ANST - Re: Slings

[Marc Carlson]

Slings and their effectiveness are one of those curious historical mysteries.
There are anecdotal historical reports of sling bullets shattering metal
armor, 
instantly killing, and so on.  Xenophon reported that his slingers were able 
to "Out distance the best Persian Archers" (who were reputed to be the best
in 
the world).  The Balaeric slingers were reputed to be able to lob multi-pound 
stones hundreds of yards. The Roman General Vegetius declared that the
standard 
for a slinger was the ability to hit a man sized target regularly at 600'.  
Then there's that whole David and Goliath thing, and the assumption that any 
uneducated shepherd can learn to use one in an afternoon.

Archaeologically speaking, sling bullets can be found in massive quantities
at 
a huge number of battle sites across the Ancient World.  While there is
evidence
that sling projectiles were in all shapes and sizes, it's pretty clear that 
the preference was for an inch and a half  football of lead.  A few slings
have
survived.

So how dangerous are they really?  From some basic experimentation and simple
physics, there are four variables to how much force the bullet will strike at:
the Sling's length, how fast fast you are spinning the sling, the mass of the 
bullet, and the diameter of the bullet.  These determine the velocity, and
mass
(i.e. the Force of impact) and the impact area.  There are other, lesser
variables,
such as drag, but these are the critical ones.

The first sling, I made, and still the one I use for experimentation purposes,
was from 2 1-meter long bits of thong and an elkhide pouch.  I tied a knot in 
one thong and stitched a loop in the other (basing it on an Elizabethan
design).
The reason for the length was to give a simple, easy to measurement to help 
determine velocity (1 meter radius for a circle, spun 10/second = 31/4 m/s).

The velocity needed to match Vegetius's standards, much less Xenophon's are 
beyond my skills, although for me the easiest way to actually hit anything is 
to use a baseball throw :)

Since I'm not planning on going into combat, my question is somewhat
academic, but
what are they allowing for sling use?  I strongly doubt the golf-balls I
practice 
with are going to be allowed :)

Marc/Diarmaid
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