This article describes how to make a powerful and reliable crossbow with your own hands. I assume that you are familiar with the general design of a crossbow, the purpose of its individual components and the terms used. I would like to share my experience in designing this type of weapon and offer my developments and achievements. I think that you will be interested in learning how, in a moderately equipped workshop, using only available materials, you can make a crossbow whose characteristics are close to factory models.
Crossbow characteristics
- Weight: 3 kg;
- Length: 960 mm;
- Width: 820 mm
- Bow pull force: 30 - 40 kg;
- Optimal arrow weight: 20 - 25 g;
- Sighting range 80 - 100 m;
- Penetration depth of an arrow with a diameter of 7 mm and a weight of 15 g into a dry pine board from a distance of 10 m: 4 cm;
- Trigger force: 400 - 500 g.
Fastening
The central piece to which the crossbow's shoulders and stock will be attached is the piece.
It is cut from an iron sheet 2.5 - 3 mm thick, then bent and welded. With the help of 2 bolts inserted into the holes in the center of the mounting device and at the end of the crossbow stock, the latter can be easily disassembled for transportation and assembled into a firing position.
A stirrup is welded to the fastening device from below for convenience when tensioning the bowstring.
The stirrup is bent from wire with a diameter of 6 - 8 mm.
Crossbow Shoulders
The material for production is a spring from a passenger car with a thickness of 5 - 6 mm.
The four semicircular notches on the wide part of the arm are holes for the bolts with which the arms will be screwed to the mount. I deliberately avoid drilling holes, which I feel will weaken the arms and cause them to break and become deformed.
Another advantage of this fastening method is simplicity. There is no need to look for a way to drill holes in hard, hardened steel. And how can this be done? Unless you temper the metal, drill, then harden it again.
There is an opinion that using springs as material for shoulders is dangerous. They break (especially in the cold) at the attachment points, plus when broken, the spring throws out small fragments in the form of needles.
Crossbow blocks
What's good about using blocks?
Firstly, the tension is easier: two blocks and a bowstring extended 3 times gives an increase in strength. Drawing a bow like this is several times easier than if you directly connected both ends of the arms with a bowstring.
Secondly, after descent, the bowstring will slide along the surface of the stock 1.5 - 2 times faster, and accordingly, the initial speed of the arrow and the range of the crossbow will increase.
The disadvantages of the block system include difficulty in manufacturing, the use of an additional device for securing blocks at the ends of the arms, and a slight increase in the overall weight of the weapon.
Bowstring winding diagram
Drawing of the part with which the blocks are attached to the ends of the arms
Dimensions of the wheel along the recess of which the bowstring slides
Crossbow string
This crossbow uses a steel cable with a diameter of 2 - 3 mm as a bowstring. A thicker one is more difficult to tie and attach, a thinner one will stretch during use and can fray and tear. An ordinary oak loop is tied at the ends of the cable.
The knot at the end of the cable becomes very tight and is very difficult to untie. It is better to attach the string not directly to the axis of the block, but to use additional parts
This will distribute the load more evenly and avoid chafing of the bowstring.
Crossbow stock
The material for making the crossbow stock is aspen or maple boards 30 mm thick (easy to process, tough and durable materials with a fairly beautiful texture).
Oak is too heavy, difficult to work and chips easily; pine, spruce - warp when wet and are not strong enough. The stock will look more beautiful if it is sanded and varnished.
Particular attention should be paid to the boom guide groove. It should be smooth and well polished. The shooting accuracy depends on the condition of the groove. The width of the groove should be equal to the diameter of the arrow. It is convenient to cut the groove using a circular saw.
Take care of the ease of use and ergonomics of the weapon: select the optimal distance from the handle to the trigger, attach a forend to the stock (like an AKM). The presence of a butt simplifies aiming and significantly increases shooting accuracy.
To hold the arrow, a spring is used, which presses the arrow to the stock and prevents it from falling out of the guide groove before the shot.
Can be mounted on a crossbow as an aiming device optical sight, use ready-made sights for bullet weapons. One solution is to use a rear sight and front sight. Vertical adjustments are made entirely, mounted on the trigger cover, and horizontal adjustments are made by a front sight mounted on the shoulder mounting part and the stock. It is convenient for transportation if the sight is made removable.
Crossbow trigger
The material for the manufacture of the trigger mechanism is sheet iron 6–7 mm thick.
The parts are mounted directly into the stock, without making a separate body. A socket is cut out in the crossbow stock, through holes are drilled for the axles on which the trigger parts will be attached, and the mechanism is mounted
When using this design of the trigger mechanism, not a single (!) spontaneous operation was observed. The descent is smooth, comfortable, and requires no excessive effort.
Crossbow arrows (bolts)
To achieve hit accuracy and good accuracy, arrows must be correctly and efficiently made, be uniform in weight, shape, size, and plumage (you can target a crossbow for a group of identical arrows, find the optimal sight settings).
Crossbow arrows must be strong and stiff because the crossbow transfers a significant amount of energy to the arrow. A fragile, poorly made, poorly balanced arrow will break when released or hit the target.
