That’s slick. I wonder what the projectile was intended to be. Perhaps a short bolt or a ball.
That notch is pretty classic for where crossbow string is held back in the trigger.The balls would be loaded through the small hole that passes through the lock plate after the bow string had been pulled back to the catch.
'This crossbow rifle is thought to be one of a kind, hand carved piece. Its origins are unknown.”
From the shape of the buttstock I'd guess it came from the Middle East.
That "club butt" was a common European design for most of the 17th century (1600's), along with others such as the "fishtail butt."That stock could be Bavarian.
Exactly.Lack of embellishment suggests it's not Middle Eastern.
Yes. I don't see any stud on the lockplate, which would have been used to engage a fork-type cocking lever. Cocking, therefore, would have been by simply pulling back on the string by hand. This implies that the device had relatively low power. My guess is that it was used for target practice rather than combat. (And that was in an era when armor, such as breastplates, was commonly used on the battlefield. The projectile, whatever it was, could not have penetrated armor.)I wonder if there was some sort of cocking device. Otherwise it looks quite awkward to cock.
My guess is that it was used for target practice rather than combat. (And that was in an era when armor, such as breastplates, was commonly used on the battlefield. The projectile, whatever it was, could not have penetrated armor.)
Yes. I don't see any stud on the lockplate, which would have been used to engage a fork-type cocking lever. Cocking, therefore, would have been by simply pulling back on the string by hand. This implies that the device had relatively low power. My guess is that it was used for target practice rather than combat.
Yes, I see that, but it's too far forward to use as a fulcrum for applying leverage to the string (unless the cocking fork is more elaborate than is usually seen). I've seen crossbows with stirrups for use as you describe, but they're at the "muzzle" end of the weapon.There is a stud just in front of the limbs on the forearm portion of the stock. Maybe for a footplate of some kind so the bow could be cocked while sitting prone on the ground?
For the OP weapon, there must have been some kind of ramrod to push the projectile down the bore. Yet we see no evidence of it.You "cocked" the bow and used a wooden rod to load cork balls into it.