Crossbow at home. Making a crossbow using blueprints and correct dimensions

In addition, it will be interesting to shoot from such a gun yourself. Everything is done quite simply, here you can completely do with hand tools. The crossbow turned out to be quite powerful, as for training shooting. It uses double shoulders, which increases the rigidity of the bow and allows you to throw wooden arrows at high speed. The author uses self-tapping screws as an arrowhead, but you can show your imagination and come up with something more interesting.

Materials and tools used

List of materials:
- timber;
- PVC pipe;
- two self-tapping screws;
- strong rope;
- wooden rods for arrows;
- adhesive tape (for plumage).

List of tools:
- hacksaw or pendulum saw;
- jigsaw;
- belt sander;
- drill;
- marker;
- roulette;
- screwdriver;
- building hair dryer;
- vice;
- oil for wood processing;
- paint for painting onions (optional).

The process of making a crossbow:

Step one. Cut out blanks
First of all, we will cut the wooden beam, it will be used to make the base. We also need to cut the pipe. You should have two pieces, a long one and a short one. See the photo for dimensions.

Step two. We make a bed
We make a bed from a wooden beam. First of all, we will make the necessary markup using a marker. Well, then we cut out the extra parts using a jigsaw, an electric jigsaw will do an excellent job with this task.

Step three. Let's make a bow
Our bow consists of two parts, which increases its rigidity. Everything is made of PVC pipes that need to be made flat. To do this, we need a vise with a wooden insert so that there are no prints on the pipes. We heat the pipe with a building hair dryer until it becomes soft, and then squeeze it in a vise. Step by step we heat the sections and compress. At the end, we form the desired bow profile.

Step four. Bow mount
To attach the bow, we are looking for its center, and then we drill two holes, like the author. For fastening we use two self-tapping screws, as well as washers. But do not fasten the bow tightly yet, it still needs to be finalized.

Step five. We finalize the bow
The essence of the refinement is to make grooves at the ends of the shoulders, to which it will be possible to tie a bowstring. We make the markup and cut out the extra parts with the help of a jigsaw. As for the short shoulder, then grooves must be made at the ends so that the bowstring does not fly off.

Step six. Setting the bowstring
As a bowstring we use a strong synthetic rope. We cut off two pieces of the desired length and melt the ends with a lighter. Well, then we tie the main bowstring to the ends of the shoulder with a little tension. As for the extra shoulder, you will need another rope to use it. How everything is connected, you can see in the photo.

Step seven. Arrangement of the trigger mechanism
The trigger mechanism is of the trigger type. It consists of two parts, one is a trigger, and the second is a part with teeth, one of which holds the bowstring, and the other rests on the trigger. These parts can be cut out of plywood using a jigsaw.

Step eight. Arrow making
We make arrows from wooden rods. To stabilize the flight, make plumage for them, the author used adhesive tape for this. Well, at the end of the arrow you need to install some kind of weight, the author wrapped a self-tapping screw there. If desired, you can cut off the head and sharpen the rod.

What needs to be said in the very first lines of this article: in Russia, the CIS countries and most countries of the world, hunting with a crossbow is illegal, and the crossbows themselves (if their tension exceeds 40 kg) are equated to melee weapons. There is a fine for wearing and using them. Why, in this case, do I give recommendations for the manufacture of an objectively dangerous thing that can cause problems for readers? Because the ability to hunt using a wide variety of weapons, including homemade and even illegal ones, may one day come in handy for each of us. Few people think about this while grocery stores are full of food - but we live in too unstable times to say with full confidence that this will always be the case.

In one of the previous articles, I wrote about hunting: with the help of this seemingly frivolous weapon, it is easy to get small fur-bearing animals, birds and reptiles. From a crossbow, you can shoot medium-sized game. Of course, we are not talking about toys from legal gun stores: you may have seen them on sale - elegant, light and low-powered. A weak crossbow is designed for sports shooting - you should understand how big the difference is between it and a real combat device. That is why the latter is banned. An arrow fired from a powerful combat crossbow pierces a person right through, even if he is wearing a Kevlar body armor.

