Continuing the theme of making crossbows on my own, I want to bring to your attention another rather original design - a crossbow that shoots bullets. The peculiarity of this design is in a completely unusual approach to the crossbow throwing projectile, namely instead of the classic arrow, a steel bullet is proposed. In addition, the crossbow has two opposite bows, which significantly increases the power of the crossbow and the range of the bullet. The schematic drawings of the crossbow, given below, show quite clearly its general structure. We'll figure it out ourselves to small details.

So, this crossbow consists of:

1. two bows
2. crossbow stock
3. crossbow stock
4. platoon mechanism
5. trigger
6. container
7. kernel
8. bearing
9. bracket
10. spring

Now let's try to describe this crossbow in action. The sliding container (6), together with the cassette, which is located on the shaft, has a special additional device shown in the figure of Fig. 2.

This device consists of a multi-faceted rod (7) that goes into the rotation shaft. The rotation shaft, in turn, is located on a bearing (8). Part of the shaft is located behind the bearing and also looks like a multi-faceted rod, which is twisted in the direction of the axis. A bracket (9) is located behind the back of the container, which has a horizontal opening. The profile of the hole is identical to the profile of the twisted shaft. A spring made of elastic plate steel (10) is attached to the top of the bracket, the purpose of which is to hold the bullet on the rod (7).

The free ends of the bowstring are attached to the cocking mechanism (4), which allows you to adjust the tension of the bows.

How does this invention of design ideas work?

The container with a bowstring and a bullet is fixed in the mechanism by a trigger mechanism. Further, the cocking mechanism (4) moves along the stock, pulling the bows, and is fixed. By pulling the trigger, we release the bowstring, and the container begins to move forward. The rod with the bullet at this moment is twisted around the longitudinal axis. After the rotating shaft disengages from the bracket (9), the bullet begins to accelerate, rotating around its axis already by inertia.

That, in principle, is the whole principle of the design of this crossbow. It remains to work out (with the brains) some important ones. For example, such: how the container is connected to the stock of the crossbow and on which it performs its reciprocating motion. Accordingly, this also applies to the bowstring cocking mechanism. Unfortunately, the drawings found on the Internet do not give a complete picture of this, but knowing the very principle of operation and the device, you can think of it yourself. It is also worth thinking about what materials you can make all the parts and mechanisms of the crossbow.

Naturally, if you make a crossbow yourself, you will need to have access to some specialized equipment. A file and a drill are unlikely to help here. Although it is possible there will be such craftsmen who will "cook porridge" even from an ax. Our people are rich in inventions and have "golden" hands.

P.S.

The article is rewritten. The administrator is not responsible for the accuracy of the information. Everything you do, you do at your own peril and risk.

The book presents a wide list of hunting weapons from the spear of the Roman hunter and medieval arrows used during the hunt for wild boar, to the harpoon gun used by whalers and Winchester rifles. All types of hunting sabers, knives, bayonets, bows, crossbows, guns and other weapons from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century are described in detail. This study will be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about hunting tools and how they are used.

Crossbows shooting bullets or stones

Despite Espinard's opinion, by the end of the 17th century. The crossbow is almost universally supplanted by hunting rifles. It is preferred primarily by those who hunt big game. For small game and some species of birds, a special type of crossbow that fired bullets has been preserved. It was known in France as an arbalete-a-jalet, in Germany as a kugelschnepper (bullet) and was significantly different from a conventional crossbow in many ways. So, his bowstring was made of two parallel ropes, held by separate bone or wooden attachments, like stone bows. In the middle of the rope there was a leather grip that held the projectile, which was used as a pebble, lead or terracotta pellet, chosen depending on the preferences of the hunter.

Crossbows for throwing stones have been mentioned in Europe since the beginning of the 14th century. In one of the first copies of the "Book of Hunting" of the 15th century. Gaston de Foix, a chamois hunter, is first advised in places where animals pass, to arrange hay heaps or set nets. Then, when the chamois have to climb high cliffs, his assistants "must throw stones at them with crossbows so that they stay in place ... or do everything in their power to make them start dodging the stones and galloping over the rocks."

True, only specimens dating back to the 16th century have survived. In 1547, the Inventory of Henry VIII's Arsenal noted "one bow that shot stones." In 1583, Claude Gaucher publishes the poem The Pleasure of the Hunt, where he devotes several lines to a stone bow:

And then I approach with a crossbow in my hands, I pull it and insert the core into the sling, Raising it and aiming, I see a thrush or other bird. I press the lever, releasing the bowstring, And the bow straightens with terrible force, Fires a bullet into the air directly at the bird that has risen.

