https://archive.org/details/Book_of_the_Crossbow_The_by_Sir_Ralph_Payne-Galloway/ Ralph Payne-Gallwey claimed that his Book of the Crossbow, published 1903, was the first to examine the use of the medieval crossbow in detail. He is probably correct. He was able to examine a large number of extant medieval crossbows and provided diagrams along with descriptions of their context, construction, and point-blank and maximum … Continue reading The Book of the Crossbow by Ralph Payne-Gallwey; Crossbow, longbow ranges compared
Modern Test
Range, Power, Penetration, Velocity of a Brown Bess – Roberts, Brown, Hammett and Kingston
A DETAILED STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS AND CAPABILITIES OF 18TH CENTURY MUSKETRY ON THE BATTLEFIELD N A ROBERTS, J W BROWN, B HAMMETT & P D F KINGSTON Abstract During the mid 18th century, the standard British Army issue weapon was the Brown Bess Musket. There are various accounts of the performance of this early … Continue reading Range, Power, Penetration, Velocity of a Brown Bess – Roberts, Brown, Hammett and Kingston
“The Handgonne Priming Dilemma”
https://www.full30.com/watch/MDA5ODAz/the-handgonne-priming-dilemma This is an extremely interesting video. It seems that aiming a Tabor-style handgonne is not so difficult as one might think. The earliest type of gunpowder, called "meal" or "serpentine" powder, was very fine, like flour. But it had a problem, as it was very hard to store and the component elements would separate … Continue reading “The Handgonne Priming Dilemma”
Shooting a 15th century crossbow
Today an archer at my local archery club gave me the opportunity to try his reconstruction of a 15th century crossbow. He reported that the weapon was 95#, and was loaded using a hip draw. I shot at a foxed-shaped target 22-25 yards away. The first shot struck the body of the fox exactly where … Continue reading Shooting a 15th century crossbow
200 year old musket vs Olympic archers
Musket using undersized ball fired at 97 yards. https://youtu.be/rJ-UazWAOSk Archers shooting a target at 70m (76 yards). https://youtu.be/5M4-hB9t3kY
Musket Accuracy at 80 Yards
My copy of Firearms: A Global History to 1700 by Kenneth Chase has just arrived. Cracking it open near the middle, I landed on the section concerning Guns and Bows. Thankfully, Chase doesn't repeat the line, common in history books written for a casual audience, that firearms were somehow less effective than bows until the … Continue reading Musket Accuracy at 80 Yards
History Channel: Bows vs Crossbows vs Guns
This is a pretty silly pop history demonstration- just what one would expect from the History Channel- but still entertaining to see the power of a heavy matchlock musket. The narrator claims that his longbow can penetrate the final suit of armor at 60 yards, but we won't know, since he never actually hits any … Continue reading History Channel: Bows vs Crossbows vs Guns
Bow Vs. Musket 