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Making homemade weapons, in particular crossbows and bows, less often knives, are practiced, as a rule, by teenagers and young people up to twenty, twenty-three years old. Older people prefer buy branded factory-made weapons. However, there are exceptions.

For example, an older person may be keen self-made weapons at the hobby and collecting level. But most often his hobby is becoming closer to professional work, since it is not a one-time impulse. According to statistics, this site is visited mainly by young people from fourteen to twenty-eight years old (according to Yandex metrics). They are mainly interested in methods and methods for making any homemade weapons.

However, with an unprofessional attitude towards the subject of interest and a lack of technical skills, creating homemade products can lead to unwanted traumatic situations that can harm the health and even, in some cases, the lives of young experimenters. Therefore, if you are interested in the idea, by all means purchase one of types of permitted weapons, then it is better to buy it in a store, or contact a qualified specialist. Of course, in this case certain costs will be required, but they are not as critical as it seems at first glance. That is, your health is much more valuable than a certain amount of money spent on purchasing, for example, a crossbow.

Naturally, not all young people have available funds for the purchase of weapons, and not everyone has the right to use it, even if it belongs to the category of sports, due to their age. Therefore, in specialized stores it can only be sold to a person who has reached the age of majority and has the appropriate document permitting the purchase and use of weapons for personal purposes.

Otherwise it will be the case with online weapons stores, for which it does not matter to whom the weapons are sent, and all surveys during registration are formal. But as mentioned above, teenagers under eighteen years of age rarely have their own income and therefore in most cases sporting weapon acquired with the knowledge of the parents and with their direct participation.

More details for fans of ready-made stock drawings

Please note that the crossbow is made from a bow. That is, whatever bow there is, the crossbow will be adjusted to its parameters, because each bow has its own unique parameters - tension force, length of draw stroke, length of arms finally. Further, the lock also meets the specified requirements, it has its own geometry and it may not always be suitable for the desired type of stock. So there is no point in such drawings and they can only be considered as an illustration for understanding general principle layout of parts.

Some features of the manufacture of crossbow stocks deserve closer attention, allowing you to save material and nerves. When making a stock for a compound bow, please note that the groove in it for the intersecting sections of the bowstring must be extended towards the lock, since when tensioned, the ends of the bow with the blocks are bent back. Sometimes an incorrect cut forces a radical change in the location of the nodes, which entails a change in the design of the product as a whole, sometimes not for the better. Don't forget to leave at least a millimeter in reserve. By milling you can only set initial form, for example, a key groove, and finally finish it with the help of a small chisel and files with needle files.

A quick note about stock finishing

The question is often asked about where to get drawings of a stock; a stock can be made even from a chair leg, but the crossbow itself ultimately should not be just a constructor made of ridiculous parts, but should be a product made in the same style. For example, crossbows in the medieval style with a powerful bow, forged fittings, a rigid lock and a rough wooden stock look holistic and balanced; or a light and elegant sports crossbow with optics, a thin and sharp bow, and an anatomical stock; not to mention futuristic crossbows with polished metal surfaces, a laser designator, a cast titanium stock and an ultra-complex lock. In other words, the final finish depends on your taste, but do not forget that it will be judged by your crossbow.

More about guides

Quality guides are the most important element, affecting shooting accuracy, since they set the initial orientation of the bolt (arrow). They can be made from any material, preferably with a low coefficient of friction. Although the guides carry virtually no load, they must have sufficient strength to maintain straightness. Therefore, it is a good idea to make them as a separate part, attached to the stock at points at its ends. This makes it possible to easily change it if necessary, for example, in case of damage or switching to another type of bolts; moreover, such fasteners allow you to “untie” the guides from the deformable stock. The longitudinal guide groove for the bolt usually has a depth of one third of the diameter of the shaft so that the plane of the bowstring coincides with the axis of the bolt. It is convenient when a narrow groove for the lower tail passes through the guide, then random needles when shooting in the forest, for example, will not interfere with the movement of the bolt.

As already mentioned, it is convenient to make the guides separately from the stock. The material can be metal, plastic or wood. The required thin longitudinal groove can be made with a thin jigsaw blade or by making a guide of two halves, which is also very convenient and has its advantages. A particularly important factor in manufacturing is maintaining absolute straightness and parallelism. Naturally, you will have to apply sandpaper or a hairy polishing wheel. The dimensions are not at all critical and are determined only by the length of the stock section from the block to the lock, corresponding to the running (landing) part of the bolt, as well as the diameter of the bolt shaft and the type of its fletching. The bolt should fit freely, but without play, into the guide groove; the feathering should not touch anything. The guides are installed in such a way that the axis of the inserted bolt coincides in the front part with the position of the string fastening (! nuance) on the bow, and in the rear part it passes through the filling cutout of the lock. The nuance is that the front part of the guide should be slightly higher than the specified plane, which ensures some sliding of the bowstring pushing the bolt. Naturally, everything should be within reasonable limits, and wooden surface The guide must be protected from abrasion by the bowstring with additional metal pads.

Lock

A lock made from a clothespin and a tin plate hardly deserves any attention. The crossbow lock is a very important part. There is an opinion that the simpler the lock, the more reliable it is, but I would interpret it somewhat differently - the better the quality of the lock, the more reliable it is. The manufacture of the lock must be treated with special attention, because convenience and reliability, as well as the clarity of operation, and therefore the accuracy of shooting, depend on its operation. A little about the functions of the lock. Nice castle must ensure guaranteed retention of the bowstring on an equipped crossbow, as well as a clear descent into necessary moment aiming. It is in accordance with the first point that additional blockers and fuses are introduced into the design of locks, and with the second, intermediate unloading levers and repeaters are introduced. The choice of lock design again depends on your locksmith capabilities and needs, and here you can exercise your creative inclinations to your heart’s content in upgrading existing models and developing your own. Personally, I liked the design of professional locks presented on one of the sites. The bicycle has been invented, but has it been invented yet?