- minimum: bow tension (in grams) divided by 5000;
- maximum: bow tension (in grams) divided by 2000;
Thus, for a crossbow with a tension force of 40 kg we get the following weight range: 10 - 25 g.
The flight range of an arrow depends on the area of drag, the mass of the arrow and the amount of energy transferred to it from the bowstring. A small value of the ratio of the drag area to the mass will lead to the fact that the arrow's flight range will be greater (if we take the value of the amount of energy as a constant).
Reducing the length of the boom also improves its flight characteristics, since with increasing length the turbulence of the air flow parallel to the cylindrical surface increases, absorbing more energy.
An arrow consists of fletching, a tip, a shaft, and a butt plate.
If the shaft is made of wood, then the butt plate may be missing. The end of the crossbow arrow is smooth, without an eye for a bowstring. You can remake arrows from sports bows by weighing them down and reducing their length.
Crossbow arrow tips
The simplest and most convenient way to make high-quality tips is very original! If possible, you need to pick up spent 7.62 caliber bullets at military training grounds where Kalashnikov assault rifles are fired. The steel core in the bullet is secured with a lead plug at the bottom. Those. If you heat a bullet (you can even do this over a fire in a tin can) so that the lead melts, the steel core will fall out of it. Here you have a finished, neat tip with a tip specially designed for shooting. And besides, due to the deep hole formed after removing the core, this tip is very easily attached to the arrow itself. It simply fits onto the sharpened end like a cap.
If there is a need to strengthen the arrow (depending on the length), then we place the bullet casing on a cut rod, a nail or screw of a suitable diameter and screw it into the end of the arrow, with a pre-drilled hole, of course, - names, but this is how the arrowheads of factory crossbows are attached
Approximate parameters of arrows for crossbows:
- Length: 120 - 170 mm;
- Diameter: 7 - 8 mm;
- Number of feathers: 3 or 4 pcs.;
- Feather length: 30 - 50 mm;
- Pen height: 5 - 8 mm;
- Arrow weight: 10 - 40 g.
The center of gravity of the crossbow arrow should be located at a distance of 1/3 from the tip.
In Europe, starting around the 11th century. and for 500 years the crossbow was an extremely widespread weapon. It (in the easel version) was used mainly to protect various objects, such as castles and ships. Hand crossbows were widely used in field battles. In addition, the crossbow played a significant role in understanding the properties of various materials (since during its manufacture it was necessary to take into account the action of many forces) and the laws of movement in the air (after all, the crossbow arrow had to have certain flight qualities). Leonardo da Vinci repeatedly turned to the study of the principles underlying crossbow shooting.
The craftsmen who made bows, crossbows and arrows did not know mathematics or the laws of mechanics. Nevertheless, tests of samples of old arrows carried out at Purdue University showed that these craftsmen managed to achieve high aerodynamic qualities.
At first glance, the crossbow does not seem complicated. Its arc, as a rule, was strengthened in front, across a wooden or metal machine - the stock. A special device held the bowstring stretched to the limit and released it. The direction of flight of a short crossbow arrow was set either by a groove cut into the top of the stock into which the arrow was placed, or by two stops that secured it in front and behind. If the arc was very elastic, then to tighten the bowstring, a special device was installed on the stock; sometimes it was removable and carried along with a crossbow.
The design of a crossbow has two advantages over a conventional bow. Firstly, on average, a crossbow shoots further, and a shooter armed with it in a duel with an archer remains out of reach of the enemy. Secondly, the design of the stock, sight and trigger greatly facilitated handling of the weapon; it did not require special training from the shooter. The hook teeth, which held and released the drawn string and arrow, are one of the earliest attempts to mechanize some of the functions of the human hand.
The only thing in which a crossbow was inferior to a bow was its speed of fire (not entirely true, there is one more parameter in which a bow is superior to a crossbow - price. A bow is much cheaper to produce, of course this applies to ordinary weapons). Therefore use it as military weapons It was possible only if there was a shield, behind which the warrior took cover while reloading. It is for this reason that the crossbow was mainly a common type
weapons of fortress garrisons, siege detachments and ship crews.
Classic medieval crossbow with composite bow from South Tyrol 1475.
The crossbow was invented long before it became widespread. There are two versions regarding the invention of this weapon. According to one, it is believed that the crossbow first appeared in Greece, according to another - in China. Around 400 BC. e. The Greeks invented a throwing machine (catapult) for throwing stones and arrows. Its appearance was explained by the desire to create a weapon more powerful than a bow. Initially, some catapults, similar in principle to a crossbow, apparently did not exceed it in size.
The version of the origin of the crossbow in China is supported by archaeological finds of bronze triggers dating back to 200 BC. e. Although evidence of the first appearance of the crossbow in Greece is earlier, written Chinese sources mention the use of this weapon in battles in 341 BC. e. According to other data, the reliability of which is more difficult to establish, the crossbow was known in China one century earlier.
Archaeological finds indicate that the crossbow was used in Europe throughout the entire period from the ancient era to the 11th-16th centuries, when it became most widespread. It can be assumed that its widespread use before the 11th century. There were two obstacles. One of them is that arming troops with crossbows was much more expensive than with bows. Another reason is the small number of castles in that period; historically important role castles began to play only after the conquest of England by the Normans (1066).