The bow mentioned by him, with the help of which the lead bullet was fired, turns out to be nothing more than a catapult, and not a full-fledged crossbow. Nevertheless, stone crossbows were notable for hitting accuracy. In his book "Collection of Curious Facts" in 1682, Baron Hochberg describes how in 1638 he observed how Prince Matteo Medici in Bremen fired a stone bow at a ball tossed by a page in such a way that both balls, made of baked clay, shattered to smithereens. The stone crossbow, once owned by Queen Catherine de Medici of France, is now kept in the Army Museum in Paris. It belongs to the popular model common in Italy and France.

The painter Jan van der Straat (1523-1605), known as Stradan, wrote most of his best works while working at the invitation of the Duke Cosimo de 'Medici in Florence. Then he made drawings for the tapestries of the palace in Pejo a Cayano. Most of the drawings depict men and women hunting birds, rabbits and other game with the Italian variety of stone crossbows.

These crossbows had a long, straight frame with a slightly curved front section between the bow and barrel. A sight with a point was attached to the bow. The trunk itself was often finished with beautiful wood carvings depicting animals or fish. A simple swivel trigger was operated with a long hook, releasing a leather sling. The two ropes were easily pulled by hand. The small power of the bow is proved by the fact that in all the drawings made by Stradan, hunters armed with such bows had to sneak up to the prey as close as possible.

Sometimes they had to use specially arranged shelters (Fig. 83). Often there is an image of a cow covered with a blanket reaching to the ground, it was used as a cover component during a hunt with a German wheeled gun made around 1580. Let's say, like the one kept in the Tower of London.

Another Florentine painter, Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), prided himself on his depictions of hunters with stone bows. In the book by J. Olina "Antiquities", published in Rome in 1622, an engraving was printed, which depicts hunters armed with stone bows and a kind of net or a net with a long handle, which allowed hunting birds at night by the light of lanterns.

Olin suggests that “the crossbows used for this purpose had to have a soft coated bow so that they would not make any noise when the arrow was fired. Therefore, if someone accidentally missed, then the birds were not frightened and did not take off, and it was possible to try to shoot them again ”.

German and Swedish stone bows were made different in shape. One of the varieties, the so-called slit crossbow, has already been discussed above. A poem, carved into a silver plate of the barrel, describes this type of bow, probably with a magazine device:

There are twenty-four bullets in my womb, I spew them one by one, Quickly and consistently, And whoever tries to stop them will get the bullet Himself.

Most German stone bows had a steel rod that served as a barrel, onto which a movable lever was attached, which was clamped to the head by a clamp. A box with a lock turned on a hinged lever, which included a folding sight, a hook and a system of levers that connected all this with a kind of trigger. Such a rod or frame holding the lever and lock was sometimes terminated with a wooden head intended for the cheek (Photo 79). In later samples, it was supplemented with a barrel similar to a rifle, typical for a particular manufacturer (photo 81).

Note that bows were made in different sizes - from toy bows for children to large bows for target shooting. Some had a removable platform or stand, located in the middle of the bow so that it was possible to shoot arrows. An interesting example of a combined weapon is in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It consists of a carabiner with a wheel lock, the barrel of which acts as a frame for a stone crossbow.

In England, the stone crossbow continued to be the favorite hunting weapon. A 16th-century embroidered tapestry at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, known as the Game Hunter, depicts two crossbows designed for hunting birds. One of them is a crossbow with a straight barrel that fired arrows, the other can be considered a model of the Italian stone crossbow. It is a stone bow with a built-in pincer tensioner, which was popular in England.

Made by London gunsmith Andrew Doler around 1695, the Kienbush crossbow has an Italian-style barrel, but works by bending it. It was this type of bow that English crossbow manufacturers began to improve in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Made by Joseph Egg in about 1820, the silver-plated stone bow is kept in the Tower of London. It has a built-in lever mechanism attached to a regular rifle stock so that it could be fired from the shoulder. He also had a sight with a hole and thin wires in the field of view, making it easier to aim.

In the "Rural Hunt" in 1807, W.V. Daniel wrote the following about these bows: “The bullet-fired bows are modern and reasonably accurate in design. As for the accuracy, it is simply amazing, with their help you can knock down a ball placed on the tip of a knife. And the most remarkable thing is that the absolute beginner can do it at a distance of 15 to 20 yards, and the balls always fly out of him with the same accuracy. "

In the XIX century. Crossbows were most commonly used in East Anglia and Lancashire. At least one study is known about the supporters of this type of hunting. Although there were claims of unique shots fired at rabbits and even larger game, stone bows continued to be used primarily for hunting birds.