To make it easier to embed the lock, it is necessary to try to give it the simplest possible shape when designing it. That is, locks with various cavities are unlikely to be neatly packed into the stock, while flat, rectangular locks in this regard do not cause any special problems when cutting into the stock. It is important to take into account that the locks must be securely fastened, without backlash, and have a maximum area of ​​contact with the stock to relieve the load. What is often not taken into account is the simple fact that the lock bears the entire tension load. That is, if you are making a crossbow with a bow weighing 300 kg (probably for an elephant), then the parts of the castle will naturally receive all 300 kg of them + shock load and so on, but the stock should be able to handle it in its thinnest place (usually where it is weakened by the key groove), still survive 300 kg + torsion and other non-parallel loads. Again, in some drawings, the locks have attachment points too close to the edges or small diameter holes for thin bolts or screws. If this value turns out to be acceptable for metal, then for wood it is necessary to provide some reserve. So, summing up all the factors, we can conclude that the castle must have minimum sizes, in particular in width, have a maximum surface of contact with the groove, that is, fit tightly with its front surface in the groove, and only be fixed to the stock with bolts. In addition, the stock itself must have sufficient strength in its weakest part when calculating the bow's tension load. So for monsters it’s better to make a stock from metal profile, and put linings made of beautiful durable wood on the body kit. I cannot give any special recommendations regarding the choice of wood due to my incompetence on this issue, although I personally prefer beech.

For those who do not live in the regions where this wonderful tree grows, I advise you to pay close attention to the old pianos of your acquaintances and friends. In them, beech is found in the form of massive power beams for hanging cast iron frames. At the risk of arousing the wrath of aesthetes, a piano these days is easier to find than a piece of good wood. Let's write off this barbarity as a by-product of art. For metal lovers. Great profiles made of aluminum and alloys can be found in office furniture. Rigid rectangular profiles are now commonly used in some machine tools. There is a wonderful thin-walled pipe made of blackened metal in.... a large inclined tablet like that of designers or draftsmen. I don’t know what the warriors have to do with it, but such a pipe can be used in powerful pneumatic and light firearms systems, as well as for mortars for fireworks. You can also cast stocks from aluminum and alloys, followed by milling grooves and other things, but this is more a matter of technology and taste.

Let me remind you that the tension force of the bow acts on the lock! This means that the lock must withstand heavy loads without loss of functionality, so tin as a material is immediately excluded. The proposed millimeter steel, after processing is already 0.8 mm, can only be used on crossbows of small power, otherwise the lock will simply be deformed. The details of the castle are also worth taking a closer look at. The main hitch is under full load, so use stronger steel and a thicker axle. Depending on the design and lever, a lesser force acts on the release that releases the hook. Other parts can be made based on their purpose and the load on them, without forgetting the margin of safety and wear resistance. Gunsmith designers have a technology for constructing the mechanisms of real weapon locks “on pins and needles”, this is when the contours of the intended parts of the lock are cut out of cardboard, pinned at the points of their axes to the plywood. At the same time, it is possible to immediately see the interaction of parts with each other, correct them, and then translate everything into metal. In principle, all that remains is to choose a suitable lock; further modernization can be achieved by using high-quality steel, some modification of the trigger and equipping the lock with additional devices, adjustments, etc.

Structurally, locks with a so-called “nut” or a similar hook design are more suitable for crossbow sniping. The hook rotates freely on an axis close to the center of mass, resulting in a very soft, jerk-free descent. Such locks will appeal to fans of high-precision shooting and the fairer sex (there are also such in this business!), but aggressive locks, like Hollywood clanging and clicking, will be more useful in systems of threatening militaristic or medieval style execution. In one of the “pro” locks, the design of which I took as the basis for mine, there is a safety lock and a lock that prevents the bowstring from being lowered without a threaded bolt, which is quite thoughtful for preserving the bowstring. By adding a slot in the upper part of the hook, it was possible to ensure shockless interaction of the bowstring on the butt, the rear end of the bolt, in common parlance, the “butt”.

Block

Designed for attaching a bow or its limbs directly to the stock. The block works under very intense conditions and experiences shock loads, so it must have a significant margin of safety. Made from aluminum casting or metal, calculated depending on the bow used. More forces are applied to the bow split limb block with different vectors. When designing pads, it is necessary to wisely use various bevels and triangles, which allows for significant savings in weight with the same rigidity of the part. The block can be removable to reduce the size of the crossbow when carrying. There is a certain peculiarity in the method of attaching the bow limbs to the block, which is that it is preferable to use threaded clamps rather than rivets, but it is better not to weaken the bow limbs with holes at all. (!) Pay special attention to the fastening of the bow limbs, take into account the rule of leverage, which, together with the tension force of the bow, adds up to an immodest amount. It is most convenient to make a block from thick sheet steel, bending the workpiece like origami.

The bow is the main part of any crossbow

Structurally, it is easier to use a monobow made of durable and elastic steel, but some plastics are also suitable. The simplest thing is to use ready-made bows for sports shooting. Can be made from any elastic spring steel, such as springs. We used a powerful spring from some relict hell trap. A compound bow, consisting of a package of strips, has enormous friction losses between the strips. Even if you lubricate the stripes with something like “ER” to reduce friction, using such a bow is not advisable. If you want to make a removable bow with latches, then I advise you to secure the bow tightly to the block, but the block itself can be made tightly fastened to the stock. In general, analyzing the physics of a bow, it can be noted that a bow with developed shoulders, which have some narrowing towards the ends, is better. Such a bow, bending evenly, accumulates a lot of energy. However, larger bows require a longer stock due to the increased draw stroke, which is unacceptable. Ancient crossbows, judging by the sources, fired at 200 steps. So they “beat”, knocking the riders off their horses, but for a longer firing range you already need perfect sights, and even now no one shoots from machine guns at a longer range, there is no point. We'll talk more about firing range in the paragraph about bolts.

