[Archers] Crossbow Shooting Rates

[Garth Groff]

M'Lord Ivan and Noble Friends of the Bow,

To my surprise, I just discovered that today is the anniversary of the 
Battle of Crécy. A Wikipedia article has the following to say about 
crossbow shooting rates (remember this is the mid-1300s):

"The Battle of Crécy is often exemplified as a battle in which the 
longbow defeated the rival crossbow. The crossbow had become the 
dominant ranged infantry weapon on the continental European battlefield: 
the choice weapon for expert mercenary companies. The crossbow was 
favoured as it required less physical strength to load and shoot than a 
longbow, and could release more kinetic energy than its rival, making it 
deadlier at close range. They were, however, hampered by slower, more 
difficult loading, their cumbersome shape and their range, in which the 
longbow had the advantage. Later developments in more powerful crossbows 
in the 15th century, such as the windlass-span crossbow, negated these 
advantages, while advances in bow technology brought to Europe from 
armies on crusade introduced composite technology; decreasing the size 
of the crossbow while increasing its power. A common claim about the 
crossbow is a reload time of one bolt every 1–2 minutes. A test 
conducted by Mike Loades for Weapons That Changed Britain - The Longbow 
found that a belt-and-claw span crossbow could discharge 4 bolts in 30 
seconds, while a longbow could shoot 9.[12] A second speed test 
conducted using a hand-span crossbow found that the weapon could shoot 6 
bolts in the same time it took for a longbow to shoot 10." [ 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crécy ] Quoted from The Longbow 
Vs The Crossbow Speed Test - Video 17. 11 April 2009 – via YouTube.

I don't always agree with Mike Loades, but I respect that he puts many 
of these old chestnuts to scientific testing. He is also an expert 
archer himself.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot


On 8/26/16 4:35 AM, Garth Groff wrote:
>
> M'Lord Ivan,
>
> You have your answer from some of our best crossbow shooters in 
> Atlantia using our sport-weight bows. However, our crossbows are 
> fairly light compared with a medieval military crossbow. I 
> occasionally shoot a Siegfried combat crossbow without a foot stirrup, 
> which is a close replica of a Scottish latch, a short-range crossbow 
> light enough to be spanned on horseback (no, I'm not an equestrian). I 
> can probably get off five shots in a minute, but am noted as a very 
> slow archer even with a longbow.
>
> Historically speaking, your friend is probably correct about two or 
> three bolts in a minute by a medieval military crossbowman in the 14th 
> or 15th centuries. By then military crossbows had become very powerful 
> and took complicated windlasses or other gear to span. Comparing such 
> weapons to what we use today in the SCA is like mixing apples and oranges.
>
> Yours Aye,
>
>
> Lord Mungo Napier, Who Usually Shoots a Period Longbow
>
>
>
> On 8/25/16 9:51 PM, Bob Welenc wrote:
>>
>> I am looking for information to settle a discussion point. How many 
>> bolts can an archer loose in 60 seconds.  One individual says that a 
>> professional can only loose 2 or 3 bolts in 60 seconds and I believe 
>> that the number is noticeably larger.  Although I do shoot a crossbow 
>> on occasion, I have never shot a timed round.  Any experienced 
>> information would be helpful.  Thank you.
>>
>> Ivan
>>
>> Ivan Borisovich Volchevo Lesa
>>
>> Lochmere Archer Marshal at-large
>>
>> (410) 969-8303 (home)
>>
>>
>>
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