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Hello, I'd like to see added to this page the following links: http://funditor.110mb.com/sling2.html as How To Make Your Own Sling and http://funditor.110mb.com/KeyChain_Sling.html as Keychain Sling, a How-to
Both of these sites provide further information on slings and have been embraced by many in the slinging community (As moderator on slinging.org, I know this well!). They will, in many cases, be celebrated by the Wikipedia reader who finds them. Therefore, I ask: Does anyone object to their inclusion in the external links section? CanDo 17:07, 14 July 2007 (UTC) P.S. I think this is a good idea.
Re: "The reason why the almond shape was favoured is not clear: it is possible that there is some aerodynamic advantage, but it seems equally likely that there is some more prosaic reason such as the shape being easy to extract from a mould or that it will rest in a sling cradle with little danger of rolling out."
An ellipsoidal projectile will 'roll out' of the sling in much the same way an American football is thrown by a competent quarterback - the sling spins the bullet, enhancing range and accuracy. As a side-benefit, the bullet would hit point-first, maximizing the force of the striking surface. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ochre24 ( talk • contribs) 14:56, 2006 October 18 (UTC)
An oblong projectile makes a whrrrr!-ing sound as it hurtles through the air, especially when a sidearm throw is used. The sound emphasizes the great speed of the sling bullet, and would confer some psychological impact on the intended human target. These stones are really going to clobber you! CarlDrews ( talk) 15:47, 20 September 2011 (UTC)
RE: "Ancient authors seemed to believe, incorrectly, that sling-bullets could penetrate armour... ... it seems likely that the authors were indicating that slings could cause injury through armour by a percussive effect rather than by penetration."
Citation needed, indeed.
A lead projectile, shaped like an American football (spinning - using the same physics), hurled with great force (multiplied by the action of the sling), hitting a bronze helmet or breastplate, *would* penetrate said armor, and easily. I believe that there was confirmation of this on a cable television program (on either the Military Channel or History Channel). Early firearms, using round shot with only slightly-higher flight speeds, could penetrate iron and steel aromor.
Discussion? Confirmation? Mythbusting? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ochre24 ( talk • contribs) 14:56, 2006 October 18 (UTC)
The section on the "Kestros" here has more info than on the actual Kestros page. All we really need is a brief mention of it, and "Kestros" needs a lot of the info that can only be found here. If somebody's better at cutting and pasting than I am . . .
Kortoso ( talk) 21:43, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
A citation has been called for, concerning this sentence: "In the latter case we may imagine that they were impressed by the degree of deformation suffered by lead sling-bullet after hitting a hard target." I have found several sources of information concerning this, two of antiquity and one modern. I will give the citations and then ask how best to add them, because I am rather new here...
Lucretius, in his "On the Nature of Things", says (in William Ellery Leonard's translation): "A leaden ball, hurtling through length of space, / Even melts." Virgil also says something about this in the Aeneid (John Dryden's translation): "Him when he spied from far, the Tuscan king / Laid by the lance, and took him to the sling, / Thrice whirl'd the thong around his head, and threw: / The heated lead half melted as it flew; / It pierc'd his hollow temples and his brain; / The youth came tumbling down, and spurn'd the plain." These two translations are available at The Internet Classics Archive ( http://classics.mit.edu/index.html).
The modern source is a member of an internet forum devoted to slinging. I know him only as "AjlouniBoy" which is his username at Slinging.org. He has himself slung an lead fishing weight against a concrete block; the impact seriously deformed the projectile and generated enough heat to be noticeable. His message on this subject is at http://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1130967387.
So, how do I get this information into the article? Just start writing? Add footnotes? Thanks in advance for your advice and assistance! -- Swwright 01:31, 24 January 2007 (UTC)
Swwright: Thanks for your contribution. Wikipedia encourages users to be bold. So, do please go ahead and have a go. Experienced editors will be pleased to help out with any problems you may have. Footnotes can be a bit complex, you probably will need some help with that. Gaius Cornelius 18:54, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
Well, here we go again. This is the second time I have tried to deal with this. A brief recounting of the first time: I could not see the image, so I linked in a different image. Gaius Cornelius reverted my edit, and we eventually determined that the image was still there (in the Commons) but for some unknown reason my PC would not display it. Gaius Cornelius was right to revert my change.