If possible, you can forge a bow from a suitable metal, and it is better to immediately provide places for fastening the string on the block. Again, it is better to make a block pattern if the bow has a lot of power.

The block brackets, the blocks themselves, work on the tension force of the bow + the compression force of the string + shock loads. Blocks can be machined from a material suitable for strength, but it is necessary to relieve the bow's arms as much as possible. In most cases, the choice of aluminum as a block material is very successful. For those who have difficulty making blocks, I recommend looking into old reel-to-reel tape recorders. In some models there are wonderful blanks for aluminum alloy blocks; you just need to cut off the excess. To lighten the blocks, holes are drilled in them or windows are cut out. You can also look into old receivers, where the venier is based on a cable system. The warriors have a lot of old radio equipment with such units. There are small blocks on ancient dental burstanki. On professional crossbows, the blocks are oval-shaped. This is due to the fact that the block rotates only small angle. I think that the fact of some gain when using a block scheme versus a conventional, recursive one is obvious, but a further increase in the number of blocks gives less and less results. So there is no point in assembling a garland of 6,8,10 blocks. Even a child can draw a four-block crossbow. I note that a compound bow works more softly than a recurve bow, which improves shooting accuracy, and besides, the force to break the string is less, apparently due to the loading of the string with blocks.

Springs are sometimes used as a propellant on some exotic models, but they have a large weight, volume, short stroke and enormous energy, which in turn entails a more complex design and requires high quality steel for locks. A compressed car shock absorber spring can easily tear off a person's arm or leg. A shot from such a spring into a bag of compacted cement pierced it, and the spring itself flew off behind a row of neighboring garages. A very dangerous and inconvenient thing.

Bolt - crossbow arrow

The bolt is the damaging element of this type of weapon. It has a greater (emphasis on the first syllable) stopping effect than a bullet(!). Kevlar body armor also loses its effectiveness against such hello from the Middle Ages. So it would be appropriate to once again remind you of compliance with safety rules when shooting from a crossbow, despite the fact that the article is devoted to a slightly different topic. A bolt wound can often be fatal! The death of a victim can even be caused by just the sight of a bolt protruding from the body!

So, bolts. They are made from any durable material that is lightweight and has sufficient elasticity. It can be made from suitable pieces of straight-layered wood, and the layers of wood should be arranged longitudinally, which gives the arrow flexibility. It’s difficult to do without some mechanization in the form of at least an electric drill. The bolt must have a perfect shape, the center of gravity is usually located between the first and second third of the bolt, and already assembled (!), however, it is possible to vary this parameter at your discretion. You can change the mass of the bolt by selecting different materials for the shaft, sizes and materials of tips and toes. Wooden bolt shafts are impregnated to protect against moisture protective compounds and are usually stored horizontally. Great bolts can be made from sections of broken fiberglass telescopic fishing rods. They have great strength with low weight and are not afraid of dampness. Please note that all bolts should be as close as possible in weight and size, otherwise a surprise will await you with each new shot, especially when shooting at maximum range. In general, the crossbow itself allows you to shoot quite heavy arrows, although welding electrodes, so it is quite difficult to clearly determine the optimal bolt. When selecting experimentally the mass of bolts for your crossbow, do not forget about golden mean: a light bolt loses speed faster, and a heavy bolt does not fly far. Instructions for self-production bolts – .

About the firing range

A crossbow is a crossbow. A bolt, like an arrow, is launched with a relatively low initial speed, has a fairly high air resistance and a small mass, so that physically it cannot fly very far, one must be realistic. There are firearms for such things. By the way, looking back to ancient times, the crossbow was valued precisely because it was used exclusively for the destruction of heavy cavalry at medium distances, having a short and heavy arrow in its arsenal. I consider articles that mention shooting almost a kilometer away to be purely humorous.

Bolt tips are made based on the task at hand for of this type. Hunting bolts are generally equipped with creepy-looking four- or three-bladed harpoon-like tips. For sports shooting, almost any hard material. When shooting at hard targets, bolts often break. It is better to make the tips with a recess for mounting on the bolt shaft. Tips attached to the cut of the shaft usually split it when it hits a solid obstacle. Rubber tips don't make sense. The diameter of the tip may exceed the diameter of the bolt if the shaft is longer than the guide.

Bowstring

A good bowstring with proper care will last a long time. It is made of steel (cables, strings), polymer wood or woven from silk. I don’t know about the latter, there are now a huge amount of synthetic materials. Kevlar for making a bowstring should be used as a material with a large resistivity to break. For powerful crossbows, you can use a thin steel cable for the bowstring. Found everywhere in motorcycles and automobiles. I note that a braided bowstring can more easily withstand breaking loads due to the fact that part of the energy is spent on friction between the woven threads. Protect the bowstring from abrasion on the stock with special metal or plastic pads.