But until the BP has struck, we are peaceful hunters, and we are not thinking about the use of deadly weapons against people. Why am I writing now about homemade crossbow for hunting? Why not buy ready-made or order from an experienced craftsman? Because legally nothing worthwhile will be sold to you. And it’s better not to buy illegal weapons at all if you don’t want to get in trouble with the law. Yes, having something killer in the bins and being able to use it is useful, but not a single living soul should know that you have it. It is better not to dedicate even friends and relatives to this - not to mention completely strangers like sellers and couriers.

How to make a crossbow at home?

So, how to make a crossbow with your own hands? First of all, decide what power the weapon you need - its design and materials directly depend on this. For hunting ducks and hares, the simplest device with a wooden arc is suitable. On a larger animal, a metal one is already needed. There are also so-called composite arcs, which are a combination of several materials (traditionally - wood, antler, veins, but now different types of plastic are more often used). Their technical characteristics are excellent, but it is almost impossible for a non-professional to make such a detail “on the knee” with high quality. In order to avoid injury among readers, I will not even give a description of the assembly of the composite arc here.

My opinion: it is advisable to use a metal arc. The power reserve will not be superfluous - in addition, the wooden parts fail faster, which is also fraught with injuries for the shooter himself. Since your goal is to make a sufficiently powerful crossbow, look for springs from Soviet cars through friends or in the secondary market for auto parts. Humanity has not yet come up with anything better to use as an arc. But if you still did not manage to get this rarity, take any elastic metal strip 2-3 cm wide and 3-4 mm thick.

The bed is most often made of wood (spruce, aspen), less often of metal. The more powerful the crossbow is planned, the more durable and massive this part should be. Stock designs may differ, but there must be a groove for an arrow on it, as well as a butt and mounts for a trigger, arc and other functional elements.

As a bowstring, an inelastic rope made of synthetic fibers, a steel cable or a guitar string is used. You may be surprised, but it is the first of the three options that demonstrates the best tensile strength. Durable, cheap and affordable - what else do you need? .. And here's what: beeswax impregnation will extend the life of a synthetic bowstring, protecting it from moisture and friction.

The crossbow mechanism, rollers and mounts are the most interesting. “On the knee” it is difficult to make them if you do not have the skills to work with metal. Below I give drawings of a homemade simple crossbow (1) and a powerful combat one (2). All parts that you cannot make yourself, order in the workshop, providing drawings of the parts of interest.

Drawing of a simple crossbow (1) *click to enlarge*

Combat Crossbow Blueprints(2) *click to enlarge*

How to make arrows for a crossbow?

Bolts - arrows for a crossbow, it's easy to make with your own hands. For these purposes, wood is most often used, less often plastic and metal. Why is a tree better? A wooden bolt has the optimal weight: a light plastic arrow quickly loses speed, and a piece of steel wire is heavy and will not fly far. The shaft should be planed along the fibers for better flexibility, and then dried well. At the end, leave a cut into which the tip will be inserted.

The tip itself must be cut out of a steel sheet (thickness not less than 0.7 mm) with metal scissors and modified with a grindstone - align and sharpen the edge. We insert the tips into the cut, lubricating it with epoxy. You can also wind it with a thread for strength, and apply a layer of epoxy on top.

There are also many options for making bolt plumage, but the best, in my opinion, is bird feathers. Ideally, goose, but they will fit even from the tail of a dove, which is much easier for a city dweller to find - they roll underfoot. We split the feather in two, cut each half in half and glue it to the arrow. For strength we wrap with threads.

Here's what happened in the end:

It is important that all the bolts are the same in weight and length - this will make it easier to shoot your homemade crossbow. And it is necessary to shoot him: the hunt will wait, first you need to master the new weapon well, to feel it. Even if you have experience shooting a crossbow, this one will be a little different, more "yours" - like any thing made by yourself.

