Crossbows

A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts. A mechanism in the stock holds the bow in its fully-drawn position until it is shot by releasing a trigger. more...

Home
Airsoft
Archery
Accessories
Arrows
Books & Video
Bows
Compound
Crossbows
Other
Recurve
Clothing & Protective Gear
Other
Vintage
Backyard Games
Baseball & Softball
Basketball
Bowling
Camping & Hiking
Cheerleading
Climbing & Caving
Cricket
Curling
Cycling
Disc Golf
Equestrian
Fencing
Field Hockey
Fishing
Football
Geocaching
Go-Karts (Recreational)
Golf
Gymnastics
Hang Gliding & Paragliding
Hunting
Ice & Roller Hockey
Inline & Roller Skating
Lacrosse
Other
Paintball
Paragliding
Rugby
Scooters
Skateboarding
Sky Diving
Soccer
Track & Field
Triathlon
Volleyball
Wrestling

Crossbows played a significant role in the warfare of North Africa, Europe and Asia. Crossbows are used today primarily for target shooting and hunting.

Design

A crossbow is a bow mounted on a stick (called a tiller or stock) with a mechanism in it which holds the drawn bow string. The earliest designs utilized a slot in the stock, down into which the cocked string was placed. This is sometimes called a 'notchlock' crossbow. To fire this design, a vertical rod is thrust up through a hole in the bottom of the notch, forcing the string out. This rod is usually attached perpendicular to a rear-facing firing lever called a trigger or 'tickler'. A later design, predominant through the end of the 16th century, utilized a rolling cylindrical pawl called a 'nut' to retain the cocked string. This nut has a perpendicular center slot for the bolt, and an intersecting axial slot for the string, along with a lower face or slot against which the internal trigger sits. They often also have some form of strengthening internal 'sear' or trigger face, usually of metal. These 'roller nuts' were either free-floating in their close-fitting hole across the stock, tied in with a binding of sinew or other strong cording, or mounted on a metal axle or pins. Removable or integral plates of wood, ivory or metal on the sides of the stock kept the nut in place laterally. Nuts were made of antler, bone, ivory or metal (usually brass). A trigger system, (usually made of iron or steel from medieval times onwards), was used to retain the force of the cocked string in the nut and then release the nut to spin and the string to shoot the bolt. Sophisticated bronze triggers with safety notches are known to have been used on crossbows from ancient China. Complicated iron triggers that could be released with little strength are known in Europe from the early 1400s. As a result crossbows could be kept cocked and ready to shoot for some time with little effort, allowing crossbowmen to aim better.

The bow (called the \"prod\" or \"lath\" on a crossbow) of early crossbows were made of a single piece of wood, usually ash or yew. Composite bows are made from layers of different material—often wood, horn and sinew—glued together and bound with animal tendon. These composite bows, made of several layers, are much stronger and more efficient in releasing energy than simple wooden bows. As steel became more widely available in Europe around the 14th century, steel prods came into use.

Read more at Wikipedia.org