Now, I see a red link File:David gegen Goliath.jpg where the picture ought to be. I looked in the Commons, and did not find the image. A Google search of the Commons turned up a page that stated the image does not exist, but might once have existed, and gave a link to the deletion log: http://commons.wikimedia.org/?title=Special:Log&type=delete&page=Image:David_gegen_Goliath.jpg
I have placed a message about this in the talk page of Scriberius, who uploaded that image to the Commons.
There is another copy of the image, located here at the English Wikipedia. It is Image:DavidAndGoliath.jpg and I think it looks about the same as David_gegen_Goliath.jpg (I compared the two back when David_gegen_Goliath.jpg still existed):
Should the above image be linked into the article, to replace the now-deleted image? Or should we wait until Scriberius tells us whether he can restore the old image? — SWWright Talk 07:42, 24 April 2007 (UTC)
In the section on construction, the text says that braided cords improve the design of a sling because they resist twisting, while later in that section, it mentions that braided cords improve the design by not stretching.
Theoretically, a braided cord would be more likely to stretch than a twisted cord simply by the nature of how a braid is made.
Can anybody take a look over that (the entire section could use a good reworking, really, as it seems very informal and conversational)? ~ Caejis ( talk) 04:04, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
This passage sounds like a dialogue and needs a knowledgeable re-write: An archer can easily shoot from behind protection or fortification — including downwards from the top of a wall — whereas a slinger must expose his person to the missiles of the enemy - not true, an experienced slinger could easily arc his stone over any intervening object. An arrow is more likely to penetrate armours or shields due to its sharp point, but a sling could do damage to relatively soft armor (such as quilted cloth) by percussive force without the need to break the surface of the armor itself. It has been said that to achieve range and accuracy with a sling required a long period of training. However, this is probably no more the case than for the bow, and when the target was a mass formation great accuracy was probably not so essential. This is incorrect - accuracy with a sling is usually only acquired after several years of use - accuracy with a bow can be achieved in a matter of days. — Robert Greer
Ditto this caption, "A Tibetan girl slings a small rock towards a herd of goats." Why would what appears to be a shepherdess be stonging her own goats? — Robert Greer ( talk) 14:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
I've removed the following paragraph, since it reads like it was written by about 3 different editors having a disagreement. I would have tried to tidy it up, but without the citations of any of their arguments, its difficult to see what their point was. 82.69.37.32 ( talk) 22:32, 15 July 2008 (UTC)
How far can a slinged stone go?
According the article "In general, a sling bullet lobbed in a high trajectory can achieve ranges approaching 600m". A recent experimental study in the Journal of Archaeological Science suggests skilled Quechua-speaking herders in Puno, Peru using adjacent cobbles could not do more than 130m. New experimental data on the distance of sling projectiles
The statement in the article comes from a paper that is online The Sling in Medieval Europe
Reports of estimated range of the sling varies in recent literature. This may stem from the inability of historians to find individuals who can properly demonstrate the sling. The bow, crossbow and firearm, if operated correctly, will produce the same effect the weapon had hundreds of years ago. However, the sling requires tremendous skill, and only people who have had extensive training can claim to match the ability of ancient slingers. Existing literature quotes ranges as little as 150m to as much as 500m (Demmin, 1964; Hogg, 1968; Korfmann, 1973; Wise, 1976; Connolly, 1981; Ferrill, 1985; Richardson, 1998b). Larry Bray set the Guinness World Record for a stone cast with a sling in 1981, achieving an impressive range of 437m (Norris, 1985). In retrospect, Mr. Bray believes he could have surpassed 600m mark with a better sling and lead projectiles (Bray, Personal Communication, March 21st, 2004). Presumably, professional slingers of antiquity who trained from childhood and relied on the weapon in battle could achieve even greater distances, perhaps approaching 700m.
