The Classic Crossbow: You Can Build Your Own!

Enlarge Image Image Gallery ABOVE: Our fieldpiece looks?and functions?like many of the more expensive manufactured crossbows. RIGHT: The front sight is a strap of aluminum fitted with a bead. The steel cocking rod gives the cocking lever (BELOW) a forward mount when the string is being drawn. FAR BELOW: This prototype has no trigger safety, but one can be added.

It was the "hot setup" during the Crusades... and it's going through a new revolution today

An archer might consider it kin to a firearm ...a shooter, on the other hand, most likely would think it a stock-mounted bow ...and you wouldn't need a poll to know the general public's feeling: It looks sinister enough to be a lethal weapon!

In short, there's not much doubt that the modern crossbow suffers an "identity crisis," but-regardless of the mystery that still surrounds this curious hybrid-it's been gaining in popularity among hunters and targeteers alike ...and that trend hasn't gone unnoticed here at MOTHER.

With several avid bowhunters on the staff, and a research department eager to take on such an interesting challenge, it wasn't too difficult to get the ball rolling on a project that we figured might be a first in the field: designing and building a quality crossbow from scratch ...testing its range, accuracy, and overall effectiveness ...and then comparing its performance to that of traditional recurve and compound bows.

A QUICK ANALYSIS

NOTE: Though we did build and
test both of our crossbows, the
potential for injury from any
weapon is enough to compel us
to say that whoever builds and
uses this tool does so at his or
her own risk.

The takedown version is either a
pistol or a long arm.

Nose Detail
Trigger and Safety Detail
Cocking Lever

The contemporary crossbow shares little beyond a basic design with its forebear, the medieval arbalest. Though both launch arrows (bolts) by means of a short bow transversely fixed to a stock, the superiority of modern materials-along with the improved geometry made possible by the use of such lightweight plastics, alloys, and composites—has turned what was a crude but effective weapon of war into an admirable piece of fairly uncomplicated technology.

Over the past few years, crossbow design has received considerable attention from various manufacturers, with the result that the old standard has been modified to run the gamut from a paramilitary-looking assault piece to an artistic expression of classical physics. And although these developments represent improvement in most cases, they're beyond the ability of all but the best-equipped crafts people to duplicate.