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If you do not want to buy an expensive crossbow (and prices sometimes exceed $ 1000), you can make a crossbow with your own hands. It is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. The design of the crossbow is quite simple. A crossbow can be made from what is at hand, replacing the missing materials with similar ones. For target shooting, a homemade crossbow is quite suitable.

General view of the crossbow, which you can do with your own hands according to the drawings

The design of this crossbow uses the achievements of manufacturers in the field of weapons. The drawings show a crossbow block design. By following the instructions and observing all sizes, you can make a high-quality and good crossbow with your own hands, even at home.

The general scheme of a homemade crossbow in the assembly:

To begin with, it is advisable to carefully study the drawings of the crossbow and proceed with the assembly with your own hands. Making a crossbow with your own hands is not an easy task. But this increases the interest in the work! After all, a homemade crossbow can bring great joy and respect to the performer.

Crossbow device: bed, shoulders, butt, trigger mechanism, sighting devices, block system. For the manufacture of the bed, natural wood, solid or glued laminated timber, mostly hardwoods, is used. The exact dimensions of the crossbow can be seen on the drawings. You choose the shape of the crossbow yourself, guided by the convenience and ergonomics of the stock, the desired image. When choosing, you must also consider whether you can make such a form correctly.

Drawing of shoulders and crossbow deck:

The use of a stock from small arms can significantly reduce labor costs for the manufacture of a crossbow. The main thing is to choose the right size. The trace from the trunk, remaining in such a box, must be hammered with wooden bars, firmly planting them on epoxy glue. The butt and underbarrel pad of the crossbow can also be made of wood. The butt will be attached to the rail and serve as the basis for the trigger.

Butt drawing:

Offered for assembly with your own hands, the crossbow has a block design. This allows you to compensate for the load when cocking the bowstring and save power. Block crossbows are the most popular among hunters. you can carry the crossbow in the cocked state for a long time. This design is actively used by Horton in the production of its crossbows.

Block assembly details drawing:

Pay special attention to the processing of the arrow and bowstring guides. The clarity of their finish greatly affects the accuracy of shooting. The lines of the guides must be perfectly straight and smooth. The best choice would be grinding on a milling machine and subsequent processing with fine-grained sandpaper. Next comes the polishing of the guides. You can see the dimensions of the boom guide groove in the drawings. The cross, with shoulders attached to it, is installed from the end end of the bed. Usually it is made from an aluminum blank. Wood can also be a suitable material.

The crossbow sight must consist of a rear sight and a front sight. Also, you can install an optical sight on the crossbow, providing a mount for the aiming bar. Vertical adjustments are carried out as a whole, mounted on the trigger cover, and horizontal - with a front sight mounted on the bracket of the elastic element.

There can be many design options for sights and sights for a crossbow, depending on the possibility of manufacturing, the availability of ready-made sights from conventional weapons (air rifles), etc.

It should be borne in mind that the flight path of the crossbow arrow (crossbow bolt) is quite high, so the rear sight must be installed well above the front sight. The angle of elevation of the sighting line depends on the weight of the arrow, the tension of the bowstring, the shooting distance, etc. In our crossbow at a distance of 50 m, it is approximately 6 °.

Convenient are the designs of the rear sight, which allow it to be removed or folded during transportation. It will also be convenient if the rear sight can be adjusted manually by raising or lowering the bar. Thus, you can shoot the crossbow under different conditions (distance to the target, arrow weight).

The crossbow, the manufacture of which is described above with your own hands, is designed for shooting with bolts with a diameter of 8 mm and a length of 450-470 mm. They can be easily made by yourself from a duralumin tube with a wall thickness of 0.5 mm. A tip and an inner are attached to the bolt in front, plumage is attached to the back, as is done for archery. It should be borne in mind that the shank of a bolt for a crossbow, unlike an arrow for a bow, should not have a cutout for the bowstring, it should be flat. It can be carved out of wood in the form of a cork and inserted into the end of the tube, previously lubricated with glue.