With the increasing role of castles, the crossbow became an indispensable weapon used in feudal feuds, which were not without violent battles. Fortifications in the pre-Norman period were usually very simple and served mainly as shelters for the people living nearby. Therefore, it was necessary to keep weapons behind the fortress walls to repel the attacks of the conquerors. The Normans exercised power in the conquered territories with the help of small, heavily armed military units. Castles served them to hide from the indigenous inhabitants and repel attacks by other armed groups. The firing range of the crossbow contributed to the reliable protection of these shelters.
Over the centuries after the appearance of the first crossbows, attempts were made repeatedly to improve these weapons. One of the methods may have been borrowed from the Arabs. Arabic hand bows belonged to the type called composite, or complex.
Their design fully corresponds to this name, since they were made from various materials. A composite bow has distinct advantages over a bow made from a single piece of wood, since the latter has limited elasticity due to the natural properties of the material. When an archer pulls the bowstring, the arc of the bow on the outer side (away from the archer) experiences tension, and on the inner side it experiences compression. If the tension is excessive, the wood fibers of the arc begin to deform and permanent “wrinkles” appear on its inner side. Usually the onion was kept in bent state, and exceeding a certain maximum tension could cause it to break.
In a compound bow outer surface The arch is attached to a material that can withstand greater tension than wood. This additional layer takes on the load and reduces the deformation of wood fibers. The most commonly used material was animal tendons, especially the ligamentum nuchae, a large elastic knot that runs along the spine and over the shoulders of most mammals. Tests have shown that such material, if properly processed, can withstand tension of up to 20 kg/sq. mm. This is about four times more than the most suitable tree can support.
For inside Onions used a material that works better in compression than wood. The Turks used bull horn for these purposes, the permissible compression force of which is about 13 kg/sq. mm. (Wood can withstand compressive loads four times less.) The unusually high awareness of archery craftsmen about the properties of various materials can also be judged by the kind of glues they used in the manufacture of bows. The glue made from the sky of the Volga sturgeon was considered the best. The variety of unusual materials used in archery suggests that many design solutions were achieved experimentally.
Italian crossbow from the 16th century, with a steel bow. Pull the bowstring into a firing position on such a “monster”
It was impossible to do it manually; special devices were used for this, which will be discussed below.
Crossbows with compound bows were common in the Middle Ages, including the Renaissance. They were lighter than crossbows with a steel bow, which began to be manufactured at the beginning of the 15th century; with the same bowstring tension, they shot further and were more reliable (there is most likely a mistranslation here: the steel arc was clearly more powerful than the composite one). The action of compound arcs interested Leonardo da Vinci. His manuscripts indicate that he used them to study the behavior of various materials under load.
The advent of the steel bow in the Middle Ages was the zenith in the development of crossbow design. In terms of its parameters, it could be second only to a crossbow made of fiberglass and other modern materials. Steel arcs had a flexibility that no organic material had previously been able to provide. The Victorian sportsman Ralph Payne-Gallwey, who wrote a treatise on the crossbow, tested a large military crossbow with a string tension of 550 kg, sending an 85 gram arrow to a distance of 420 m. E. Harmuth, an expert on the history of crossbows, claims that there were arcs with twice the tension. However, in the Middle Ages, the most common crossbows were those with a draw weight of less than 45 kg. Even with special lightweight arrows they shot no further than 275 m.
With the achievement of higher tensions, steel arches no longer benefit in efficiency. Increasing the mass of the arc limited its ability to impart greater acceleration to the arrow. Because of the difficulty of obtaining large-sized steel ingots, crossbow bows were typically fused from many pieces of metal. Each fusion point reduced the reliability of the crossbow: at any moment the arc in this place could break.
More powerful crossbows required reliable triggers. It should be noted that the trigger mechanisms used by the Europeans, which usually consisted of a rotating tooth and a simple lever release, were inferior to the Chinese ones, which had an intermediate lever that allowed the shot to be fired with a short and light pull on the trigger lever. At the beginning of the 16th century. in Germany, multi-lever triggers of a more advanced design began to be used. It is interesting that a little earlier Leonardo da Vinci came up with the same design of the trigger mechanism and proved its advantages by calculation.
Swiss crossbow with a composite bow. Around 1470. In the inset at the top left is a section of the arc of this crossbow. At the bottom there are horn plates, which turn out orange in the photo. The surface of the plates is covered with notches, thanks to which they fit perfectly together. It is not known what kind of glue was used to connect the horn parts, but in general the technology was very successful, since the crossbow was symmetrical, balanced and capable of withstanding heavy loads. The “back” of the crossbow arc is made of tendons, the outside of the horns was covered with parchment, birch bark or, as here, thick paper with a pattern.
The CROSSBOW arrow also changed over time. Before tracing its evolution, let us consider the forces acting on a bow arrow. When shooting from a conventional bow, the arrow at the moment of aiming should be located between the center of the archer's chest and the fingers of his outstretched hand. The relative position of these two points determines the direction of flight of the arrow after the bowstring is released.
The forces acting on the arrow when it is released, however, do not exactly coincide with the line of sight. The released string pushes the butt of the arrow towards the center of the bow, rather than to the side. Therefore, in order for the arrow not to deviate from the given direction, it must bend slightly at the moment of launch.
