Crossbow with two strings

Markus · Post by **Markus** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:26 am

Last summer I visited an exhibition on the Terracotta Warriors at the Moesgård Museum in Denmark. I took some pictures and here is a couple from the bronce chariot, it is an exact copy, the original never leaves China.
The crossbow have two strings, surprised me a bit.

Markus · Post by **Markus** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:28 am

A close up.

Markus · Post by **Markus** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:32 am

Crossbow holder in silver found with the war chariot.

Markus · Post by **Markus** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:37 am

Amazing bronce casting, even the horse's reins are bronce

basilisk120 · Post by **basilisk120** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 9:42 pm

That is crazy. Thinking it would be used to absorb some of the shock. Could be useful with a really strong prod and light bolts.

I could have used a system like that on a crossbow I own, It has a strong steel prod that with the light bolts I use for speed like to vibrate out of position due to shock.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:21 am

There is a distinct possibility that the inner string was designed for the specific purpose of keeping the bow oriented to the track of the crossbow stock.

It may be a way of reducing the string drag on the track. If the bow is not tightly bound to the end of the stock, it might be free to rotate slightly after it is released. The inner string could stop the bow from loosing its position relative to the stock. At the same time the main string would not be dragging along the track on the stock. Chinese crossbow bolts had nocks like regular arrows so there was no chance of the string skipping of the base of the bolt.

stm2010 · Post by **stm2010** » Mon Jul 11, 2016 8:05 am

The end of the bow is a triangle shape.
I think it is useful for reduce the air resistance.

Since the bow is a recurve bow, the inner string might be prevent the
revesion .

KenH · Post by **KenH** » Mon Jul 11, 2016 1:42 pm

The inner string is not for propelling bolts! It goes through a hole in the tiller. That prod was not made for/does not fit the tiller it's attached to. As Bede says, the prod needs to be rigidly attached to the tiller to keep things perfectly aligned.

The cord does not run from far out on the limbs through the hole, but rather from either side of the tiller; it was probably originally rawhide, applied wet and shrunk to hold the prod in the right position.

Many Chinese crossbows did include a second "bowstring" (and even two sets of nocks), but the second string and inner nocks were used as a bastard string to span the bow.

Amarutu · Post by **Amarutu** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 1:18 pm

And maybe it is a safetyfeature, too. Imaginne a broken bowstring and the whole bow goes back into its unbent, magbe strongly reflexed shape. No one wants to stand in the way then, I think... Ouch ...
And putting on a fresh bowstring would be even harder, and costing precious time in a tough situation. And with the bowstring alwas scratching on the tiller, this could happen pretty often.

KenH · Post by **KenH** » Wed Jul 13, 2016 11:13 pm

If a crossbow is set up correctly, the prod (bow) is at a slight angle to the 'deck' of the tiller (stock) where the bolt (arrow) sits, so that the string only touches the deck after the bolt is shot. The string does not drag along the top of the crossbow -- or at least very little.