This is a story about making a crossbow with your own hands at home. The first desire to make a crossbow himself arose unexpectedly, while watching a movie on TV. I still don’t understand what attracted me so much to this weapon. Some switch just turned in my brain, and in addition to a pure, devoted love for archery, there was also a passionate attraction to crossbows.

By the way, I remember the name of that film: "Escape is Impossible" - a fantastic action film recorded on videotape, in the "inimitable" translation of Leonid Volodarsky. It was 1996 outside.

The first pleasant impression from the discovery of such a fascinating topic as the crossbow and everything connected with it, without any intermediate stage, grew in me into irrepressible fanaticism. I wanted to have a crossbow to the point of toothache. The same as for example Barnett Coomando from films with Chuck Norris.

Those who are older remember that in the 90s the arms market of our country was still in its infancy, and there was no question of such an abundance of bows and crossbows as it is today.

In the weapons or hunting shops of the early 90s, the crossbow, if it appeared, was only in single copies. And even then, mainly from the category of imported cheap consumer goods, which were bought for a penny. But they were sold, often, just for big money by the standards of that time. And the only logical decision then was to take it and start making yourself a crossbow with your own hands.

Here it is worth clarifying: I was incredibly lucky that at that time I worked as a toolmaker at a local metallurgical plant. That is, from the very beginning I had access to both materials and equipment.

But this is only half the story. The most important question was - where to get information? How do you know how a crossbow is constructed? What parts does it have inside? Where to get crossbow drawings and how to assemble it later. The Internet didn't exist yet.

As a result, I managed to find out something by asking questions, thought of something myself, somewhere I managed to read or see a picture on a topic that interests me. At times, information had to be collected literally from newspaper clippings.

Finally, the happy moment arrived, and I set about creating a prototype.

How to make a crossbow.

Visually, I was guided by the Snipe crossbow. There was then for some time such a company for the production of crossbows, in St. Petersburg, in my opinion. I cut out a photo of their crossbow from a 1992 gun magazine. I could not find information about them today, but the interloper AK-47, which appeared much later, is suspiciously similar to that crossbow.

The guide of my crossbow consisted of two parts, connected to each other by welding (everything is serious, real hardcore). One of the parts was a trigger box, a bar with a milled dovetail was screwed on top. I planned to immediately install optics and did not count on open sights. The bar covered the details of the mechanism, and a springy plate, cut from a piece of an old ruler, was attached to it, which presses the arrow to the groove on the guide.

This is almost exactly what my first homemade crossbow looked like. The only thing was that he did not have a lever cocking. Yes, and the butt did not have such elegant forms, the lower part was straight. And it looks very similar.

I planned to make the shoulders separate and removable - before that, I had seen enough of sporting crossbows in one weapons magazine, which was brought by a comrade in the shop, having found out about my concern.

The block for them was milled for me on the machine, the idea was to make it so that it would be attached to the guide with a screw, similar to how the blocks are assembled today with the shoulders of the Excalibur crossbows. But I screwed up with drilling in my youth, and the block had to be welded. Only the shoulders themselves are removable.

How I fenced them - there is no other word to pick up, generally a separate story.

Question one: what to make shoulders? At that moment, the answer suggested itself. And I went to where scrap metal was cut at our plant, to look for a spring. And what do you want to do - then, in principle, I could not pick up any other material for flexible elements.

Of course, I found a spring and the work began to boil.

Making a crossbow with your own hands

Now I understand that I violated then all conceivable and unthinkable technical processes and principles. At that moment, I didn’t care, I was young and full of creative energy.

I found a spring from a tractor, cut off a piece about 400 mm long from it with a cutter. Further: it was necessary to get two pieces narrower from one piece with a width of about 50-55mm.

I didn’t think of anything better than to go to the guillotine shears for cutting metal and split the plate in half on them. One half turned out to be flat, the other half was bent with a screw. At that time, I didn’t even think about some microcracks obtained during rough felling, and other similar dregs.

