Sizes of Military
and
Sporting Crossbows
|
The Dimensions of Crossbows
sporting friends who were interested in the attempt, and
who declared that the feat was impossible.
The distance achieved by the bolts, according to Ordnance
Survey, was between 440 and 450 yards.
It is most unlikely that a missile of any kind has previously
been projected without the aid of gunpowder, from one shore to the other,
across this arm of the sea.
The large Military Crossbow with a thick steel bow, which
was carried by the crossbowman in battle, as at Agincourt for instance,
weighed from 15 lbs. to 16 lbs. without its windlass.
Its steel bow was from 2 ft. 7 in. to 2 ft. 8 in. long,
and at its centre 1 3/4 in. to 2 in. wide, and 5/8 in. to 3/4 in. thick.
The Sporting Crossbow for killing deer by means of an
ordinary bolt, weighed from 12 Lbs. to 14 Lbs. without its windlass; or,
by reason of its then smaller stock, from 10 Lbs. to 12 Lbs. if a cranequin,
instead of a windlass, was employed to wind up the bowstring. Its steel
bow was from 2 ft. 5 in. to 2 ft. 6 in. long, and at its centre 1/ 1/2
in. to 1 3/4 in. wide, and 1/2 in. to 5/8 in. thick.1
The Smaller Sporting Crossbow, such as was used in Spain
for killing deer with a poisoned bolt, and small animals and large birds
with an ordinary bolt, weighed from 8 Lbs. to 9 Lbs. without its cranequin.
Its steel bow was from 2 ft. 4 in. to 2 ft. 5 in. long, and at its centre
1 3/8 in. to 1 1/2 in. wide, and 3/8 in. to 1/2 in. thick.
NOTE. - The details concerning dimensions, weights and
ranges given in Chapters III. and IV. are derived from a careful personal
inspection and trial of a large number of late fifteenth, and early sixteenth-century
crossbows. The ranges were in all cases measured by surveyor's chain and
not by footpace.
This weapon is described in Chapters XIX.-XXVIII
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| Sizes of Military and Sporting Crossbows |
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