Required boom flexibility for traditional bow imposes a limit on the amount of energy imparted to it. For example, it was found that an arrow designed for a bow with a tension of up to 9 kg, when shot from a crossbow with a tension of 38 kg, can bend so much that its shaft breaks.
In this regard, in the ancient era, when crossbows and catapults began to be used, arrows of a new design were invented. Due to the fact that the surface of the crossbow stock ensured that the direction of movement of the bowstring coincided with the initial direction of flight of the arrow, and a special guiding device made it possible to hold it in a certain position without using hands, it became possible to make crossbow arrows shorter and less elastic. This in turn made them easier to store and carry.
The design of arrows that appeared at that time can be judged by two main types that have survived to this day. One type of arrow is half the length of a regular bow arrow. It flares sharply towards the rear end and has several vanes, or fletchings, that are too small to stabilize the arrow in flight. The end part of the boom is captured by the hooking teeth.
Other types of arrows do not have blades. Their metal front is a third of their length, and the wooden shaft is reduced to a minimum. These arrows also have a shape that flares towards the tail. Their total length is less than 15 cm.
The design features of these arrows indicate that the craftsmen Ancient Rome, who first invented them, were familiar with the flight qualities of bodies of various shapes. Today we understand that the fletching, which prevents the arrow from rotating in flight, is the main reason for its braking. Reducing its size would make it possible to increase the range of the arrow, provided that it does not turn to the side, which would further slow down its flight. This can be avoided by sharpening the shaft, that is, making it narrower at the front than at the back. If an arrow with such a shaft begins to turn to the side, then the air pressure on the wider back will be higher than the front one; Due to this, the direction of flight of the arrow is leveled.
It can also be assumed that the shaft has a center of pressure (the equilibrium point of all aerodynamic forces acting on it) located behind the center of gravity. On a cylindrical arrow without fletching, this point will be located approximately in the middle of the shaft. With an expanding boom, the center of pressure moves toward the rear. Since the center of pressure is located behind the center of gravity, the stability of an arrow with a flared shaft is higher than with a cylindrical one, and due to the absence of feathers, its drag is less.
The expanding shaft also contributes to a more uniform distribution of air mass pressure on its surface. Using the terminology of modern aerodynamics, we can say that the boundary layer is less susceptible to destruction. Reducing the length of the boom also improves its flight characteristics, since with increasing length the turbulence of the air flow parallel to the cylindrical surface increases, absorbing more energy.
ANOTHER factor that affects the effectiveness of flared shaft arrows is fletch design. To hold the bolt with the gripping teeth of the trigger mechanism, a special recess was made in its plumage. Like the flared shape of the shaft, the presence of a notch helps air flow more evenly around the arrow, reducing energy-absorbing turbulence behind it.
In the early Middle Ages, the craftsmen who made bows and crossbows were not familiar with the laws of air movement and the forces that arise on the surface of bodies when they move in the air. Concepts such as air flow and drag did not appear until the time of Leonardo da Vinci. There is no doubt that crossbow arrows were created primarily through trial and error. Probably, their creators were guided by the desire to achieve maximum flight range and greatest impact force.
Nevertheless, the design of crossbow arrows is perfect. Wind tunnel tests we conducted at the Purdue University Aerodynamics Laboratory confirm this. A regular arrow was tested for combat bow, which were used in the Middle Ages, a crossbow arrow belonging to the same period and two types of catapult arrows. The results obtained should be interpreted with some caution, since the sizes of the objects under study, especially the smallest ones, approached the sensitivity threshold of the measuring equipment. But even under these extreme experimental conditions, it was possible to obtain very interesting data. Firstly, the smallest arrow, which was completely preserved, apart from minor damage to the tail, judging by the data obtained, stably maintained its position at all permissible flight angles.
Secondly, a comparative analysis of the drag-to-weight ratio for all four types of arrows showed that the bow arrow was significantly inferior in its flight qualities to the other three. The mass of an arrow can be considered as a measure of its ability to maintain kinetic energy. If all these arrows were launched at the same speed, then the mass of each of them would determine the energy reserve of the arrow at the initial moment. The rate of energy consumption depends on the drag. A low drag-to-weight ratio means the arrow is likely to have a long range.
For bow arrows this ratio is approximately twice that of crossbow arrows. It can be assumed that if medieval and earlier craftsmen had managed to overcome design limitations in creating arrows for bows, they could have developed a more optimal design. The existing design of the arrow corresponded so well to the materials available at that time that its geometry was not improved during the period while the bow was considered the main weapon.
ALL THESE improvements were dictated by the urgent need for crossbows. Often in peacetime, garrisons were located on the territory of castles, consisting mainly of shooters armed with crossbows. At well-defended outposts, such as the English port of Calais (on the northern coast of France), there were 53 thousand crossbow arrows in reserve. The owners of these castles usually purchased arrows in large quantities - 10-20 thousand pieces. It is estimated that over the 70 years from 1223 to 1293, one family in England produced 1 million crossbow arrows.
