29 replies to this topic

[squirrelslinger]

"Squirrelslinger,

I appreciate the info in your post replies and a honest ones at that !

My neighbor up the street has bamboo growing in his yard, I'll be asking him for some.

60 feet is far man, that past the peck of the curve about 30-35 feet (trajectory fall off, witch I have been calling, "Over the other side of the Rainbow") any shooting past that is not easy ! This is where very unusually thing(s) can occur and IMO is the MOST interesting ranges to shoot in any closer is kind of boring for me. To get a dart to shoot at those ranges constantly accurately wail applying good shooting technic, is a on going challenge for me for the past 9 months. It's where I'm putting most of my shooting and dart making designing into at the moment.

So with all that said, that's good shooting squirrelslinger !!!"

 

I use a Geezer-type blowgun.

Makes a huge difference to me.

I still can't actually shoot a dart past about 40 yards. Not too happy.

[GKU]

There are a lot of tricks to shooting past 50 feet accurately.

IMHO, Technic and dart designing are the ones that most influence the consistent accuracy in shooting long distances.

The word CONSISTENTCY is the secret in ACCURACY, the one doesn't exist without the other. Obtaining the most Zen like technic and a set of matching darts of equal physical properties are the key to shooting long range.

Practice, perseverance with time and patients will prevail, so hang in there !

[squirrelslinger]

Should I be weighing my darts?

lol 

I set aside those that did not land in the group.

I do have the equipment to make cones of near-perfectly consistant weight and size.

I trim my cones (tyvek) by hand with a very sharp scissors.

Should I start using polypropylene cones for long range? They are signifigantly heavier than the tyvek cones...

Also, I found that a well aligned cone can take the place of fletching on an arrow.

thanks for the info!

[GKU]

Should I be weighing my darts?
lol 
I set aside those that did not land in the group.
I do have the equipment to make cones of near-perfectly consistant weight and size.
I trim my cones (tyvek) by hand with a very sharp scissors.
Should I start using polypropylene cones for long range? They are signifigantly heavier than the tyvek cones...
Also, I found that a well aligned cone can take the place of fletching on an arrow.
thanks for the info!

The more you can be consistent in dart construction the better, that does including the weight.

I try to keep the cone as light without giving up to much stiffness about .55 -.6 grams. Than adjust the CoG to 40 - 42% seems to give the best long range accuracy for me. The total weight of my darts range between 2 - 3 grams and total length between 6 - 8 " long. In exception to my nail darts witch because of it's short length of about 3" the CoG seems to be the entire dart in itself.


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[squirrelslinger]

Lol I use nails for close range. Cheaper than dirt.

Bamboo really is unbeatable at longer ranges. Or black locust or osage orange wood. But they don't split too nicely.

[GhostHawk]

Squirrelslinger could you use something other than bamboo?  I know people are taking HDPE jugs and bottles and recycling it into stuff like knife handles and slingshots. Couldn't you take another material and get a more consistent twist?

 

I would think there would have to be some way that would let us get around this problem.

 

Perhaps I need to figure out a way to put very very small fletching on my cones

[squirrelslinger]

I dunno. You could try other materials.

 

Kill  a starling(I hate those things) and take its tail feathers, split them, and wind them around the shaft like a flu flu. it will make the dart spin like no other.

if you can keep the quills from coming apart, you might not even need conventional cones.

[craftsman]

Lets clear up any misconceptions about long distance blowgun target shooting. 

 

Zen master Michel-Laurent Dioptaz ( http://www.sarbacana...sch_version.htm)  of France has his students shooting up to 20 gm darts 30 cm (10 in + ) long, from a 6 ft. carbon fiber barrel at up to 93 yards, hitting a target using a cible  (think of a foam block 15 " square, 2 in. thick.  Mount the center of the block so it is 160 cm above ground. Now cut out a circle 8 in. in diameter from the center of that block.  Mount the cut out circle, so that the center is at the same height above ground as the  foam block, but move it 2 meters back ... so you must shoot through the void to hit the target face.

 

This takes decades and thousands of dollars in cost to master.  You will not be doing THAT in a few weekends over the summer. 

 

I use a similar technique for my advanced students, shooting at 10 meters for competitions.  It forces you to use a flatter trajectory, thus making you shoot with more force.  I have hit a standard target face at a 25 meter distance with a trajectory of under 10 ft.  back in 2003.

[craftsman]

Re: Rifling a barrel.   Teach has this right.  No noticible improvement, there are measureable (chrony) differences in FPS muzzle velocity, and will eventually tear up your tailcones.

 

Dr. Marinas' book (Pananandata: Guide to Sport Blowguns (now out of print)  has a few pages with the math and physics of the internal ballistics of the barrel (a few copies are left @ $4 http://www.blowgun.c...aspx?itemid=188 )  He does have an update available http://www.amazon.co...l/dp/B0096EADFI  or, you could just by mine (my teaching method) - I have the math of adjusting for both uphill and downhill shooting, Mat's is only for the flat.  Link is in my signature. 

[klang]

Just use the paper cone and with scissors cut into the cone at about 15° angle 6 times. You will create spin like rifling does, no loss in range, great accuracy. Been doing this for many years! The small cuts also help in sealing blow by. Choose a taper that works for your diameter tube, say a sharpened pencil, wind paper and tape to create a cone (all cones will then be identical). Accuracy comes from all items being consistant weight, length, and taper. I use fiberglass cross country (nordic) skipoles that are about 5ft long and 3/8" dia. Darts about 3" music wire.