Mine were all homemade, often looking for just-right forks in branches.

Used cutup inner tubes, wide rubber bands, latex surgical tubing for the bands.

Leather from various sources for the pocket.

Ammo varied from rocks to marbles to lead balls, whatever was handy.

Pretty good with it, only used it for targets like tin cans etc., never to hunt anything, never shot at a person.

Larry

P.S.: And ball bearings whenever I came across them.

My "Terminator"

!

Here's a performance!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plnzNgtvvJo

And another:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgjPa5JkecA

But...how do you do it? Shoot your own eye out?

Another story...with that .22...I almost "shot myself" the day I set a target up against a brick wall and hit it dead center...only to have the slug zing back at me with the breeze blowing right past my right ear! I saw it as it flew past but was lucky it was a "miss."

Larry

I once set up three steel plates welded to rebar about three feet above the ground out at the cabin. I set a timer for X minutes and then would go about my business. When the timer would go off I would take two shots at each plate with my 1911 45acp. The last shot bounced back and buried itself in the ground 2" from my left big toe. I was a mile from the road and no cell phones back then. That was the end of that exercise.

Tom,
I am sure that there are many members of this forum that have had similar "educational experiences".

I guess that a bruise,scar or near miss can underline a lesson well learned.

Wayne

Always had on since I was a kid! Just basic handle model. holds ammo inside the handle! as a kid it was rocks or acorns. Have evolved last 20 years or so to marbles from the dollar store!! Last year I broke down and bought 2500 steels on Amazon. Targets were almost anything except houses or cars or people. For challenge tournaments with fellow hoodlums.... we would use sporting clays or plates we bought from thrift stores!!! Now... How about Blow Dart Barrels?????

Steve and all--

What a bunch of wild, out of control miscreants we all were by today's standards.

But...we had something today's misbehaving youngsters don't have.

Authority figures who set standards, who demanded and got respect, who kept us within reasonable bounds.

And role models who had different values compared to today's.

Glad not to be one of many kids today who are not so lucky.

Glad when I see parents who are parenting, and kids who avoiding so much of the nonsense being pedaled by people who "could" do better.

Larry

Larry,
Well stated and oh so true
Thanks for sharing

Larry,
You hit the nail right on the head with that!!!

Maybe we did not have much :valuewise" but what we did learn from good parents and teachers was/is priceless.

Today's kids don't know how to play outside and make do with basic stuff. Take electricty from today's kids (and their parents) and they are basically lost.

Wayne