The Sling as a Weapon

[Jonathan Randall]

The Sling as a Weapon?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)

Pair of hunting slings found in Tutankhamen's tomb:
http://www.ashmolean.museum/gri/carter/585y-p1324.html

So what do you think of the sling as a Western MA weapon? It certainly has a long history beyond the Biblical story of David and Goliath (pre-history to the American West). One thing striking about this weapon is the ease with which one can be improvised. Thoughts?

 

[bydand]

With practice they can be quite effective. I used to piddle around with slings years ago as a kid and can still remember how much punch they delivered. I may have to look into playing around with them again, I had forgotten about them really until I saw the thread.

 

[arnisador]

A story on police in Mexico being issued slings (!) as weapons is mentioned here.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

My dad used to tell stories about hunting squirrel with them back in the thirties.

He taught me to use one, and wow, that's a steep learning curve. But once you start to get it down they are a blast to play with. Just might have to make myself another one.

Jeff

 

[tshadowchaser]

Last time I tried to use a sling I was about 14 . I let it go when it was pointed in the wrong direction and the result was a broken glass room on the porch.
I would like to try useing one again because I think it is a great weapon if one learns to use it and keeps away from windows and glass when learning

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

The sling is a nice utility tool. Good for small animal hunting and in a real pinch could be used for self defense. (though definately not a first choice) It is however not really an effective weapon for combat modern or ancient. It simply does not have the same punch as an bow or a spear so in the ancient days those would definately be more important than a sling. The other thing against it is that a bow or arrow is easier to train in and be good in a shorter period of time. Still it would be a good utility tool for a lowly sheperd or peasant for hunting and in a pinch usuable in self defense.

 

[bydand]

As was pointed out in a couple of other posts the learning curve is quite steep if I recall. I do know that Mom and Dad banished me to the back woods whenever I had the thing out. If I could see the house through the trees, I wasn't supposed to use it.

 

[Cryozombie]

I posted this on here before, but I guess its time to repost...

http://www.slinging.org/

Has excellent tutorials on building your own slings, as well as bullets and techniques for their use. I have made several, they are great weapons once you learn to use one with any degree of accuracy, and they are fun too!

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I posted this on here before, but I guess its time to repost...

http://www.slinging.org/

Has excellent tutorials on building your own slings, as well as bullets and techniques for their use. I have made several, they are great weapons once you learn to use one with any degree of accuracy, and they are fun too!

Thanks!

 

[Jonathan Randall]

I posted this on here before, but I guess its time to repost...

http://www.slinging.org/

Has excellent tutorials on building your own slings, as well as bullets and techniques for their use. I have made several, they are great weapons once you learn to use one with any degree of accuracy, and they are fun too!

Cool, thanks!

 

[Steel Tiger]

In ancient times both the Greeks and the Romans employed specialist slingers as mercenaries. The Aztecs of Mexico included sling stones in the annual tribute levied within the empire. The sling was considered a fearsome weapon but difficult to master, hence the preference for the javelin and bow. In Greece the weapon used lead shot about the size of a large golf ball. In Mexico it used specially crafted stone shot about the size of a man's fist.

A number of tests have been carried out by poeple with minimal training. In these tests the slinger routinely hurled a stone 400m (a quarter mile). Now it is unlikely that anyone would hit a target at this range but it does give an indication of the power that can be generated. A discussion of this test and others can be found in The Aztecs by Ross Hassig if you're interested.

There are also ancient reports from the Roman army of sling stones peircing mail armour and significantly deforming helmets. All in all the sling is a pretty nasty weapon that requires serious skill and seems to have had its reputation tarnished for some reason.

 

[Blindside]

The sling is a nice utility tool. Good for small animal hunting and in a real pinch could be used for self defense. (though definately not a first choice) It is however not really an effective weapon for combat modern or ancient. It simply does not have the same punch as an bow or a spear so in the ancient days those would definately be more important than a sling. The other thing against it is that a bow or arrow is easier to train in and be good in a shorter period of time. Still it would be a good utility tool for a lowly sheperd or peasant for hunting and in a pinch usuable in self defense.

Specialist slingers were able to outrange bows of the time and lead bullets were thought to hit with more punch. Both used quite effectively in battle by Xenophon (and his Persian opposities) and Vegitius mentiones that Roman recruits are taught how to throw rocks both by hand and by a sling. Depending on the time period it is hard to say "not really an effective combat weapon."

Lamont

 

[Ken Pfrenger]

We've played with slings here abit....the staff sling in particular is very impressive. We threw a brick at high velocity for just over 100 yards...accurate? Hell no, but get twenty or thirty of them going at once and that is one deadly hailstorm.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

In a hail of a bunch of slingers then it might be an okay weapon. Yet I would take the same number of archers on a battlefield in the past any day. As an individual tool it would be hard pressed to defend well against a well trained archer. Not impossible (because nothing is) but I would put my money on the archer.

 

[Steel Tiger]

In a hail of a bunch of slingers then it might be an okay weapon. Yet I would take the same number of archers on a battlefield in the past any day. As an individual tool it would be hard pressed to defend well against a well trained archer. Not impossible (because nothing is) but I would put my money on the archer.

I'm inclined to agree. For volley work the bow is better. It is also easy to train a bowman than a slinger. Aside from the shepherd who spends alday practising while guarding the flock, the slinger is a specialist soldier with specialised knowledge.

That being said the weapon itself gives a tremedous amount for what it is. Somewhere along the line the effectiveness of the sling has been denigrated to the point where the only example of effective sling use is a biblical reference which may or may not have occurred. The slingers of the Balearic islands must be spinning in their graves.

 

[thepanjr]

Thanks for the link. It was really sick(cool)

 

[Cryozombie]

That being said the weapon itself gives a tremedous amount for what it is. Somewhere along the line the effectiveness of the sling has been denigrated to the point where the only example of effective sling use is a biblical reference which may or may not have occurred. The slingers of the Balearic islands must be spinning in their graves.

Thats not true, Slinging.org has other references.

Brian, I think the big advantage a sling has over an archer is that Bows cost money. Arrows cost money.

String is cheaper and rocks are free.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Thats not true, Slinging.org has other references.

Brian, I think the big advantage a sling has over an archer is that Bows cost money. Arrows cost money.

String is cheaper and rocks are free.

Oh no doubt about that Cryozombie. It is a cheap tool therefore more of a tool used by a peasant, farmer, etc. Now you could conscript a bunch of them and have them hurl rocks but back in the day any Warrior would rather have had his bow, spear, etc. In other words I would not want the sling as my primary weapon on an ancient battlefield. If that were the case then that person would have probably been the lowest of soldiers out there.

 

[exile]

The slingers of the Balearic islands must be spinning in their graves.

Yeah, I gather the Balearic islanders were outstanding sling-wielders going back into the Bronze Age, maybe even earlier. Probably it was in ancient times a common skill around that whole archipelago of Mediterranean Islands. Cryo's point is well taken: string is cheap and rocks are free—and not only free, but common enough that you're unlikely to run out of ammo. You can keep firing all day and not make a dent in your reserves...

 

[tellner]

More than one Israeli soldier of my acquaintance has said that he or she was in a unit with an Ethiopian or Arab who grew up herding. They were deadly and deadly accurate with slings. An article a few years ago, sorry but I can't remember the cite, showed that a typical sling with the standard Pellet, Lead, M1A-1 could hit with the kinetic energy of a modern .38 special. That's not shabby, and it's why the sling survived for so long as a herdsman's and a military weapon.