Sights

Actually, it's a matter of your taste. The use of certain sights depends on the range and nature of the crossbow's shooting. Optical sights for weapons at one hundred or less meters generally somehow ridiculous, although the crossbow with optics looks quite predatory. They have a large mass and prohibitive cost, require a standard mounting bar, and are convenient for shooting at a static target. Installing collimator sights in this case is more justified, and it also becomes possible to shoot offhand. Even simpler and better for crossbows are simple diopter sights, and the simplest open sight is not difficult to make at all. I’ll keep silent about optics for now, but you can stop at making open or diopter sights. The fact is that there is some difference between the axis of flight of the bolt and the axis of the crossbow, not to mention the hinged flight path of the arrow, so for sights it is necessary to provide for the possibility of fine adjustment using the appropriate screws. To do this, the mounting of sighting devices is done with oval holes that allow some displacement, or adjusting screws with fine threads are installed in the body of the mounts, which shift the sight itself when rotated. It is best to zero sights in indoors or in calm weather. In this case, the crossbow itself is fixed on a massive fixed base, for example, with clamps. Next, test shots are made with one standard arrow. The difference between the aiming point and the actual point of impact of the bolt at a given distance is adjusted using the adjusting screws of the sight. Then the shooting distance changes and the process repeats. This way you can calibrate any sight for any shooting distance. Corrections for wind are entered in the same way (frontal against the wind, at an angle towards, at an angle downwind, at a side, downwind).

Tensioner devices, such as various “goat legs”, can easily be made from a suitable metal, changing the dimensions of the data to fit the geometry of your own crossbow, however, such devices are rather necessary for cocking very powerful crossbows with recurve bows or are simply a convenient excess, since compound bows are even of considerable power can be cocked by hand, albeit with gloves.

This completes the theoretical part of the instructions on how to make a crossbow, see the photo and explanations below:

To make a crossbow we need a wooden stick and a piece of iron

The stick is made approximately according to these dimensions

One spring plate 650Х100Х8 was taken. Using a grinder, we slowly separate out what we need. The dimensions of the arch in the middle are 35 mm, and at the edges - 18 mm.

Using sandpaper, we narrow the shoulders, evenly from the center to the ends until we reach 5 mm. in thickness. We stretch a steel wire (cable) onto the arch in this form. We clamp it in a vice. We will insert a round timber strictly in the center so that it does not interfere with the arch when bending. We tighten and at the same time check the force and tension distance. We will dance from these parameters in the future.

As in “The Golden Calf”: we take a weight and saw. And this is what happened. The most important part in a crossbow. Hook or crampon.

But to make a normal lock, we need a sear and a trigger. A hole is made in the upper part of the pin so that the bolt of the strip spring falls into this hole and fixes the pin from moving.

Let's start making the lock body

We carefully try everything on and drill holes for the pins.

Let's start making the trigger guard. We take a wooden stick and try it on.

Hollowing out a place for a lock

Inserting the lock

To attach the rear sight we make a dovetail. And solder it. I did it with PSR, but it can also be done with POS. It all depends on how we will burnish (what temperature it will be).

In the arch we drill two holes at the edges for attaching clamps. Many people ask whether it is possible to drill a spring. I answer - freely. Pobeditov drill corrected on a diamond wheel.

Grinding the rollers

Grinding the rollers

We adjust the clamps to the required size. Let's start making the arch mounting clamp.

Making a stirrup

This is how I seal the ends of the string. Do not hit, but press with a lathe chuck.

In production and finished form

Finished look

Let's begin a very serious operation - bluing. I specifically show the unsuccessful bluing.

Here's some successful bluing

Take a stick and make a channel for the guide

Glue the plank

Now let's take the butt, but be careful with the tools

We remove unnecessary things. The stick I took is a wild cherry. Birch, walnut, etc. are suitable.

Varnishing. But here who gives preference to which varnish.

Excess. But, in my opinion, it is pleasing to the eye.

It is important that the gap between the bowstring and the stock is 2 mm. The calculation is simple - the middle of the bolt diameter.

Bottom view

And I put shrink film on the arch. And it gives the appearance and protects it from fragments in the event of an arch breakage.

Finished look

After 40-50 shots the bowstring burst.

I decided to add 2 more videos.

To facilitate the design, the rollers were replaced with caprolon ones. With a distance of 30 cm from the string to the hook and a force of 85 kg. with the addition of rollers, the force on the arch decreases and the speed of the arrow increases.

Source cazac.ucoz.com

Another selection - professional drawings of a homemade block crossbow (download for free)

To view in full size, click on the picture.

A hunting crossbow is an excellent weapon for catching food in the forest, as well as a means of survival in extreme conditions. It differs from a conventional bow in more accurate aiming, better striking power and ease of use due to the presence of a trigger mechanism. The advantage of such weapons compared to others is that you can make them yourself, you don’t need to get special permission, like a gun, and the simplest crossbow can be made with your own hands in a matter of minutes, if time is pressing. Disadvantages include the time required to reload, as well as the short distance for sighting on the target.

A homemade crossbow allows you to hunt any game, from small to large animals. The hunting crossbow has the following design:

• The base to which the remaining elements with a guide bar will be attached. This bar determines the flight path of the bolt (arrow).
• Shoulders, or bow: determines the strength of the shot.
• The block that attaches the base to the bow.
• Trigger mechanism.
• Bowstring.

Drawings of a hunting crossbow

The base is carved from durable wood, but not heavy, so that your hands do not get tired of carrying a weapon. Ideal option The base materials are beech and walnut. In conditions wildlife There is no time to cut out a beautiful base, but you need to try to make it as comfortable as possible for yourself. The guide bar is a groove where the arrow will be placed. It should not create friction when the bolt (arrow) moves, so after attaching it, you need to use sandpaper or a polishing wheel to polish its surface. You can make it separately using a metal tube cut in half, but when traveling, it’s easier to cut a deep trench at the base of the structure. It is better if the stock and the guide are separated from each other.

