Is a bow stronger than a crossbow?
With crossbows ,typically, the longer the power stroke, the faster the arrow will fly. The longer the stroke, the more energy is being imparted to the arrow.So as a bow has a much longer draw length than a crossbow; a bow is much more efficient and more powerful than the same poundage crossbow.
Can a crossbow penetrate armor compared to a longbow?
Their armor protected them from most weapons they would face with the exception of the longbow, a weapon that took years to learn and decades to master. But crossbows could slice right through the armor at greater range than even a longbow, and shooters could be trained in hours or days.
How powerful were longbows?
Although the draw weight of a typical English longbow is disputed, it was at least 81 pounds-force (360 newtons) and possibly more than 130 lbf (600 N). Considerable practice was required to produce the swift and effective combat shooting required.
How powerful were old crossbows?
The medieval crossbow was a powerful weapon that changed the course of history. It was a deadly tool that could penetrate armor and be used by soldiers with minimal training. The crossbow played a significant role in battles and was particularly effective in siege warfare.
Do bows or crossbows do more damage?
Crossbows work similarly to bows in that you put arrows in and pain comes out the other end. They take longer to load than a bow does, but they're more powerful and the arrow will fire farther and with more accuracy. You can even load one with a firework rocket if you want to.
Why did guns replace bows?
“Economic and social factors, especially the training of musketeers as opposed to archers, were more important factors influencing the replacement of the bow by the gun than pure military “effectiveness”,” says Nieminen.
Why were crossbows better than longbows?
Crossbows are mechanical, so they don't require the same level of strength, they are also more accurate than longbows. Longbows required expertise to use effectively, but they were quicker than crossbows and could still penetrate armour.
Can a crossbow penetrate bone?
Crossbows are used nowadays as sports and hunting weapons. They are freely obtainable, and since people without practice can shoot them, there are constant injuries and fatal cases. Crossbow arrows have a high penetration force and can even pierce bone.
Why are longbows better than crossbows?
In Real Life, the main advantages of a drawn bow were rate of fire and mechanical efficiency: a decent archer could loose arrows much faster than a crossbowman could shoot bolts, and the large draw length spreads out the power required to pull back the string so that a strong and skilled archer can draw a heavy bow ...
Why didn't the French use longbows?
Since longbows archers came from the peasants, and greatly increased their social status, reducing the power of nobility and royality, and the French nobility didn't want that to happen.
Why was the longbow so powerful?
The bow was made of yew wood, which was known for its durability, strength, and ability to withstand the rigors of battle. The longbow was capable of shooting arrows over 200 yards with great accuracy and power. The development of the longbow can be traced back to the 11th century when the Normans invaded England.
Why were English longbowmen so good?
The ability of the archers to shoot more arrows per minute than crossbowmen and the long range of the weapon gave the outnumbered English an advantage in the Battles of Crecy and Agincourt.
Why were crossbows banned?
The Crossbow: Weapon of the Devil
According to the Pope, the crossbow was an instrument of Satan, hateful to God and unfit for Christians. So what was the Pope's beef with the crossbow? To a modern audience, a ban on a lethal weapon does not seem so strange.
Why weren t crossbows used more?
A crossbow can only be shot off [by a single man] three times before it comes to hand-to-hand weapons. Some have therefore thought crossbows inconvenient for fighting, but truly the inconvenience lay not in the crossbow itself but in the commanders, who did not know how to make use of crossbows.
Did the Vikings use crossbows?
Vikings could use crossbows because similar technology was invented much earlier on. The crossbow was first mentioned in a 9th century battle. But the crossbow became more lethal in the Middle Ages, if you don't look back at earlier ballistas, for instance used by the Romans. The vikings used wood for their crossbows.
Are crossbows better than bows medieval?
While both weapons were used for hunting and warfare, crossbows were generally considered to be more powerful than bows.
Can I put infinity on a crossbow?
Crossbows can be enchanted with infinity, power and punch but the effects do not work.
Is a crossbow more lethal than a compound bow?
Today's crossbows are all but universally more powerful than any of today's compounds. Finished crossbow bolts weigh around 400 grains on average, and some are quite a bit heavier. That's as heavy or heavier than the average compound shooter's hunting arrow. Most crossbows shoot those bolts at 350 fps plus.
Are bows deadlier than guns?
Nevertheless, if you calculate the momentum and kinetic energy of arrows, even the most potent bow seems much less lethal than a firearm.
Why was the archers gun backwards?
The main reason for the Archer to have its gun mounted backward is a matter of vehicle balance, without modifying the Valentine chassis to much. The 17 pdr was a huge gun with a very big breech and recoil system.
Why did people stop using bows?
They were important weapons of war from ancient history until the early modern period, where they were rendered increasingly obsolete by the development of the more powerful and accurate firearms. Today, bows and arrows are mostly used for hunting and sports.
What is the most efficient bow in history?
What was the most efficient or powerful bow in ancient history? - Quora. I'm going to say the Mongolian recurved bow used by the Huns from the 3rd century onwards. This was an evolutionary step forward in bow technology, with the use of a recurved bowstave allowing for additional power without making the bow larger.