Returning to my site, I clamped the “screw” half of the spring in a vise and straightened it with the help of simple manipulations. In the same vise, I gave shape to the shoulders, bending the ends outward and slightly bending the plates. We got two identical shoulders with a bidirectional smooth bend. Well, almost identical.

I understood that the range of bending of the crossbow arms and the operation of the spring when driving a vehicle are noticeably different, and the halves-shoulders will have to be re-heated. Fortunately, in our workshop there was a well-equipped thermal unit with a competent thermist. It was he who told me how to properly harden spring steel.

Looking ahead, I’ll say that soon, repeating the same technology, I had to make a second set of shoulders. This happened because two young boobies - me and my friend, decided to set the bowstring, resting one shoulder on the bench and pressing on the other from above. A lever was created that went to a break and the lower arm broke near the fastening screw.

The second set of shoulders made it faster, given previous experience. In terms of tension, the shoulders turned out to be somewhere around 60-65kg, with a bowstring stroke of 250mm. Shoulder width was 720mm.

The small working stroke is due to the peculiarity of the steel shoulders, which do not have the same flexibility as fiberglass ones with similar dimensions. And I didn’t want to make a wide arc for the sake of a slight increase in the course of the bowstring.

I glued a fiberglass plate with a semicircular groove on top of the steel guide, along which the bowstring was supposed to slide and the bolt move. I completely did not take into account then that from the fact that the bowstring lay on the guide with a large inflection. The friction turned out to be quite strong and soon the fiberglass began to wear out, bristling with fibers.

The bracket, on which they put the foot to cock the crossbow, turned out to be a little small and allowed only the toe of the boot to be inserted. But over time, I got used to it.

The steel parts of the crossbow were finished, the next step was the manufacture of the lodge. Of the wood suitable for this work, only oak, ash and birch were available to me. The choice fell on ash. It had a more pleasing texture than just white birch wood. Oak was just too heavy.

Folk art of homemade crossbowmen

The stock and fore-end were supposed to be separate. I made the forearm in the form of a strongly elongated trapezoid, the wider part was just under the palm, then it gradually narrowed in width and height. The edge of the forearm was beveled to give it a more elegant shape.

The stock looks wide, with a straight bottom and a large hole where the thumb goes. It was convenient to hold the crossbow and aim. The forearm was fastened rather funny: a groove was milled in the tree, in which the guide was almost completely buried. Without further ado, I took it and glued the forearm and the plate with the groove onto the epoxy directly to the guide - for some reason I didn’t want there to be holes in the lower part of the forearm and the heads of the screws could be seen. It seemed to be unaesthetic.

After all the metal parts were assembled, the forearm was glued and the butt was installed - it was fastened with two screws to the sight stand from below, another question arose: "Where can I get suitable threads for the bowstring?" All advice to use kapron thread or, as some "especially gifted" said, fishing line, I dismissed immediately.

Rescued me, and quite by accident, my stepfather. He sorted out the old trash in the garage, and fished out from somewhere a large coil of thin rope, twisted from some unknown thread. The rope did not stretch from the effort, and after several experiments I wound a bowstring from it onto a crossbow.

There are also block home-made designs

I almost forgot to tell you how the trigger mechanism on that crossbow was arranged. It turned out, oddly enough, I have a strong, reliable in operation and consisting of only three parts and two springs.

The hook that fixes the bowstring in the cocked state, or popularly "nut", was made in the form of a washer 10 mm thick. The groove for the passage of the bowstring and the ledge into which the sear fixing the lock fits are made using files of various calibers. The “nut” was single-toothed and the bolt did not rest against the bowstring with its back.

Wanting to squeeze the trigger into the small dimensions of its box, I got carried away and slightly incorrectly distributed the length of the sear arms relative to the center of rotation of its axis. This played a cruel joke on me and the descent turned out to be a bit harsh.