Based on these facts, we can say that mass production began long before the industrial revolution. This can be confirmed by the simple device used at that time, consisting of two fastened wooden blocks, forming something similar to a vice: an arrow blank was inserted into the recesses in the wooden blocks for subsequent processing. To make the tail blades, metal plates with grooves were used into which blanks were inserted. This device made it possible to obtain the required dimensions and symmetrical shape of the blades.
Another device was a planing machine, which was probably intended both for turning the arrow shaft and for cutting grooves into which the feather blades were inserted. Rods from wooden blanks of small diameter were not easy to produce on primitive lathes of that time, since the blanks were bent when processed with a cutting tool. In a planing machine, a metal cutting tool was fixed in a wooden block with two clamps on opposite sides.
The block moved along the clamping device, which firmly held the arrow blank. The cutting tool removed chips until the block reached the surface of the clamping device. In this way, automatic control of the thickness of the cut layer and cutting direction was achieved. As a result, the arrows were almost the same size.
The crossbow was replaced by a firearm. The popularity of the ancient crossbow began to decline. However, they continued to be used in naval battles. The reason was that the crossbow did not have a fuse, and it was safe for the shooter, unlike firearms, which at first often hit the shooter himself. In addition, the bulwark on the ship served as good cover, behind which one could safely reload a crossbow. Heavier crossbows continued to be used in whaling. Firearms gradually replaced the crossbow in hunting on land.
The exception was crossbows, which fired stones or bullets. This type of weapon was used in hunting small game until the 19th century. The fact that these crossbows, which fired shot or bullets, had much in common with firearms indicates the mutual influence of the two types of weapons in the process of their evolution. Such elements of firearms as the stock, the trigger, which requires a slight pressure, and the sighting device, were borrowed from crossbows, and primarily from sports ones. Such crossbows have not yet gone out of use.
Appearance in the 20th century. fiberglass materials led to the creation of a new generation of composite crossbows. Glass fibers are not inferior in properties to natural veins, and their cellular structure is as strong as a bull's horn. Although the crossbow still lags behind the bow in many ways in the revival of archery, it also has many adherents. A modern crossbow shooter has at his disposal a “weapon” that is much more advanced than what it was in the Middle Ages.
ENGLISH CROSSBOW. Its wooden stock shows the date of manufacture - 1617. The ivory plate with inlay indicates that this crossbow was a hunting one; a military crossbow would hardly have such artistic decoration. To tension the crossbow string, a force exceeding one hundred kilograms was required, so the crossbowman used a special mechanism with a gear drive. The crossbow stock has a socket that was probably intended for this mechanism. The bowstring is shown in a taut state. In this position, it was held by hooking teeth, which released it when the trigger, located at the bottom of the stock, was pressed. A short 30.5 cm long arrow fired from a crossbow flew a distance of about 400 m. The crossbow's arc was attached to the stock using a ring and a harness. The drawing was made from a crossbow from the collection of the US Military Academy Museum at West Point (New York).
THREE CROSSBALLETS are depicted in a painting by an Italian artist of the 15th century. Antonio del Pollaiolo "St. Sebastian". One shooter takes aim with a crossbow, the other two draw the string using a crossbow "stirrup", since tensioning the string required a lot of force. The painting is kept in the National Gallery in London.
FRENCH COMBAT CROSSBOW XIV century. and two arrows for it from the collection of the US Military Academy Museum at West Point (New York). It was impossible to tighten the bowstring of such a crossbow manually, so a collar was installed at the rear end of the machine, or stock. The stock has a length of 101 cm, the width of the crossbow arc is 107 cm, and the length of the arrows is approximately 38 cm.
A CROSSBOW consists of a curved bow, a bowstring, a hook tooth (to which the bowstring clung) and a trigger lever. When the lever was pressed, the tooth released the bowstring and the arrow flew out of the crossbow. The stop fixed the position of the tension mechanism, with the help of which the bowstring was retracted back. The design of the tension mechanism is one of the earliest examples of the use of gearing.
THE ARROW PARADOX partly explains why short arrows were used when shooting crossbows. The paradox is demonstrated for the case when the shooter uses an arrow from a conventional bow. When aiming (1), the arrow is positioned on one side of the bow. The sight line runs along the arrow. However, when the archer releases the arrow (2), the force exerted by the string causes the tail of the arrow to move towards the center of the bow. In order for the arrow to maintain its direction towards the target, it must bend in flight (3). During the first few meters of flight, the arrow vibrates, but eventually its position stabilizes (4). The need for flexibility in a bow arrow limits the amount of energy that can be imparted to it. In contrast, a crossbow arrow must be shorter and stiffer, since the crossbow imparts significant energy to it. Such arrows also had better aerodynamic properties.
TRIGGER MECHANISMS of crossbows had different designs. In China 2000 years ago, a mechanism (a) was used with a tooth to engage the bowstring, which was mounted on the same axis as the trigger. A curved intermediate lever connected both parts, due to which the release was carried out with a light and short press. The direction of movement of the bowstring during descent is shown on the right. In the West, trigger mechanisms were first used in catapults (b). In these mechanisms, when the bowstring was released, the tooth did not fall, but rose. In medieval Europe, the most common mechanism was the escapement wheel (c); its position was fixed by a simple release lever, which hooked into a recess at the bottom of the wheel. When such a lever was pressed, the crossbow could move from its aiming position. Over time, all designs of trigger mechanisms began to use an intermediate lever to facilitate the descent.
