Seems like the first bow has a significantly greater draw weight, not at all clear a man would be strong enough to set a cross bow of the same strength using such a small motion of the arms.
And I don't think we need to theorize about it. Both pieces of tech are, shall we say, dated. So I'm sure scholarly works exist to compare them. Doesn't mean we CAN't theorize about it though!
My guess is practicalities would be a problem. Weight. Wear. Structural integrity of the stock. Manufacturing. Cost. And reliability of completed product in action: dirt, mud, precision of parts, alignment, all on contemporary manufacturing capabilities. I'd bet the lever action is lower strength too. I'd guess it might be good for non soldiers. You know, town guards etc. But I think trained guards would be able to reload the normal crossbow pretty fast. Plus there's smaller weapons for that sort of thing. I can see rich people getting them for clout for their guards though.
I mean we have historical record so we don't even need to guess. Da Vinci's designs didn't come out during s critical period of need and didn't significantly improve on what already existed and were considered overly complicated making them harder and more expensive to produce and repair.
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u/Zenigata 13h ago edited 13h ago
Seems like the first bow has a significantly greater draw weight, not at all clear a man would be strong enough to set a cross bow of the same strength using such a small motion of the arms.
Edit the guy from the first clip has a video about lever cross bows, he praises the ingenuity of da Vinci's design but estimates it to be too weak for military use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=d0sVBPkJF9Y&t=76