During the shot, the "nut" turned, carried away by the bowstring. Then he hit the front wall of the box and merrily bounced back, where he stopped. Before cocking, it had to be manually lowered every time to allow the bowstring to pass through and turn the “nut” into the position where it was fixed with a sear. I could not then find a technical solution so that the hook would remain in the lowered position after the shot. He broke and broke his head, but he didn’t come up with anything worthwhile. Then he scored on this matter and left everything as it is.

The final touch in the creation of this crossbow was the installation of the sight. At that time, pneumatics and various useful things for it began to be actively imported into weapons stores. Like inexpensive optical sights, for example. Here's one I bought. I took a simple four-time sight with an eyepiece with a diameter of 25mm. Soon he was mounted on a crossbow.

The long-awaited moment of the first tests was getting closer, it remained to make bolts - and you can shoot.

Crossbow at home: preparation for shooting.

Thin-walled aluminum tubes were not available and I had to opt for wooden poles. For this business, I again turned to the place where they adjusted the wood for the butt to me - to the Model Shop. The same ash tree came up, whose dense, but not very heavy wood was the best fit.

The poles were turned for me on a wood lathe by a familiar comrade, the conical tips also came out from under the turner's cutter, only for metal.

I painted the bolts in a poisonous red color - which would be more difficult to lose, and even varnished on top. The tips, which were sharpened for me as many as ten pieces, turned out to be somewhat different shapes, but almost the same length - and that's a joy. I began to sort through them and as a result selected more or less the same. It turned out two groups of tips, six in one and four in the other.

I planted the tips on the shafts, securing them with Moment glue. Next in line was plumage, which it was not clear what to make of. The bookstore helped me out - there I saw, and later bought such thin multi-colored folders in which pieces of paper were put. Their covers were made of thick cellophane, which kept its shape well. So they went to plumage bolts to my crossbow.

I invented the manufacturing technology quite quickly: cutting out a pen template from cardboard, I circled it with a pen, attached it to the covers of folders, and cut them with ordinary scissors in the required quantity.

As you probably know, branded feathers for bow and crossbow arrows have a seat in the form of edges looking to the sides, for which the feather is glued to the shaft of the arrow.

I got around this point in a rather interesting way. To begin with, I cut the feathers in a double set. Of the two thin halves, one thicker feather was glued together. Before gluing, I outlined the edges of the halves in the same way, and after that I simply bent them in different directions. It turned out the seats, almost the same as the factory rubber feathers. It remains only to glue them on the shafts of the bolts, which I actually did. There were two feathers on each bolt, because there was a semicircular groove on the top of the guide. Before that, to make a deep groove along which the lower feather passes, when there are three of them, I was not technically mature then.

So, tests! Everything happened in the forest, the target was a cardboard box stuffed with old rags and leaning against a thick pine. With the first shot, I drove the bolt into the tree just below the box. An attempt to pull it out ended with the shaft in my hand, and the tip was deeply seated in the trunk. I did not open the tree to extract it from there and left everything as it is.

The crossbow showed itself well, shooting sharply, steel shoulders straightened with good speed, sending bolts into the target. The lock worked properly, without breakdowns and interruptions, except that the descent was a bit harsh. I cocked the bowstring in gloves - they cut my fingers very “mentally”, but then I didn’t know anything about the tensioner cord and how it works.

As a result, after the first shooting, I had only three whole, not broken bolts.

That crossbow stayed with me for some more time, pleasing to the eye and warming the soul. But I moved on, working on the creation of the next, more advanced model, and it was given into the possession of my friend, who then shared my passion.

You will learn about what my next homemade products turned out to be from another article. In the meantime, let's give an example of an interesting video of a crossbow made at home by the same enthusiasts.

Video of shooting from a crossbow, made by hand.

Twenty years ago, a bow or crossbow for individual use did not exist in nature. Some eccentrics and fanatics of historical reconstructions undertook their manufacture at their own peril and risk, having absolutely no idea what they would get in the end. And all because the process of accumulating experience and honing skills in the manufacture and use of throwing weapons, which lasted several tens of thousands of years, was once interrupted and anathematized in our time.