TYPES OF ARROWS for bows and crossbows: regular arrow for a combat longbow (a); an arrow used by the Romans (b) for a catapult, similar to a crossbow; a typical arrow for a medieval crossbow (c) and two varieties of arrows for a catapult of another smaller Roman type (d). Below the images of the arrows is their view from the tail and the view from the tip.
Wind tunnel test results for the five types of arrows shown in the top picture. The tests were carried out with the participation of the author of the article at the Aerospace Research Laboratory of Purdue University. In calculations performed by W. Hickam, it was assumed that the initial speed of each arrow was 80 m/s. Although longbow arrows were unlikely to have such a speed, the accepted value was convenient for comparative analysis.
The story about crossbows and crossbowmen would probably not be complete without a review of pavez - specific shields for crossbow shooters.
What is a paveza - PAVEZA (pavez, pavise, pavise, paveze) is a type of shield widely used by infantry in the 14th-16th centuries. The shield was rectangular in shape, the lower part could have an oval shape. The paveza was often equipped with a stop; sometimes spikes were made on the lower edge, which were stuck into the ground. Usually, a vertical protrusion (from the inside - a gutter) passed through the middle of the shield to strengthen the structure. The width of the pavese ranged from 40 to 70 cm, height - 1-1.5 m. The shield was made of light wood and covered with fabric or leather. Pavezes often painted emblems with heraldic or religious content.
One of the most famous paveuses is the pavese from the Cluny Museum (Paris). Mid 15th century, David and Goliath painted.
Paves of a Swiss crossbowman with the coat of arms of the city of Bern - a bear.
Late 14th century. Kept in the historical museum of Bern.
Depending on the method of use, there were hand-held and standing paveses (the latter were often used by crossbowmen due to the long time it took to reload weapons during the siege of castles and cities). The hand paveses were quadrangular, often tapering downward. They were used by both infantry and knightly cavalry. Pavezes were widely used by the Hussites during the Hussite Wars.
It is traditionally believed that the name of the shield comes from the Italian city of Pavia, where it was invented in the 13th century. It is also noted that the classic infantry version of the paveza took shape during the Hussite Wars.
Unusual Belgian (Flemish) pavese of the 15th century, with a loophole for firing in the center
shield and two spikes for driving into the ground, from the collection of the Brussels Historical Museum.
Later researchers came to the conclusion that the paveza could have entered Western Europe through the Baltic crusaders, who borrowed this type of shield from the local Baltic population. The lands of Rus' (XII century) or the Lithuanian-Mazovian region (XIII century) are called the place of origin of paveza. At the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, the Pavezes spread to Mazovia, the lands under the rule of the Teutonic Order, Western Rus' and, probably, the rest of Poland. Belarusian archaeologist Nikolai Plavinsky notes that around the 14th century, the distribution area of the paveza covered the entire Baltic-Polish-Russian region
A lot of these shields have survived (oddly enough, much more than contemporary crossbows), so the review can be endless.
The strength and convenience of shields of this type quickly led to their widespread use by the knightly class and ordinary warriors (not crossbowmen) throughout Western Europe. Naturally, mostly in the manual version.
The age of the paveza ended with the spread of handguns.
Like many centuries ago, the design of the crossbow remains virtually unchanged
Compound Bow with separated shoulders
Fiberglass and aluminum are ideal materials for crossbow arrows and bolts. Often the bolts have a threaded insert on the front end of the shaft, which allows you to change the tip from a sporting one to a hunting one and vice versa. A hunting point is most often equipped with three or more steel blades
1.Castle
The lock secures the crossbow string in the cocked state. The principle of its operation is based in one form or another on a design invented by the ancient Chinese: when cocked, the bowstring snaps a “nut” onto a spring-loaded trigger. Subsequently, this design was continuously modernized, became more complex, and acquired adjustments, fuses, and additional parts to facilitate descent. Even an electronic trigger mechanism is not uncommon on expensive sports models.
Unlike a firearm trigger, in which a lot of force is not required to hold the “striker”, the parts of a crossbow lock bear all the power of its shoulders, so high-strength steel is most often used for their manufacture, and less often titanium or composite materials. Although some “craftsmen” try to make locks from aluminum, they do not last long and, as a rule, apart from injuries, they do not bring other joys to their owners.
2.Box
The stock is the basis of the crossbow. It is the design and materials of the stock that determine the convenience, comfort and appearance the entire crossbow. For a hunter, the stock will be light and flexible, for an athlete it will be long and heavy, with numerous adjustments, in the gift version it will be expensive and beautiful, with carvings and inlays, and for children it will be small and safe, pistol-type. The most suitable material is wood or glued veneer. Plastic is not welcome. But not any tree is suitable for creating a stock; it is best to use walnut, oak, mahogany, that is, strong and tough types of wood for these purposes.
3. Shoulders (arches)
The arms of a crossbow are the elastic elements of a bow that store the human mechanical energy produced during the draw for the subsequent shot. The shoulders are attached directly to the stock; on powerful crossbows - to the stock through a metal block (5). Crossbow bow designs are divided into traditional and compound bows.