In England, an old Italian tradition was revived - hunting for birds at night by the light of a lantern. In the 1845 edition of John Mayer's Tips for Hunters, the following description is given: “Let two or three go out with lanterns and lighted candles, holding them out in their hands, in the other hand carry a small net, like a net, but smaller in size, fixed at the end of a long a pole to knock down the birds when they sit down for the night. Surprised by the light directly hitting them, they will not even have time to move, as they will immediately be knocked down to the ground. In this case, the bow is very useful, as it allows you to shoot down the birds when they are sitting. "

True, the hunters themselves did not really appreciate shooting at a sitting target, while in the daytime this type of shooting gave quite amusing results.

In Houn's Daily Book of 1848, the following anecdote appeared: “Some time ago there were several large elms in the garden behind the church court, where many rooks settled and built their nests. The young gentleman who lived in the attic unwittingly became their close neighbor and often amused himself by shooting them with his crossbow. On the opposite side of the same garden lived a curious old doctor. He was lost in conjectures, seeing from the window of his office how rooks suddenly fell to the ground for no apparent reason, "falling in bunches" from the branches in complete silence. Sparing no effort, he wasted his time on completely useless observations. Finally, having collected, as it seemed to him, enough information, the doctor thought over what was happening again and again, until finally he came to the conclusion that he completely satisfied that he had made a great ornithological discovery, for, in his opinion, the birds died, giving life to their offspring in accordance with with the principle "Volito vivus per ora vivum" ("Alive reaches the border of life").

Deciding that the publication of information about this discovery would bring fame, he wrote a message about it in one of the magazines. When the real reason for the phenomenon that shocked him finally became clear, our old man was moved by his mind, unable to bear the shock that had befallen him. "

In 1849, Richard Edward Hodges received a patent for "improvements in mechanical devices." The ejection crossbow made according to this patent looked like a gun, except that its barrel was cut by two longitudinal slits through which an elastic bowstring passed. Hodge describes it as "designed to resemble a common game crossbow, which could be adapted for hunting deer, it can be easily carried over long distances and fired without producing any noise or smell."

The Tower of London houses another version of the Hodges catapult, which has a rifle barrel and a rigid crossbow with an elastic bowstring (photo 84). However, none of these catapults posed serious competition to the steel tensioned stone bows.

In Italy, stone crossbows continued to be used to hunt the smallest birds, as well as fish, since the use of short guns could damage the delicate flesh. In the "Illustrated Hunt" 1868-1869. there is an image of a night hunting in Italy, from which it becomes clear that it was carried out in exactly the same way as in the 16th century.

The crossbow is the most famous small arms. It may seem that we know everything about him. And what is there to know? Bow, lock, sight, crossbow stock and bolts ...

The history of the crossbow bullet
And if not bolts, but bullets? A crossbow that shoots bullets may seem to many to be an invention, a clever falsification. But, nevertheless, from 1800 to 1840 it was one of the most popular small arms for hunting birds. Hunters were not stopped by more than a solid price, for such a crossbow they often asked for up to 15 guineas. And it's not about fashion at all. If we compare such a bullet throwing device with its main competitor - a blowgun, then the enormous weight of the latter completely negates all other advantages, rate of fire and power of the shot. Here are just a shot from a crossbow will also be silent, which often played a decisive role in hunting. It was the soundless shot that made this bullet weapon of choice for poachers who used it on the day of hunting pheasants in the protected royal forests of England. And even the small guns that appeared later could not completely supplant this "strange" type of hunting weapon.

Development of a modern schnepper
They did not forget about the schneppers, and this is what the bullet crossbow was called, and today. However, in comparison with the weapons of the 16-18 centuries, significant changes were made. So invented here, in Russia (RF patent №2059188), the schnepper not only shoots a bullet, but also spins it, imitating the effect of a rifled weapon, but without any sound of a shot.

Of course, such a "carbine" looks more than unusual. Instead of the usual one onion, the “sliced” schnepper has as many as two of them, and even oppositely directed.
This clever design doubles the initial velocity of the bullet. This means the power of the shot.

Inventors from other countries also did not leave the Schnepper without their attention. Today, you can easily find a bullet crossbow made in China, Germany, and other countries on sale. The price range is quite wide. From one hundred dollars and more. And yet, the average price hovers around the $ 300-500 mark.

Bullet crossbow and the law
More recently, in Russia, it was possible to buy a schnepper, the tension force of which would not exceed 20kg. Today this bar has been raised a little and is 50 kg. This is, of course, a significant concession from the government, but still, such a threshold does not allow to show all the monstrous power of such an unconventional hunting weapon. Which, without setting reasonable limits, could freely argue with the traditional rifled one.