Now all this rare knowledge has been taken out of dusty chests, people have learned to make bows and crossbows using modern technologies, and the army of followers of William Tell and Robin Hood is growing exponentially. And today we have prepared for you drawings and diagrams that will tell you how to make a crossbow at home.

Despite the abundance of online stores selling throwing weapons, as well as the fantastic breadth of the product range, there are many who want to make a crossbow on their own. Most of them don't know where to start. Today we will tell you about the main design features of the crossbow. This knowledge will help you avoid manufacturing errors, as well as frustration and injury when using it.

Before starting work, you should know two main points.

In our country, a crossbow is recreational and sporting weapons. Hunting with him is prohibited. Any throwing weapon with a pull force of more than 43 kilograms is considered combat, the right to use which is given by the licensing authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The crossbow is design that experiences enormous loads during operation. Therefore, any carelessness in its manufacture is likely to result in injury. Any part of it must have a multiple margin of safety.

So, let's find out how to make a simple crossbow at home.

The video below will tell you how to make a crossbow at home:

Onion

The energy source of the crossbow is a bow - an elastic plate of complex shape, which has one main bend and, as an option, two additional ones at the ends. It is necessary to start making a crossbow with this part and adjust everything else to it - the choice of the type of tension (recursive or block), the size of the stock, the type of trigger mechanism.

Wood and composite

There is an acute question about what to use as a material for a bow: wood, composite or metal?

Wood is the worst choice. Available "wood" lying underfoot is garbage, suitable only for kindling stoves. Branches cut down in the forest, as they dry out, lose their elasticity, crack and fall apart. From this material you can only do something for short-term entertainment in the country. Of the models sold in stores, and having a tree in their composition, it is very popular, as well as.
Composite, created from fiberglass and epoxy binder, is very tempting and outwardly simple. But there is an obstacle - the need for scrupulously precise adherence to the technology of all work. The proportions of the mixture, drying, exposure. At home, this is almost impossible.

Metal

There remains one uncontested option - metal. If you have an old Moskvich with a set of leaf springs on hand, then consider yourself lucky. One sheet is taken from the entire package - the second. If you are not too afraid of the dimensions, then the first one will do. Moreover, he has at the ends of the tube - an almost ready-made bracket for attaching blocks or bowstrings.

A block is used to attach the bow to the stock. This is a U-shaped design, clasping the box in front. It can be welded tightly to the spring leaf, but in this case, when the bow is bent, the welds will experience excessive pull-off stress. Therefore, it is better to fix the ball joint from the VAZ 2108 on the block. The bow is attached to its pin. This is also convenient because there is a hole on the spring leaf.

If you are very strong, then you can stop at the recursive method of pulling the bowstring (as in, etc.). But it is better to choose a block one (as in models, etc.). To attach blocks to the bow, if you have chosen a second spring leaf, you need to fix the brackets at its ends. A bolted (and even better riveted) connection is preferable to welding, since this assembly experiences strong vibration loads. As pulleys, use the parts of the glass lifting mechanism of the same Moskvich.

Regarding the bowstring, an obvious solution suggests itself: a thin metal cable. But it is not entirely true, since steel cables do not withstand variable loads well. It is better to choose a climbing cord with a diameter of 5-8 mm.

Having made a bow and fastened a bowstring to it, you can conduct natural bending tests. It’s great if at the same time you have a dynamometer of kilograms for 100-150. As a result, you will find out two parameters necessary for further work: the length of the bowstring and the load.

How to make a stock on a powerful crossbow at home, read below.

Lodge

For this part of a homemade crossbow, a tree is an uncontested option. But not everyone. In any case, not aspen, alder, spruce or pine. Better beech, elm, oak. A blank dried for twenty years. It is clear that you will never find anything like this anywhere. Therefore, use moisture-resistant plywood with a thickness of 7-9 mm. 3 or 5 contours of the stock are cut out of it, and then this package is glued with epoxy. Not very pretty, but extremely reliable.