The arms of a crossbow are an important structural part. A simple do-it-yourself crossbow has a classic bow design: the string is statically attached to the shoulders, transferring the force of the shot from them to the arrow. To make a bow, you need to use flexible wood that will hold its shape without breaking from numerous bends: ash, maple, acacia. The shoulders are hewn out with a knife symmetrically and in such a way that their base has a larger diameter in girth than the edges. At the edges you need to cut out fastenings for the bowstring. To attach the bow to the base, you need to make a block.

Usually the block for attaching the base and bow is made of metal. In field conditions there is no such possibility, so the simplest model of a hunting crossbow can have a wooden block. For this you need a strong tree, ideally oak. The block is attached to the base, then the bow is attached. Everything is connected into a single structure using self-tapping screws, nails, or strong rope.

To fire a shot, you need to make a trigger mechanism. In order to integrate the trigger, you need to make a vertical slot in the base. A retaining bar should be attached over this slot to prevent the bowstring from accidentally slipping off.

For the bowstring you need to use a material that is strong but not too elastic. Suitable materials for this include: fabric, wire, fibrous plants, bark, horsehair, animal tendons or skin. Using these materials, you need to weave a bowstring using the braid method; hair, leather and tendons can be used in their original form. Once the bowstring is in place, the homemade crossbow for hunting is ready.

Instead of arrows, like a bow, bolts are used here, which have greater lethality. They are made from durable and elastic material. The bolt must have a perfect shape, and the center of gravity should be in the first third of the shaft. All bolts must be the same length and weight, otherwise the results from the shots will always be different. Good bolts are made from fiberglass telescopic rods. The tip is made of a metal sheet, cut with metal scissors. The tip is lubricated with epoxy glue and inserted into the cut at the end of the shaft.

Homemade crossbow for spearfishing

There is an opinion that what is often mistakenly called an “underwater crossbow” is rather a weapon that operates on the principle of a slingshot for underwater fishing. A crossbow is not suitable for underwater hunting, since the resistance of the water will not allow you to make a successful shot. However, you can build a homemade crossbow for underwater hunting in the sense that you can use it to shoot fish from above, in shallow water, and underwater.

Homemade underwater crossbow (in the process of making)

A homemade underwater crossbow is, essentially, a rubber shotgun. There are also air guns, but assembling them yourself is difficult and requires special skills and abilities.

Underwater weapons consist of the following structural elements:

• Lever
• The basis
• Trigger
• Headband
• Rubber bands and hook

The principle of operation of the device is that the projectile pushes the harpoon and returns it back through rubber bands. The trunk can be cylindrical or irregular in shape. Its task is not only to hold the guide, but also to resist the bending loads created by the rubber bands.

The underwater crossbow guide serves to stabilize the position of the harpoon. It is better to make it from an aluminum pipe divided into two parts. One of them needs to be attached to the head of the gun, the second - at a distance of about 10 cm from it. The harpoon should pass through them without hindrance. The headband can be open or closed. In the first case, ring cords are attached, in the second - paired ones. When using ring rubber bands, the acceleration of the harpoon will be greater than with pairs. Unbalanced power of the strands will either not create enough force to launch the harpoon, or will create excessive stress on the bending of the barrel. The rods must be attached on each side to the coil holder, secured with clamps. The second end of the strands must be passed through a special ring; it will be more convenient to shoot with it.

Depending on the size and power of the weapon, the harpoon has different lengths and thickness. The hooks on it are of the cut or sharpfin type. The dihedral shape of the harpoon blunts less, while the trihedral shape has a higher penetrating ability. The design of the handle on a homemade crossbow is an individual matter; it may not exist. If you plan to hunt large fish, you must have a reel. It is most convenient to install the coil in the front end of the barrel.

Spring crossbow differs from the usual one in that it is fired due to the elasticity of the bow. To make such a model, you can use available materials: a spring mesh from an old bed, a spring processed with a grinder, shock absorbers from bicycle wheels. The spring of this type of crossbow can be located inside the stock; there can be two of them for each shoulder or one for both shoulders. The spring inside the stock is small in size; such a weapon is convenient to carry and use in the forest. The spring can be used not only for tension, but also for compression, and by increasing the number of turns, you can adjust the tension force of the bowstring. A spring projectile can be built if you slightly re-equip your crossbow with a conventional device.

In this article we will consider the question of how to make a crossbow, using the constructive knowledge of crossbow construction.

To make a reliable crossbow yourself, great hard work and desire are not enough. It is also necessary to have a small knowledge base, material and technical. Of course, you can take a piece of wood and a car spring, and with the tenacity of a maniac, start sharpening, planing, drilling, sawing, focusing approximately on the found images of the crossbow design. But the result may be that the crossbow will be too heavy, inconvenient, and in general the result may not be what you dreamed of and what you wanted.

What to do? First of all, you should determine exactly what kind of crossbow you need to make. After all, there are a large number of types of these throwing weapons and each has its own unusual technical features, which determine completely different techniques manufacturing and use of crossbows in practice.

Further, you need to accurately assess your capabilities in terms of equipment, with which you will make crossbow parts with your own hands. And, finally, think carefully about where and what material you need to take to create this or that structure.

Well, let's start by replenishing the knowledge base about crossbows and their types, because without this it is simply impossible to move forward. Let's see first general device this weapon.

In most cases, any crossbow has the following mechanisms and parts:

• Crossbow guides and stock;
• Shoulders and bow;
• Trigger;
• Tension device;
• Arrows (bolts);
• Bowstring.

Now we need to touch a little on the classification of crossbows. All of them are classified according to certain criteria.

