the outside. I guess I could disassemble and try it with the pattern on the ball side. Thanks for the suggestion.

I tie all my bandsets with the trifold method and most are used with OTT frames. Apparently it lengthens band life and I think it works. The trifold would give a straight (flat) band for TTF frames. With my OTT frames the bands have a quarter turn right in front of the pouch. I also twist the pouch 90* when shooting sideways style (gangsta). Typically I can nail a pop can most of the time at 20 yards, a pie plate at 50 yards and a garbage can lid is my 75 yard target. I don't think the twisting has any negative effect on shooting but that's just my opinion. I didn't shoot any better when I single folded for OTT. My shooting problem is a mental game... TP... and it still haunts me periodically, especially at 10 yards

This alligator pouch issue is the first hardware concern that I can remember having. I have tried all sorts of experiments to see what tosses ammo wild. Other than the bad dragging pouch you might be surprised how well you shoot with a slightly imperfect rig when you are not aware of the imperfections. Of course perfect would be better even if it's only a psychological advantage.

 

[Bill Hays]

I have and shoot with the scale printed pouches all the time... and I've never had a problem with them, in fact, I won the last two tournaments using them.

Of course I use the .55, .70 and .75 thick bands too though.

 

[mattwalt]

Erm... I have a few of those pouches - Dankung was giving a few away with each order with a promo code. Not used any yet though. May use them inside out...

 

[Bob E]

I've been using the alligator printed ones from dankung for a while without any problems. I've been thinking about buying a bunch from somewhere.

Maybe it's the hole placement instead of the material?

 

[Tremoside]

There is a chance the two additional positioning holes are causing problem! I was testing a pouch years ago with larger than usual ventilation holes. The leather was stiff and these holes were placed at the pinch area. It leads to an uneven release. Was so off my thumb was bleeding after shooting them a few hours.

 

[Northerner]

Here are a bunch more pics of these bad pouches. They measure 45mm long with a max width of 13mm that reduces to 11mm at the center. Thickness is only .047" or 1.2mm. It is very possible that Chinese MF pouches can look the same in the online pics but not be anywhere close when they arrive. There are good reputable dealers who sell an alligator pattern on a good MF pouch. But I don't think these are them.

The pics below show how flimsy these pouches are. It took no effort to roll one lengthwise, width wise or even both ways into a donut shape. I'm now starting to think that the extra softness of these particular pouches are to blame for poor the accuracy. They were fastened to very mild bands so I didn't experience bad stretching but heavy bands might do it. The 1.2mm thickness is far from the 1.5 to 1.8mm that many dealers advertise.

 

[SJAaz]

What I have noticed with Chinese ready-made band sets that either come with an ordered slingshot, or if one orders them specifically, is that the bands are mostly tied to the pouch for TTF-style slingshots.

This is not so great when you use the bands for aiming with the sideways stance on OTT slingshots, but one can at least use them nevertheless.

However, misaligned pouches relative to the bands on some of the read-made band sets are a real headache, because your carefully aimed shots will divert off to the right or left at roughly 10 degrees off-target, and you will be left wondering what you did wrong (when in fact you're doing everything right). I confirmed this fact by replacing a potentially faulty Chinese ready-made band set that sent my shots to the right with homemade made band sets, where the flat surface of the pouch was truly facing the target area. Think straight barrel of a gun vs. one that is angled slightly relative to the frame.

You can ascertain whether there is pouch vs band misalignment by holding the bands with the pouch at both extremities vertically, and seeing whether one of the bands was not attached symmetrically relative to the other. If something is off even slightly, this will be accentuated at 10 yards and beyond.

Ultimately, this is why I much prefer making my own bands for my OTT shooting style, as I can run my own "quality control" prior to using them. If anything, I wonder how many novice slingshot shooters are discouraged by poor results in spite of hours of practice based on the right techniques, but are unaware that the poorly prepared el cheapo band set ordered online (or received with the slingshot) is the real cause of their lousy grouping on the target.

On that note, band sets I received with a slingshot from GZK were perfectly cut and aligned for OTT relative to the pouch: quality costs more, but it's generally worth it at the end of the day.

I'm trying to figure out exactly what you are saying because I suspect you've solved a problem that I'm having. Can someone break this alignment check down a little? I think you've put me on to something.

 

[AKA Forgotten]

Finally had a chance to dig out my green versions of these and tried your rolling test.

Definitely another one down to reputable suppliers. The Dankung ones rolled, squished and pulled in all directions are excellent and have a nice feel. My others feel more rubbery but still came out pretty good.

Think I will be unable to resist the temptation to band one of Dankung ones up and give them a try. Will certainly look good with the green Precise gen3 0.45 lol

 

[Northerner]

Finally had a chance to dig out my green versions of these and tried your rolling test.

Definitely another one down to reputable suppliers. The Dankung ones rolled, squished and pulled in all directions are excellent and have a nice feel. My others feel more rubbery but still came out pretty good.

Think I will be unable to resist the temptation to band one of Dankung ones up and give them a try. Will certainly look good with the green Precise gen3 0.45 lol

I'm looking forward to hearing how they work for you. Hopefully the DKs are thicker and a bit stiffer than these 1.2 mm pouches. I saw some ads for other alligator pattern pouches with thicker material. GZK always states a good thickness (1.6 - 1.8 mm). DK has quite a few pouches that advertise as 2.0 mm thickness.

I have a couple of those DK "Green Ghost" pouches waiting as a gift for my next order. Try testing them with some 8mm or 5/16" ammo. My cheapo AliEx gators worked well with the 1/4". They also did okay for a while with the 5/16". I'm thinking that after a short bit of shooting the pouch softened up to the point that the edge rolled over when shooting the 5/16". The pouch also felt like it was grabbing onto my skin at release. This is the first pouch style I have had grief with.

 

[skropi]

That's why I am loyal to warrior pouches ????