It was in the medieval times that the long bow would often come up against in battle the crossbow. The primary advantage held by the long bows was the long bow's high rate of shot. An archer trained with his long bow easily could release up to twelve arrows per minute. Contrast this to the crossbow which did not need the same degree of skill or strength to use but did not fire as many arrows per minute as the long bow. I think if I had my choice as an archer back in the middle ages I would have chosen the long bow.
You can see the time it takes to launch ten arrows with a long bow verses a crossbow when two modern day archers compete. For the crossbow there was the hand span type. The archer would lean his bow on the ground and draw back the string to lock it into a firing position.
There was the Blevins hook which was a metal stirrup attached to the front end of the crossbow. The archer would place one foot into the hook and draw up the bow to lock into a firing position.
The crane whist which was a two handed crank that allowed the archer to turn and pull back the bow into a firing position. And the goats foot which was a lever that pulled back the bow into a firing position. Then the arrow was placed in the firing position.
In a recent long bow verses crossbow demonstration two modern day archers used a fourteenth century styled hand span crossbow and a fourteenth century styled English long bow. The crossbow of this time was one of the quickest to load and fire. The men begin their challenge. The archer using the long bow reaches quickly for his first arrow stuck in the ground in front of him. He loads the first arrow. He pulls back, aims and releases his first arrow and quickly reaches for the next arrow. The crossbow archer needs to set his bow on the ground and then place his foot into the stirrup and bend over grab the sting and pull back to lock in firing position.
He then aims and pulls the trigger to fire the arrow. The long bow archer has already fired three arrows. In the time it takes the archer using a crossbow to fire six arrows the archer firing a longbow has fired ten arrows in fifty one seconds. That was really very quick for the crossbow archer.
The test showed that the crossbow although not as fast to use than the long bow was still reasonably fast to shoot. But keep in mind the crossbow that was used for this contest was a hand span crossbow which is a very fast crossbow to shoot. And it had a light pressure pull weight. It was only 130 pounds. The long bow used had a draw weight of 110 pounds.
For the crossbow power to equal the long bow here it would need to have 3 times the draw weight. And that means a draw weight of more than three hundred pounds and you would need to have a turn or crank style crossbow because a man could not draw that weight without the help of a mechanical system. And a crank style is much slower to load. - 31499
You can see the time it takes to launch ten arrows with a long bow verses a crossbow when two modern day archers compete. For the crossbow there was the hand span type. The archer would lean his bow on the ground and draw back the string to lock it into a firing position.
There was the Blevins hook which was a metal stirrup attached to the front end of the crossbow. The archer would place one foot into the hook and draw up the bow to lock into a firing position.
The crane whist which was a two handed crank that allowed the archer to turn and pull back the bow into a firing position. And the goats foot which was a lever that pulled back the bow into a firing position. Then the arrow was placed in the firing position.
In a recent long bow verses crossbow demonstration two modern day archers used a fourteenth century styled hand span crossbow and a fourteenth century styled English long bow. The crossbow of this time was one of the quickest to load and fire. The men begin their challenge. The archer using the long bow reaches quickly for his first arrow stuck in the ground in front of him. He loads the first arrow. He pulls back, aims and releases his first arrow and quickly reaches for the next arrow. The crossbow archer needs to set his bow on the ground and then place his foot into the stirrup and bend over grab the sting and pull back to lock in firing position.
He then aims and pulls the trigger to fire the arrow. The long bow archer has already fired three arrows. In the time it takes the archer using a crossbow to fire six arrows the archer firing a longbow has fired ten arrows in fifty one seconds. That was really very quick for the crossbow archer.
The test showed that the crossbow although not as fast to use than the long bow was still reasonably fast to shoot. But keep in mind the crossbow that was used for this contest was a hand span crossbow which is a very fast crossbow to shoot. And it had a light pressure pull weight. It was only 130 pounds. The long bow used had a draw weight of 110 pounds.
For the crossbow power to equal the long bow here it would need to have 3 times the draw weight. And that means a draw weight of more than three hundred pounds and you would need to have a turn or crank style crossbow because a man could not draw that weight without the help of a mechanical system. And a crank style is much slower to load. - 31499
About the Author:
Crossbows have come a long way since medieval times. Head to Excalibur Crossbows and find the best deals on the latest crossbows. With high quality Crossbows Packages at great prices. Free shipping on all crossbows. Shop no place else but here!