Classification according to shoulder tension level:

• Tension level up to 20 kg. Such crossbows are often used for entertainment and recreation; of course, they are not suitable for any serious tests. The targeted shooting range is not very long (approximately 15-20 meters);
• Tension level 20-55 kg. Such crossbows allow the trigger mechanism to be cocked using muscular force, without any devices. Their sighting range is approximately 60-80 m;
• Tension level is more than 55 kg. Such crossbows are serious weapons that require tension on the bowstring special devices platoon

Classification according to the type of onion used:

• Monolook. It can be homogeneous, made of steel or fiberglass, or composite using specific types of wood;
• Shoulders + pad. To secure the arms of the bow in this case, a block is used - an intermediate device. Such a crossbow is quite convenient for transportation, because easily understood.

Classification according to the type of shoulders used:

• Block - with the use of rollers and eccentrics, as well as having a main and 2 additional bowstrings;
• Straight - the shoulders in a non-bent position form a straight segment;
• Traditional - S-shaped beam type of bend.

Classification according to the crossbow stock used:

• A traditional screw-type stock with a solid butt, neck and fore-end;
• Stocks of the old type, which are made following the example of medieval crossbows;
• Sports stock with a slot in the butt and a pistol grip.

Classification by tension method:

• Muscular type of tension - has a system of levers, a stirrup, a special hook;
• A goat leg is a single-arm lever;
• Gate - the device has a worm gear and a rack;
• Block tension with multiple rollers.

Now that you have some understanding of how crossbows work, it's time to decide which design is right for you based on your technical capabilities. In other words, make sure you have the ability to use wood and metalworking machines. It is worth believing that with only a drill, a plane and a hacksaw, you are unlikely to be able to make a high-quality crossbow with your own hands. Many parts can only be made by an experienced turner. Even if you have detailed drawings of a crossbow on hand, you will have to use maximum creativity, effort and ingenuity to do everything technically competent and beautiful.

How to make a crossbow for your physical. options

Let's start making a crossbow with our own hands from the stock. To begin with, let's take suitable wood. We need a type of wood that will not chip or warp, and will be sufficiently tough. The following species fully meet these parameters: walnut, birch, ash, beech. Undoubtedly, such a tree can be found in any hardware store in our country, so no problems arise.

For a bed as source material A board 30 cm thick is quite suitable (it is not recommended to take more - there is simply no need for it). Now you need to decide on the size of the bed. The figure below shows how to choose its size to suit your own physical parameters.

Where:
A– these are your basic physical dimensions:
L– Distance from the bend of the elbow to the end of the index finger;
B2- width chest;
H3– distance from the pupil to the collarbone.
B– bed dimensions:
Lп– the length of the stock, which is measured from the front segment of the trigger to the heel of the butt (about 5-15 mm longer than half the back of the butt);
Lps– length from half the back of the butt to the trigger (distance L);
Lн– the length is false from the toe of the butt to the trigger (+/- 15 mm shorter or longer than the distance to half the back of the butt);
A– the distance in front of the butt from the bend of the stock to the bottom;
O– the distance from the heel of the butt to the bend of the stock to the bottom (dimensions “a” and “o” are made depending on the H3 indicators).
IN– retraction of the bed and change to the side, which depends on the width of the chest (B2):
Op– the distance from the heel of the butt to the outlet of the stock;
He– the distance from the toe part of the butt to the outlet of the stock.

The stock must be measured from the beginning of the trigger to various points that are located on the back of the butt. To adjust the bed to the size of your body, you need to use the picture above. But the average sizes are:

From the heel to the beginning of the trigger – 36-36.5 cm;
From the hook to the butt toe the distance is 36.8-37.2 cm;
To the midpoint, which is located on the occipital plane – 35.6-36 cm, “a” – 4-4.5 cm, “b” – 5.5-6 cm.

Arm length cm	Stock length up to middle of the back of the head butt, cm	Pupil height above collarbone, cm	Vertical bend from the extension of the aiming line to the upper ridge of the butt, mm		Chest Width between axillary depressions, cm	Lateral deviation of the butt from the vertical aiming strip, mm
			at the neck	at the back of the head		in the heel of the butt of the head	in the toe of the butt of the head
42	38-40	23	42-44	66-70	50-52	18	6
41	37-39	22	41-43	65-69	48-49	17	5.6
40	36-38	21	40-41	64-68	46-47	16	5
39	35-37	20	39-40	63-65	44-45	15	45
38	34-36	19	37-38	60-62	42-43	14	4
37	33-35	18	35-36	58-59	40-41	12	35
36	32-34	17	34-35	57-58	38-39	10	3
35	31-33	16	33-34	56-57	36-37	8	2.5
34	30-32	15	32-33	55-56	34-35	6	2
33	29-31	14	31-32	53-54	32-33	4	15

Having taken measurements of your body, focusing on this table, you can choose optimal sizes for your bed, which will suit you almost perfectly. Difficult? It’s not scary, as they say - “It’s hard to learn, it’s easy to fight.”

After which you can proceed directly to making the bed itself. To begin with, it is recommended to cut out a template from paper. On it we draw a bed according to the dimensions that were measured and determined using a table. Sketches of different crossbow stocks are available on the Internet.

We will tell you how to make a crossbow stock, shoulders and trigger mechanism step by step in other articles. In this case, our task is to determine the dimensions of the crossbow parts we need and the materials from which they will be made.

Now let's see where to start creating the crossbow's shoulders. And we start, as usual, by choosing the material from which the shoulders will be made. It seems to me that many people immediately determine what kind of crossbow will be made: with a monobow or with a compound bow.