Arrows again
A modern schnepper can shoot not only a bullet, but also an arrow of a suitable diameter. Giving a rotational motion to the latter significantly increased its lethality, and therefore today, arrows are most often shot from the schnepper. So, having gone through a complex evolution: arrow - bullet - arrow, the "bullet" crossbow absorbed all the advantages of these fundamentally different warheads, showing the world a modern sporting and hunting weapon, shooting from which gives real pleasure to real connoisseurs of cold small arms.

The invention relates to a weapon without the use of an explosive propellant charge and can be used in a crossbow firing a bullet, intended for silent hunting for large animals, and sports shooting. It contains a bow, a stock, a butt, a trigger and a movable container with a cassette made in the form of a screw rectangular rod. The crossbow has a means of adhesion of the bullet to the screw surface, mounted on the bullet. The container has a case, on the inner cylindrical wall of which longitudinal inclined slots are made to interact with the means for engaging the bullet with the screw surface. The invention makes it possible to reduce the weight of the crossbow and improve the usability. 1 wp f-ly, 2 dwg

The invention relates to a weapon without the use of an explosive propellant charge and can be used for silent hunting for big game and for sports target shooting. Known crossbow (patent RU No. 2059188), containing a bow, stock, butt, trigger and a movable container with a cassette, connected to the bowstring and engaged with the stock, while twisting the bullet along the longitudinal axis is carried out by a screw shank located behind the bullet and introduced in partial engagement with a bracket permanently fixed to the bed behind the container. The main and main drawback of the prototype is the large weight of the container, which is accelerated along the stock. the cassette is equipped with a rotation shaft with a bearing and a shank. In addition, when cocking, there are certain difficulties in engaging the shank with the bracket. The invention is aimed at reducing the weight of the crossbow and improving the ease of use. To obtain a technical result, a crossbow shooting a bullet containing a bow, a stock, a butt, a trigger and a movable container with a cassette connected to the string and engaged with the stock, a rectangular rod with a screw surface, the longitudinal axis of which is parallel to the axis of the stock, according to the invention equipped with a means of engaging a bullet with a screw surface, mounted on the bullet, and a rectangular rod with a screw surface and the cassette are a single element.

In addition, the container is equipped with a canister, the axis of which is aligned with the longitudinal axis of a rectangular rod, while on the inner cylindrical wall of the canister, the diameter of which exceeds the diameter of the bullet, longitudinal inclined slots are made to interact with the means for coupling the bullet to the screw surface.

The proposed device is illustrated by drawings, where figure 1 shows a crossbow container with a cassette, and figure 2 - a container with a pencil case.

The crossbow contains: 1 - container, 2 - cassette, 3 - bowstring, 4 - pencil case, 5 - bullet with engagement plate 6 or engagement pins 7 and 8 - stock.

Crossbow work. Bullet 5 accelerates as follows:

Container 1 with the help of bowstring 3 is accelerated along the stock 8. At the moment when the acceleration becomes negative, the bullet by inertia leaves the cassette 2. Due to the fact that the square (rectangular) rod is twisted, and the hole in the engagement plate 6 installed on the bullet , repeats the profile of the rod, the bullet, when leaving the rod, is twisted along the longitudinal axis.

In the case of using a pencil case, engagement pins 7, made on the bullet, are inserted into its longitudinal inclined slots (when cocked). Instead of a bullet, you can pour a shot charge into the pencil case.

Claim

1. A crossbow shooting a bullet containing a bow, a stock, a butt, a trigger and a movable container with a cassette, connected to the bowstring and engaged with the stock, a rectangular rod with a helical surface, the longitudinal axis of which is parallel to the axis of the stock, characterized in that it is equipped with a means of adhesion of a bullet with a screw surface, installed on the bullet, and a rod of rectangular cross-section with a screw surface and a cassette are a single element.

2. The crossbow according to claim 1, characterized in that the container is equipped with a pencil case, the axis of which is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the rectangular rod, while on the inner cylindrical wall of the case, the diameter of which exceeds the diameter of the bullet, longitudinal inclined slots are made to interact with the bullet coupling means with a screw surface.

Archery training... The archery section of our website contains information about almost all well-known archery clubs and sections in Moscow and Russia. If you have information about the existence of a section (club), which is not in the list, you can add it. Choose a suitable archery spot for you. In most of the sections, archery classes for children are free. The recruitment of children and adults to the section usually takes place at the beginning of the school year (September), but most coaches continue to accept newcomers throughout the year. In sports schools, as a rule, beginners are given a bow for beginners, arrows and the necessary equipment. In extreme cases, you can buy a bow for shooting in numerous online stores selling bows, crossbows and related products. The cost of a bow for a beginner is about 3 thousand rubles. Join us. Just one warning: Archery is a very addictive sport, it can be delayed, and for a long time ;-)

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