In turn, the shoulders can be straight or curved (recursive), have a monolithic or separate design.
The traditional design is a regular bow as we understand it, the ends of which are tied with a string. In the block design, blocks (round or eccentric) are fixed at the ends of the arms, through which the bowstring is passed. Due to these blocks, the process of cocking a crossbow is significantly simplified, while the power of the shot remains the same.
The most common materials for the production of shoulders are reinforced fiberglass, carbon fiber reinforced plastic, and duralumin. Previously, when materials were tight, old springs from Moskvich were used as a blank for the bow. Not only was such a crossbow incredibly heavy and massive, it was dangerous, since the steel tended to burst at the most inopportune moment, scattering sharp fragments into different sides. Therefore, subsequently they began to put a protective bandage on such bows, and then they completely abandoned this material.
4. Stirrup
The crossbow stirrup is designed to facilitate the cocking process. The stirrup can be loop-shaped or T-shaped. In both cases, the shooter’s legs hold the crossbow by the stirrup while the string is tensioned.
5. Block
The block is the second most important component of a crossbow after the lock. This element plays a connecting role between the shoulders and the rest of the crossbow structure. It is the block that bears the entire load of the arcs in their pure form. It is the block that must withstand enormous loads during a shot. It is on the block that all the energy of the so-called “reverse recoil” occurs, when the arrow has already flown out, and the shoulders continue to straighten further at enormous speed. That's why so much attention is paid to the block. Typically, high-strength steel is used for the block; on expensive crossbows, titanium is used. Although I sometimes met crazy would-be designers who put an aluminum profile block on their 80-kilogram crossbows. And then they wondered why, after a dozen shots, she was turning inside out.
6. Bowstring
The bowstring of modern crossbows is a thread folded several times, followed by braiding of the rubbing parts. The best choice for a bowstring is a strong and low-stretch thread, such as Dacron, Dacron, aramid thread (commonly known as Kevlar) or a foreign analogue of Fast-Fligh. On powerful crossbows, as well as on the auxiliary bowstrings of compound crossbows, a steel cable is used.
7. Guide
The crossbow's guide, as the name suggests, is designed to hold the arrow and guide it towards the target. In medieval crossbows, the groove was made either directly in the stock, or in the form of a bone plate with a groove. On the simplest modern crossbows, a plastic guide is glued directly on top of the stock. On more “advanced” ones, the guide plate is made of a material that has sufficient anti-friction properties so that the arrow moves along it easily and evenly, and the bowstring wears out as slowly as possible. In systems with high tension forces, it is even recommended to use oil to lubricate the guide. Such a guide is fixedly attached to the body of the crossbow, or two guide plates are used, located at some distance from each other. As for the distance between the guides (groove), its dimensions depend on the diameter of the arrows used, as well as the height of the tail. As a rule, the width of the groove (with chamfers removed) should be such that the axis of the arrow intersects the center of the bowstring, which in turn should lie (without vertical force) on the upper surface of the stock and move parallel to it when fired.
8. Sighting device
Due to the steep trajectory of the arrow, the installation and design of crossbow sighting devices has its own characteristics. The sights used are divided into three categories: open, diopter and optical.
Below we will look at each of them separately, along with the design features in more detail.
Open. This design is a development of the idea of a bow sight. The fixed rear sight is complemented by a console mounted next to the bow, on which a set (three to five pieces) of horizontal front sights (each can be adjusted horizontally and vertically) for different shooting distances (the so-called “comb”) is attached. When aiming, the shooter selects the desired height of the front sight depending on the shooting distance.
Dioptric. Basically, these sights are installed on sports crossbows and are identical in design to sights for bullet sports. All the differences are only in the front sight: it has wide range adjustments and can be equipped with a leveling level to control the “blockage” of the weapon. In addition, it is usually possible to tilt the diopter itself and its front sight in order to eliminate the ellipse of the front sight if they do not match in height. On the other hand, there is a tendency to move away from the firearms ideology of aiming. Nowadays they prefer to carry out all micrometric adjustments on the front sight, while the diopter itself remains stationary.
Optical. Existing designs for bullet weapons are quite suitable for installation on crossbows. You just need to remember that the mount has a bevel towards the target of about one or two degrees.
The material was prepared with the assistance of the Interloper crossbow center
Evgenia Smirnova
To send light into the depths of the human heart - this is the purpose of the artist
Content
How to make a crossbow - this question worries both hunters and shooting enthusiasts. Shooting from a crossbow, as from a military weapon, is left far behind. Today, crossbow shooting is mainly practiced professional athletes, as well as amateurs who want to shoot at targets. Shooting with a crossbow has a number of advantages over shooting with a firearm. Firstly, it is silent shooting, and secondly, accessibility and comparative safety. A crossbow does not require any permission or medical examination to purchase it. You just need to buy a ready-made one (for which you will have to pay several hundred dollars or more), or make a weapon yourself. That's why your favorite site useful tips the site will tell you today how to make a crossbow yourself.