Regarding the form - give up the semi-pistol, use a straight English box. It is not only easier to manufacture, but also stronger.
When assembling a stock package, both the course of the bowstring and the load must be taken into account. The first determines the distance from the shoe to the groove for the trigger. The second is the thickness of the stock walls at the place of its attachment. It is a straight English stock that will allow you to avoid excessive thinning when moving from the forearm to the butt.
The most important detail of the crossbow lodge is the arrow guide. It should be smooth and durable. For it, you can use plates framing the side windows of the Moskvich, furniture fittings, and other parts similar in shape.
If you are using a block type of bowstring tension, then in the fore-end under the guide there should be a groove for the cable system. This is another element that weakens the stock, so give up on the thought of making the forearm graceful. High will protect your fingers from falling under the bowstring and traumatic amputation of the phalanges.

Usually crossbows have a plastic stock, such as models, and others.

We will talk about how to make a homemade trigger for a crossbow at home below.

This video will tell you how to make a crossbow out of wood (plywood) with your own hands:

Trigger mechanism

If you are not a mechanic of the sixth category, then give up the idea of \u200b\u200bmaking this element yourself. Apply force and find the trigger from any spring-piston air rifle. In the most difficult case, you only have to modify its tooth holding the piston - it may be small for a thick bowstring.

Above the trigger mechanism, a casing with a height of 2 to 5 cm is arranged, which is necessary in order to protect it from moisture and dirt, and which is also the basis for sighting devices - slats for optics or a rear sight. Weaver, Picatinny or dovetail rails can be bought at any online store that sells pneumatics.

The front part of the casing above the trigger mechanism is made in the form of a long (no more than 10 cm) elastic "tail" with which the rear part of the arrow is held on the guide.

Arrow making

Canonically correct ammunition for a crossbow is called "bolt". But many online stores sell crossbow arrows. For crossbows with a rifle stock, lengths of 14, 16, 20, 22 inches are suitable. To be absolutely frank, you won’t find better store arrows. Unfortunately, none of them costs less than 150 rubles. Therefore, it is worth trying to make them yourself.

They can be made from wood, straight-grained, without knots. As an option - use furniture details - balusters from chairs, railings of cribs. Good arrows are obtained from aluminum tubes with a diameter of up to 2 cm. If desired, even electrodes of the maximum diameter can be used, but they hopelessly bend when hit and it is difficult to screw plumage to them.

For plumage, thin plastic is used. Natural bird feathers can give an unexpected effect of a chaotic change in flight direction, since they have natural curves that must be taken into account.

The main condition for a good, smooth flight is balancing. The center of gravity of the crossbow bolt should be after the first third of the length from the tip. If it is not metal, then the end of the arrow can be loaded with lead wire wrapped around the shaft.

The issue of equipping an arrow with a tip should be treated without fanaticism. Turning metal on lathes, milling and polishing, giving exquisite forms - these operations are accessible to a few. In addition, such a tip is extremely dangerous. If you do not need to pierce knight armor, then a wooden bolt can simply be sharpened at an angle of 30 degrees using a regular knife.

We will tell you how to make a crossbow that shoots with your own hands from paper, pencils and other materials.

Cool shooting games

A toothpick or match shooter can be made from a wooden clothespin. To do this, disassemble it and redo it:

expand the narrow groove for the spring of one half to 1 cm, on the second make the same, but indented by 1 cm;
at the front ends of both halves, from the side of the narrow grooves for the spring, make a longitudinal groove 1-2 mm deep;
collect the halves of the clothespin "inside out" by twisting them with a thread;
install the clothespin spring with the paws in the cut grooves, and with the spiral outward;
insert a toothpick into the hole between the halves;
press the spring coil, shifting it into a semicircular cutout;

The foot of the spring will slide down the long slot, snapping the toothpick and causing it to fly out.

To learn how to make a mini crossbow out of pencils with your own hands at home, see the video below.