[BigJohn1955]

Could use a little help here. No matter how carefully I measure and cut my bands, the shot always favors one side or the other of the forks. It is different every band change, and stays consistent until I change them again. A couple of times it was so bad I abandoned new bands and changed them jusy to get the shot somewhere near centered. I use the rubberband attachment method, and tried OTT and TTF both, with the same problem. Thoughts from any experts here?

 

[AppalachianFlipShooter]

You're release is off. Gotta be.

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[J3ff]

Make sure you are holding your sling straight the slightest tilt in your fram will dramatically effect the shot. If your top fork is more forward you going to get a downward ahor and oppos ite ia the bottom fork is more forwarding creats thr same affect as if one side of the bands are shorter than the other

 

[StringSlap]

I agree. Not likely a band issue. It's either your frame hold, pouch release, or both. I measure and cut my bands quickly. They are for all intents and purposes the same, but not nearly identical like die cut bands. I've never had an accuracy issue due to those slight variations. If you're measuring carefully then I can't imagine the issue being your bands.

 

[High Desert Flipper]

I think you've gotten a lot of great advice above. In the unlikely event it is a band issue, one suggestion I have is putting a line across the band exactly there it will attach to the frame- whether that is where the clip will bind it or the tie will go across it to hold it down. I worry about uneven bands and do this to give myself some peace of mind. I burry that mark exactly under the rubber holding the band down on each side and I am good to go with the worry of uneven bands out of my mind. After that, I am off to worry about fixing my release, my anchor, and my....

 

[Grandpa Grumpy]

Depending which hand you hold the slingshot and the misses are in a tight group your ammo could be either too heavy or too light for the bands you are using.

 

[Winnie]

I have to agree with the above comments. I, like everyone, try to keep everything even when I cut and mount bands but I've never been crazed about it and it's never really been an issue.

One thing that was not mentioned above is the possibility of a bad pouch. I've been doing this a long time now and on rare occasions I've had pouches that shed the ball inconsistently due to grain direction on leather or a stiff synthetic pouch. If the pouch is synthetic consider putting a ball in the pouch, holding it tight with your fingers and then pass a flame around the stretched pouch. Not much heat is needed. A few seconds will form a permanent shallow cupping that will help secure the ball. If the pouch is leather then wet the pouch, put a ball in it and, after stretching it tight, secure it and let it dry.

Twisting the pouch as part of your draw before shooting is fine but any bending of the pouch will throw you off as will a quick and inconsistent release. The problem is most generally the release.

 

[Northerner]

Hi John.... Are you saying the ball regularly hits to one side of the target ... or are you somehow seeing the ball fly towards one fork ... or you are getting fork hits on one side ... or you are just concerned about one band being slightly longer than the other?

 

[Winnie]

For a decade I made all my pouches and bands. The pouches were mostly elk hide which has a real preference on which way it stretches most. If I didn’t pay close enough attention I would occasionally mount one that would have an unpredictable tendency to shed the ball. At worst it would result in a fork hit, or the odd flyer. At best there were unpredictable misses. (Most of my misses are pretty dang predictable) The same results would come from the occasional synthetic pouch as well. That’s how I ended up figuring out how to cup the synthetic pouches. Because there tends to be some self-centering going on I don’t generally see many problems. I wonder - pure speculation - if you were using one of those synthetic three-holed pouches and it was a bit off-center, could the ball, being partially centered over a side hole as it tries to self-center, have action/spin put on it by the pouch? It might account for missed but “grouped” shots off to the side?

 

[Winnie]

For a decade I made all my pouches and bands. The pouches were mostly elk hide which has a real preference on which way it stretches most. If I didn’t pay close enough attention I would occasionally mount one that would have an unpredictable tendency to shed the ball. At worst it would result in a fork hit, or the odd flyer. At best there were unpredictable misses. (Most of my misses are pretty dang predictable) The same results would come from the occasional synthetic pouch as well. That’s how I ended up figuring out how to cup the synthetic pouches. Because there tends to be some self-centering going on I don’t generally see many problems. I wonder - pure speculation - if you were using one of those synthetic three-holed pouches and it was a bit off-center, could the ball, being partially centered over a side hole as it tries to self-center, have action/spin put on it by the pouch? It might account for missed but “grouped” shots off to the side?

 

[Winnie]

Sorry.

 

[BigJohn1955]

Folks, thanks for the great response. I think I have a lot to check into, but at least with your help, I have some coherent direction. One thing I know for sure my pouches are too thick. Shout out to Winnie and Northener for their input on pouch issues. The way I determined that is I tried to use one of those gee-whiz release things, and the pouch wouldn't even fit in it. I am in the process of making some out of lighter leather. Hopefully, that will help with release issues. I also will follow all the other advice, and let you know if we can make a decent shooter out of a guy that hasn't until recently shot a slingshot in 50 years. Again thanks to everyone.