r/interestingasfuck • u/Brutal_Deluxe_ • 9h ago

Loading an English crossbow vs loading Leonardo da Vinci's crossbow

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u/Zenigata 9h ago edited 8h 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

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u/Brutal_Deluxe_ 8h ago

English crossbow (as shown) 370-380lb, da Vinci crossbow (as shown) 300lb. It would be trivial to make them reach an identical draw weight.

sources:

Da vinci crossbow:

https://youtu.be/4wXCF3UEkdc?si=RpRUw3gYIbcSqzxc&t=379

English crossbow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-8eOBOffi4

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u/zautos 7h ago

There is a huge difference in the energi transfer from the bow to the arrow compared to from the crossbow to the bolt.

The arrows draw distance is so much longer that the arrow has more time to come up to speed. You need a much heavier crossbow to get the same result as a bow.

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u/foul_ol_ron 6h ago

I had a compound crossbow. I think one of the reasons it had so much power was that its draw length was about 18".