- projectile velocity
- availability of projectiles
A Story...
My brother and a friend of his both had
BB guns, little single pump pistols they bought at Kmart for $17.99. I had a recently acquired
wrist rocket, a
slingshot variant that provided more power and better accuracy than the standard Y-shaped stick version.
It began with the BB guns. My brother shot his friend. Friend shot brother. Then, they turned on me. Their BB guns peppered me with little stinging welts. I caught one in the cheek, and then most on my back and ass as I ran into the woods, looking for cover.
They pretty much shot the shit out of me. They could shoot faster and more accurately than me, and there were two of them. I was lucky to escape with my eyes intact.
But, the slingshot has some things going for it.
Rocks, after leaving the slingshot's soft leather pouch, make a low pitched hum as they wing towards one's adversary. The noise creates fear. It sounds like an object that will do some serious damage, which it will.
At one point, my brother's smart-ass friend sat cross legged on top of a granite outcropping. He just sat there, not even ducking as I sent whizzing projectiles above and beside his skull. He laughed, and shot me in the ass again. This one stung a little more than rest.
I walked out from the tree I had been hiding behind, and raised my wrist rocket. I took aim with a particularly nasty, jagged rock, and stretched the elastic bands as far back as possible. I took a breath, and as I slowly exhaled it, released the projectile. It curved slightly left, and then right, buzzing like a swarm of angry bees.
The rock struck smart-ass friend square in the middle of his chest. The shock of the blow knocked him backwards off the rock, and left a bruise the size of a golf ball.
A truce was offered up shortly thereafter.