The material for creating the shoulders should be as follows:

• If you have a sports bow at your disposal, you can use the shoulders from it. You can go to some sports section where you can get decommissioned bows completely free - they will still be thrown away. They, however, can be used for weak crossbows, with a tension of up to 20 kg;
• Fiberglass or textolite is sold in regular construction stores. The tension force is also low - up to 20 kg. Typically used to create crossbows for recreational purposes;
• Car spring - look in your garage, in your neighbor's and in a junkyard. In principle, finding her would not be a problem - if only there was a desire;
• Carbon fiber, fiberglass, various composite materials - again, we go to construction stores.

Any store has similar materials, and at fairly affordable prices.

The highest quality crossbow arms are made from composite materials and fiberglass. Below is a drawing showing the dimensions of their fiberglass arms with a tensile force of up to 40 kg.

To create a monobow, you can use a car spring. The string is attached to it using wheels or pulled onto a trident.

Size chart for monobow drawings.

Tension force, kg	Working stroke of the bowstring, mm	Dimensions, mm			Width, mm	Thickness, D, mm		Weight, kg
		A	B	C		(in the center)	(at the ends)
60	145	545	70	25	25	8	4	0.58
75	160	572	75	25	25	8	5	0.68
100	160	572	75	25	25	10	6	0.85
120	180	675	70	25	30	10	5	1.00
120	180	660	90	35	30	10	5	1.00
120	180	690	100	35	30	10	5	1.10
280	180	680	100	35	30	12	6	1.35
325	180	675	100	50	40	12	9	1.95

With your permission, now it’s time to finish the review of the sizes that you can use to create a crossbow with your own hands. In the following articles we will look in detail at what triggers can be used for a crossbow. We will also look at the drawings of trigger mechanisms that are common in crossbow manufacturing today.

Based on materials from the site: sekach.ru

To make a homemade crossbow you will need:
*A block of non-resinous wood, size 700x10x40 mm.
*The second leaf of the spring of the Moskvich car.
*Profile pipe 50x50x2 mm. 10 cm long.
*Profile pipe 15x15x1.5 mm.
*Small segment sheet metal 2 mm.
*Stainless steel metal 4 mm thick. and 0.5-1 mm. (for the descender).
*Steel corner 50x50x4 mm. 35 cm long.
*Rod D=8 mm. 40 cm long.
*Bolts with nuts D=8
*Stainless steel molding from the VAZ-2106 door 2 pcs.
*Metal rollers 2 pcs., glass lifting mechanism from the door of a VAZ car.
*Cable D=3 mm. 3 m long, two terminal loops.
*Epoxy resin, wood stain, wood varnish for exterior use.
*Two small springs (working in tension).
*A dozen nails for roofing felt, one two hundred nail, tube D=6 mm, small washers.

We will use the following tools:
*Welding machine.
*Hand-held circular saw.
*Electric drill with speed control, carbide drills for metal D=3, 5, 8, 10 mm.
*Bulgarian, cutting discs for metal, grinding discs for wood.
*Keys, pliers, screwdriver, vice, narrow chisel, knife.
*File, sandpaper.
*Safety glasses.

Point 1. Making a stock.

Take a well-dried wooden block, I had one made of birch, let's sketch out a sketch of the bed on it. We customize the size of the butt for each individual (according to your height), and the stock depending on the length of the arrows you will use. I use 440 mm arrows, but I had to save money on the butt, I left only 300 mm, so the total length turned out to be 740 mm, I didn’t dare to do more.

Let's draw a marking for the guide sample, for the arrow fletching, width 5 mm, depth 10 mm.

By using circular saw We cut out the groove the entire length, to the end of the trigger (lock).

It should look something like this.

Using a drill D=12 mm. We select a cavity for the trigger, level the ledges with a chisel and knife. We drill a hole for the trigger, bore it with a chisel and knife.

Point 2. Making a lock or trigger device.

Let's take the "walnut" type as the basis for the lock. To prevent anything from rusting, we will use stainless steel, take a sheet 4-5 mm thick, if you can’t find one, make it a composite of several sheets glued together and taken with rivets. Draw the shape of the parts on the metal.

Using a cutting disc and a grinder, we cut out the workpiece according to the markings.

In the center of the “nut” we drill a hole for the axis of rotation, D = 6 mm.

We process all sides with a file.

We sand with sandpaper, achieving a completely smooth surface.

It should look something like this.

We grind out the remaining elements of the lock, the sear.

I lengthen the trigger with two thin sheets of stainless steel and secure it with homemade rivets.

On the grinding machine we achieve the desired shape blanks

From thin sheet metal we make the housing of the trigger mechanism.

We drill three holes D = 2.5 mm in the body of the sear, one for the fastening axis and two for fastening the springs.

Let's attach the trigger spring into place.

Let's see on the table how the parts become in the cocked state.

And like after the shot.

Let's place one side of the case on the inside of the mechanism and drill holes in place for all the axes.

From a two hundred nail, 6 mm in diameter, we will make an axis for the “nut”.

Saw off the sharp end of the nail.

We measure the length of the future axis and saw it off.

Using thin nails for roofing felt, we will make the remaining rivet axles. Use a grinder to remove the shimmer on the nail heads.

Now they will fit well to the body.

Let's install the sear on the axle in the body, use intermediate washers.

We saw off the excess length of the nail, leaving 1 mm. on both sides for rolling.

Using an anvil, hammer the end of the axle.

We drill a hole for the axle with a spacer to attach the sear spring.

From a suitable tube we cut off a spacer sleeve for this axis.

We move one side of the body to the side.

We install the axle, bushing and engage the spring.

We assemble the body halves together.

We saw off the excess length, leaving a protrusion of 1 mm. under the hammer.

Let's roll it.

Now you can install the largest rivet axle of the lock. Aligning the holes.