How to make a mini crossbow - instructions
Types of weapons and ammunition for them
Experts distinguish two types of crossbows - field and match. Ammunition for both types is considered to be feathered arrows. Carbon and duralumin feathered arrows are available on sale. You can learn and compete in shooting using a standard five-color archery target, which is also available for sale. Field crossbow shooters usually compete at distances of 35, 50, 65 meters (outdoors) and 10, 18 meters (indoors). Match shooters usually compete only in special premises - shooting ranges at distances of 10 and 30 meters.
Hunting with a crossbow is an activity for real men
Many owners use their devices for hunting. Hunting with a crossbow is fundamentally different from hunting with a gun - shooting animals from a tower, a helicopter, or driving an animal in a large crowd is not everyone’s cup of tea. Hunting, on the contrary, loves silence and solitude. In some ways, this type of hunting is reminiscent of the famous heroic pastime - hunting a bear with a spear. In fact, to shoot you need to approach the animal at a distance of 50 meters or closer. Not everyone will be able to approach a boar at such a short distance, and approaching it at such a short distance requires special hunting skills. Well, the more valuable the loot!
How to choose
Power
For hunting birds or small animals, a crossbow with a draw power of 50 kg is sufficient. With a pulling power of 50-70 kg, you can hunt large ungulates. For wild boar hunting, crossbows with a power of 80 kg are used.
What ammunition can be used
Hunting large game requires special ammunition. To hunt large prey you need to use special professional arrows made of fiberglass or carbon. These arrows are strong and light enough to be properly centered to ensure a successful hit. There are also sometimes excellent aluminum arrows on sale. But such ammunition is only suitable for hunting small animals or birds. Manufacturers of arrows provide the possibility of turning hunting ammunition into sports ammunition - to do this, you just need to change the arrow tip. The threaded connection allows this to be done very quickly. A hunting arrow weighs from 30 to 35 grams, the length of such an arrow is from 45 to 50 cm. As a rule, the length of the feather of a hunting arrow is longer than that of a sports arrow, because the arrow needs to stabilize faster in flight to assume a firing position.
For fishing
Some shooters use a crossbow not only for hunting, but also for fishing. For fishing with a crossbow, harpoon arrows of a special needle-shaped shape are used, which allows the arrow to move in the water. At the end of the fishing arrow there is a hook to which the fishing line is attached. The other end of the fishing line is tied into the crossbow itself.
Found an error in the text? Select it, press Ctrl + Enter and we will fix everything!Trigger crossbow is one of the most important components of this cold throwing weapon. To make a trigger yourself, you need to have a complete understanding of its structure. In addition, you need to be able to use various tools and equipment. Know turning and plumbing, at least at the student level. In other cases, if you have no idea what a lathe is, you can simply order the necessary parts from professionals. We will start making a crossbow trigger with the simplest entry-level drawings.
At self-production any complex mechanism, you need to act on the principle - the simpler, the better. Because the more parts there are in a mechanism, the more precise their fit to each other must be, otherwise frequent breakdowns are possible. Therefore, do not chase factory drawings of modern crossbows. Making them at home is often technically difficult.
The simplest escapement mechanism used by the warriors of ancient Rus' in the eighth century is shown in the figure below.
All parts can be made of wood; they do not require special technical knowledge. The principle of operation of the mechanism is as follows: a wooden lever, which is fixed to the crossbow stock with an axis, pushes up a special pin. This pin pulls the bowstring off the ledges, and the arrow begins to fly. True, this release mechanism is suitable for crossbows with a small tension force of the arms (arc).
I think comments on such simple devices are unnecessary, everything is clear without words. Such crossbow release mechanisms are recommended for home-made people who do not have access to turning equipment, or who simply want to reconstruct antique crossbows.
Now let's touch on more complex drawings of trigger mechanisms. But their production already requires turning and metalworking skills.
Here is a drawing of one of the not-so-complicated trigger mechanisms.
To make it, you only need two main parts, which you can make entirely yourself. This drawing shows the detailed dimensions of the crossbow trigger mechanism.
If such drawings seem like baby talk to someone, due to their technical knowledge, then let them pay attention to the following drawings. Their dimensions are indicated in inches.
And one more option
There are quite a lot of drawings of various trigger mechanisms. And there is no point in citing all of them, but perhaps for comparison I will post another option. This is a drawing of a more modern and professional trigger mechanism. There are no dimensions for this drawing, and it’s unlikely that anyone will want to bother with such complex technical bells and whistles.
For our purposes, and the goal is to make a crossbow with a reliable trigger mechanism, the following design may well be suitable. This design of the trigger mechanism has an original name - nut. Its operating principle is also quite simple. The shooter presses the lever, which has two arms, the nut is released, turning around its axis, and lowers the bowstring. When cocking, the lever rests against a special protrusion of the nut, preventing it from turning at will.
These pictures are also pretty self-explanatory. The only drawback is that there are no detailed dimensions for each part, but use your best judgment here. A competent turner will easily turn out these parts, focusing only on the drawings and dimensions of the stock of the crossbow being manufactured.
In addition to a strong arc with excellent tension, a reliable trigger mechanism, and a comfortable stock, to make a good crossbow you also need a cocking system. We will discuss its various options in the next article.