I am confused since the sources conflict. The text needs to be changed but I am not sure how. -- LittleHow ( talk) 14:27, 11 August 2009 (UTC)
I wonder if the citation that says ancient users of slings could launch projectiles 600m is accurate? I'd imagine if the modern world record holder using a modern sling achieved a distance of only 437m back then they couldn't have done much better. -- 98.201.59.125 ( talk) 19:33, 5 September 2009 (UTC)
With regards to the statistical data reported in New experimental data on the distance of sling projectiles, I do not believe its data should be used for the Wikipedia article except with very careful qualifications. The "New Experimental Data" article did indicate a maximum range of 130m for the Quechua-speaking herders but the data only tells us what the Peruvian herders could do with quickly grabbed stones from the area of the field test. We learn that they tend to grab ellipsoid or elongated projectiles (which somewhat matches with the shape of historic sling bullets) and instinctively tried to be consistent in their stone choices but we know nothing of the weight of the projectiles, how the herders would do with carefully selected sling stones, whether there was any kind of atmospheric variables (altitude, air density, wind, or even if the herders understood the best trajectory or were instinctively sticking to angles that had proven accurate for them in the past). It is hard to compare that to the experiences of ancient and medieval slingers. The authors show a sincere effort to arrive at a statistical sample but simultaneously fail to control for many variables that could have a profound effect on range. Kevin Fastolf ( talk) 04:24, 26 September 2014 (UTC)
Does anyone have any idea what is meant during Sling Methods when the phrase "60 degrees distance" is used? If so, that person should clarify what is said.
-- Heero Kirashami ( talk) 00:26, 28 December 2010 (UTC)
I haven't looked at this article in years. In the intervening years the article has gone from giving roughly comparable weight to the military stave-sling and the David-style sling, as described in the Bible, to devoting almost all its text to the style of sling described in the Bible.
I strongly suspect that the military sling was of greater importance. Geo Swan ( talk) 15:30, 19 July 2011 (UTC)
This was removed from the article:
“ | Several projectiles may be held in the weak hand. After the release, an expert will continue the motion. The cradle will catch around a stone held out with the weak hand, so that the end of the release cord swings back to the strong hand retaining the loop. Just after the knot begins to swing, slightly before the knot reaches the strong hand, one drops or throws the projectile toward the ground with the weak hand, starting into the next release. Some people braid the end of the release cord around a weight to help perform this maneuver. With this method, a skillful user can throw an aimed stone every few seconds in a cyclic coordinated movement, until the weak hand is empty. | ” |
What's clear is that this method was described in the fictional novel The Clan of the Cave Bear:
“ | She pondered the idea. If I could get a second stone in the pocket on the downstroke after the first hurl, without stopping it, I could throw it on the next upstroke. I wonder if that would work? She began making a few tries and felt as clumsy as she had the first time she tried to use a sling. Then she began to develop a rhythm: throw the first stone; catch the sling as it comes down, with the second stone ready; get it in the pocket while it is still moving; throw the second stone.
... Two wounds? His eyes hadn't been deceived. He thought he had seen two stones. How had the girl learned to use a sling with such skill? Not Zoug, or anyone he ever heard of, could fire two stones from a sling so rapidly, so accurately, and with such force. |
” |
What's less clear is whether this method has ever been performed outside of fiction. The folks on the slinging.org forum don't know of any real person who has been able to do it.
If this text is ever put back in the article, it needs a huge {{ dubious}} tag on it, unless it has reliable sources. -- Hirsutism ( talk) 21:19, 11 October 2011 (UTC)
Way too much opinion and hearsay in this article. It's better to have less material, IMHO. Kortoso ( talk) 21:46, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/reinvention/issues/volume7issue2/swan/
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[1]: a lot of information comparing early bows, early guns, early crossbows and sling; "Near Eastern armies began supplying their slingers with uniform projectiles, made from baked-clay or carved stone, by the end of the 7th millennium B.C... Slingers could achieve faster “muzzle” velocities than archers,...during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in the 15th century, an observer recorded that an Andean slinger could shatter Spanish swords or kill a horse in a single hit...max range is estimated could've been between 50m and 500m, while for crossbows is 350-500m, longbows 275-400m, early composite bow (2nd millennium B.C.) 100-275m" 185.18.60.242 ( talk) 08:41, 29 July 2020 (UTC)
I can't believe it is as simple as described in the article.
"The sling essentially works as a extension of a human arm. By increasing the length, it allows stones to be thrown much farther and harder than they could be by hand."
I am hoping to pique the interest of someone with a physics/engineering background, in the hopes that a more accurate description of operation can be found.
For a start I believe the effective radius of the sling is decreased during the moments immediately before release, increasing projectile energy.
I would prefer to remain anonymous and simply seed a discussion as this is not really my area of expertise. I hope this isn't too much looked down upon 49.225.148.211 ( talk) 23:12, 29 October 2021 (UTC)