Can a crossbow shoot farther than a longbow?
A 150lb longbow and 1200lb crossbow will both shoot the same weight heavy 1,350 grain war arrow/bolt about the same speed (175fps) and distance (250yds), and hit with the same power and penetration. A horn crossbow could shoot bolts 2–3 times as heavy as fast and a little farther, 270yds, with 2–3 times the energy.
What is the most powerful medieval bow?
The English longbow is famously powerful
This is for a very good reason. Measuring in at around 6-foot (1.8 meters) long. Made famous at the Battle of Crecy and the Battle of Agincourt, this bow would earn its place in history and become the bane of many of England's enemies for centuries.
What is the weakness of a crossbow?
While all the complex parts and pieces give the crossbow quite a bit of power and make aiming more accurate, it also makes it significantly heavier than a traditional bow. The increased weight also tends to make crossbows much louder, and in a sport where stealth is your friend this is a big disadvantage.
Is an 80 lb crossbow lethal?
Yes an 80 lb crossbow pistol is capable of killing a person, it can kill a deer and other medium sized animals.
Can a crossbow break glass?
Absolutely, although the real deciding factors of the arrow making it through the glass are the strength (draw weight) of the bow, the angle at which it hits the glass, and the range from which you're shooting.
Are longbows more powerful?
Modern recreational and hunting use
A longbow has practical advantages compared with a modern recurve or compound bow; it is usually lighter, quicker to prepare for shooting, and shoots more quietly. However, other things being equal, the modern bow will shoot a faster arrow more accurately than the longbow.
Were early guns better than crossbows?
Firearms overtook crossbows because they hit harder again. Full plate was effectively impervious to arrow fire, and would shrug off everything short of a point-blank bolt, but the rounds fired by early guns were so massive and dense that even full plate couldn't deal with it.
Why are Japanese longbows so long?
The longer Length of the Yumi was seen as a more efficient way of spreading the stresses across a longer bow compared to a shorter bow. Shorter bows have a greater tendency to split and fracture compared to longer bows.
Is the longbow overrated?
No, yes, maybe. One issue is that of climate and materials: the Welsh longbow was a very effective weapon in its native environment, but it also imposed limits on travel: the further south into Europe you got, and the hotter and drier the climate, the more problems you'd have with your big yew staves.
Did Vikings use longbows?
Available evidence suggests that only longbows were used in Viking lands. However, some intriguing but speculative evidence suggests that composite recurve bows similar to those used in eastern Europe and Asia may have been used in Viking lands.
What is longbows weakness?
As archers, Longbowmen have the typical weaknesses. Without protection, they are easily overpowered by mass cavalry, Huskarls, Ghulams, and Eagle Warrior charges. Rattan Archers, Skirmishers, and Genitours are of course an issue as well, despite the fact that the Longbowmen can by far outrange them.
Why was the longbow superior?
The Medieval English longbow was a superb weapon. Incredibly powerful, rapid, and deadly, it was a socially leveling force. With it the yeoman was superior to the knight, and the Kingdom of England was the master of Western Europe. Yet, important as it was, the longbow was an everyday object.
Can longbows penetrate plate armor?
Could an arrow from a longbow -- at least with a bodkin arrowhead -- penetrate plate armor? Arrows would have pierced plate made of wrought iron and low carbon steel at medium to close range, respectively.
How hard was it to pull an English longbow?
The English longbow is very tall, and slightly longer than its archer is. It is usually 6-7 feet long and is made of yew. The tension of the longbow can reach 80 to 150 pounds. Therefore, it takes a certain amount of time and a lot of strength to draw a longbow.
How powerful were longbows?
Although the draw weight of a typical English longbow is disputed, it was at least 81 pounds-force (360 newtons) and possibly more than 130 lbf (600 N). Considerable practice was required to produce the swift and effective combat shooting required.
How lethal is a longbow?
Bones exhumed from a Dominican Friary in Exeter has revealed that arrows fired from a longbow caused injuries as deadly as modern-day gunshot wounds. The remains examined were most probably soldiers who died in battle, displaced, and reburied in consecrated holy ground.
Did Russians use crossbows?
Crossbows were widely introduced to the Rus' territories most likely by the 11th century. There is mention that a type of early crossbow was used for hunting as early as the 10th century.
Why didn't the Japanese use crossbows?
- In addition to being expensive, Japanese weapons were used by clans with a military tradition. If the weapon was incorporated into the training school, it had to have a use. The crossbow was too expensive and too easy to use, apart from practicing marksmanship.
Are crossbows less powerful than bows?
Crossbows are 100% stronger than a compound bow, which is stronger than a traditional bow. Crossbows shot bigger projectiles at a faster speed. The fastest compound bow shoots 340 feet per second and the fastest crossbow shoots 450 feet per second with a bolt that weighs almost twice as much as an arrow does.
Why didn't the French use longbows?
Since longbows archers came from the peasants, and greatly increased their social status, reducing the power of nobility and royality, and the French nobility didn't want that to happen.