Let's take the previously measured and sawed-off axis D=6 mm, and immediately tap it a little with a hammer on one side.

We install it in place.

And we’ll roll too, the main thing is not to overdo it, so as not to pinch movable mechanism inside.

Point 3. Installation of the lock mechanism in the stock.

If something prevents the lock from sitting well in place, we modify it with a chisel or knife. After installation, check how the trigger moves.

If everything is fine, you can drill holes for the mounting screws and screw them into place.

Now we need decorations from the door of the VAZ-2006, they are also made of stainless steel, which is very good. To give them additional rigidity, epoxy resin was poured inside.

After complete hardening, in a day, we will drill four holes D = 3 mm in each for fastening screws.

Using a large drill, we will make hidden places for the heads of the screws so that the bowstring cable does not get caught when it slides along it.

We polish the hole exits with fine sandpaper to remove all burrs that damage the cable.

We install the finished guides on the bed.

We make sure that the screws do not go through in thin places.

We check that the lock moves without snagging on the guides.

Point 5. Making an arc or shoulders.

From the same donor doors, using a grinder, we extract the rollers of the glass lifting mechanism.

From these we will make blocks for the shoulders, and the arc itself from the second leaf of the spring, vintage car Moskvich.

We will make pads to attach the spring to the stock.
To do this, from a 50x50 mm corner. Let's cut out the component elements to assemble them using welding, like this mount (block).

We will process the welds with a grinder. Let's drill mounting holes D=10 mm. under the bolts.

Based on the finished sample and the dimensions of the resulting block, we make grooves for mounting in the stock. We try on the fit, achieve a tight fit and fastening. According to the calculated position of the future bowstring, we outline and make a through groove in the sidewall of the stock, 70 mm long. 10 mm wide, the lower bowstrings will go here.

We bend and weld the leg bracket (stirrup).

Ears for blocks.
From a 50x50 profile pipe we will make eyes for attaching the roller blocks to the arc (spring).

The most difficult thing in making the arc itself from a spring at home is drilling holes in it. It is necessary to drill with a drill at low speeds so that the drill does not burn, and constantly use water. If possible, drill with drills different diameters, from thin to thick in increments of 0.5-1 mm., constantly sharpen the tool.

We fasten the brackets with short M8 bolts and grind off the caps.

We attach the spring to the block with two M8 bolts, followed by a small weld along the edge of the fastening.

Now you need to open the bed with varnish and dry it.
We install the block with an arc on the stock, hammer down the metal-wood for a tight fit.

Insert and tighten the M8 bolts.

From long M10 bolts we will make axle bolts reduced in length with a short thread for blocks.

Let's take a tube from the anchor and use it to make spacer bushings for the block axes.

Let's drill holes D=10 mm in the ears. to install blocks. We install rigid loop ends on the cable.

We install a block with a cable on one side of the shoulder. Do not tighten the nut too much, so as not to jam the rotation of the roller.

Drill a hole in the nut and bolt for the stud.

We install the stud and press it with the nut in the direction of unscrewing.

We push the cable through the hole in the stock and do the same with installing the roller on the other side of the shoulder.

Point 6. Upper part of the lock.

From a profile pipe 15x15 mm. saw off two 120 mm sections. Using a grinder, we cut out two (L) shaped blanks from sheet metal, one rectangular plate (on the top) and a triangle (on the back).

We connect all the parts together by welding, and clean the welding seams with a grinding disc to make it look like a solid part.

From an old folding steel meter, we make an elastic boom holder.

The photo shows the mounting bolts for the rack for the optical sight.

The same thing, only the bolts also clamp the boom holder.

The sight rail itself (dovetail) is made of the same 2 mm sheet metal, with the sides ground off for mounting optics.

Visible square lining along the optics rail to raise the rear part and thereby tilt the scope down for correct aiming at a target further than 25 m.

We install the lock bracket on the stock and drill holes for fastening, self-tapping screws and an M6 bolt.

We tighten the small screws so that they do not go into the arrow feather channel.

We tighten the back screw.

Additionally, we drill a hole and install the last bolt.

We install an optical sight.

Well, well, searches on the Internet yielded results. I finally found normal drawings in compliance with GOST.

If you have available material and some equipment, it will not be difficult to make a real (or almost real) one.

At the end of the page there is photo of a homemade crossbow, made according to these drawings from scrap materials.

Naturally, it will not replace a purchased crossbow (after all, the build quality and structure of the material in the factory version are not much higher), but shoot at

So, here is a general diagram of a homemade crossbow.

What does it consist of? this type crossbow:

Stock, shoulders, butt, trigger mechanism, sighting device, block system.

The stock is best made from natural hardwood, solid or laminated veneer lumber. Choose the size at your discretion, but

Shoulders and decks of a crossbow

If there is a small arms stock, then this would be ideal solution, but you can try to whittle “Pinocchio” yourself.

Block crossbow design makes it easier to cock the bowstring, but perfectly retains power and allows you to carry it cocked for a long time.

The processing of the guide boom must be carried out particularly precisely. The lines must be smooth and straight. The accuracy and

bowshot. It's best to do this on milling machine, and then carefully sand it with sandpaper. Then polish the groove.

It is better to make a crosspiece with shoulders installed at the end of the stock from an aluminum plate, but you can also make it from wood

Don't forget to make a sighting device consisting of a rear sight and a front sight. You can make a mount for an optical sight.

where you can order the execution of any drawings.

All that remains is to pick up the instrument, recharge yourself in a good mood and set about achieving your goal. Good luck!

P.S.

The article is a rewrite. The administrator is not responsible for the accuracy of the information. Everything you do is done at your own peril and risk.