Did the pope outlaw crossbows?
At the Second Lateran council of April 1139, King Roger II of Sicily, Innocent II's most uncompromising foe, was excommunicated. Can. 29 of the Second Lateran Council under Pope Innocent II in 1139 banned the use of crossbows, as well as slings and bows, against Christians.
Why were muskets better than crossbows?
Two basic reasons: ease of operation and rate of fire. Compared to a cross-bow, a musket is simple. It is easier to manufacture, cheaper, and easier to use.
Why were crossbows banned?
The Crossbow: Weapon of the Devil
According to the Pope, the crossbow was an instrument of Satan, hateful to God and unfit for Christians. So what was the Pope's beef with the crossbow? To a modern audience, a ban on a lethal weapon does not seem so strange.
Did Germans use crossbows?
The crossbow was officially abolished as a military weapon in Germany in 1517 by order of Emperor Maximilian, though it was still used in other countries, as for instance Spain where Cortez and Pizarro armed their men with crossbows for the conquests of Mexico (1519–21) and Peru (1532–33).
How powerful were medieval crossbows?
The high draw weight of the crossbow, combined with the design of the bolt, particularly the use of bodkin points, meant that it could penetrate even plate armor, a feat that few other contemporary weapons could achieve. Finally, the rate of fire of a crossbow was a significant factor in its lethality.
Why were crossbows used over bows?
The crossbow allowed archers to shoot bows of greater strength and more accurately as well due to its greater stability, but at the cost of speed.
How strong was a medieval bow?
The best longbows were made of yew, might have required a force of as much as 150 to 180 pounds (70 to 80 kg) to draw, and shot arrows a cloth yard (about 37 inches, or 94 cm) long, with an effective range of some 450 to 1,000 feet (140 to 300 metres) depending on the weight of the arrow.
Will a crossbow bolt go through bone?
Crossbow arrows have a high penetration force and can even pierce bone. Depending on the tip of the arrow used, they bore or cut through tissue, here damage to the tissue being restricted to the direct surroundings.
What's better bow or crossbow?
Both crossbows and compound bows are highly effective tools for hunting. Crossbows have the advantage of producing higher arrow speeds and kinetic energy over compound bows. Today's modern crossbows are capable of producing arrow speeds anywhere from 300 - 470 f.p.s. and over 100 ft-lbf of kinetic energy.
Are bows deadlier than guns?
Nevertheless, if you calculate the momentum and kinetic energy of arrows, even the most potent bow seems much less lethal than a firearm.
How powerful is a 130lb crossbow?
The Cobra RX 130 lbs crossbow is the most powerful Cobra. It shoots bolts at 230 fps, which has nothing to envy to the 150 lbs crossbows whose speed is often 210 fps.
Why did guns replace bows?
“Economic and social factors, especially the training of musketeers as opposed to archers, were more important factors influencing the replacement of the bow by the gun than pure military “effectiveness”,” says Nieminen.
Why were guns better than bows?
Pretty much right from day one, they were much easier to learn how to use. That was probably the major reason at first that they superseded the bow, because a longboat takes years and years of training before you can use it properly – a gun takes a matter of weeks.
Did archers run out of arrows?
It was quite uncommon for archers to run out of arrows during medieval battles. Because there was always a non-fighting unit of soldiers who carried ammo like arrows and other weapons. Whenever the archers ran out of ammo, the non-fighting soldiers reloaded them.
When did armies stop using archers?
Organised warfare with bows ended in the early to mid-17th century in Western Europe, but it persisted into the 19th century in Eastern cultures, including hunting and warfare in the New World. In the Canadian Arctic, bows were made until the end of the 20th century for hunting caribou, for instance at Igloolik.
Can a gun ever shoot backwards?
No, not to actually fire backwards because the chemical charge is behind the bullet and the firing pin is behind the charge, but it is possible for it to misfire or to have a structural failure where the chemical explosion causes some piece of the weapon to break off and fly back to the shooter.
What is the advantage of a crossbow over a bow?
An archer could load, aim and shoot a bow in around six seconds, but a crossbowman required nearly a minute to do the same task. Crossbows also had far more moving parts than plain longbows. But crossbows gave armies the option of arming recruits with ranged weapons regardless of their level of skill at archery.
Is A bow faster than a crossbow?
Does a crossbow offer better speed than a compound bow? Yes. The best of either for target/hunting are doing over 400 fps now. Compound and conventional flight bows can do over 500 fps/1300 yds, but with much lighter arrows.
Is a crossbow more lethal than a compound bow?
Today's crossbows are all but universally more powerful than any of today's compounds. Finished crossbow bolts weigh around 400 grains on average, and some are quite a bit heavier. That's as heavy or heavier than the average compound shooter's hunting arrow. Most crossbows shoot those bolts at 350 fps plus.
Is it easier to use a crossbow or a bow?
The truth is, functionally, crossbows are a hell of a lot easier to use than vertical bows. But does this matter when it comes to hunting strategies, tactics, and styles? Not really. There isn't a huge advantage to being a crossbow hunter as far as what you have to do to get a deer in front of you.