So cool that you reconstructed one in real life! Really interesting how you first showed the different types of crossbows in the region. The trigger mechanism looks very ahead of it's time. Loved the video man!

@dingdong4156

2 жыл бұрын

Omg it’s the legendary Epimetheus

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

thank you for watching

No way man, I used to watch your hitchhiking videos back in the day! Glad you're doing well

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Haha I changed eh

Its not just age of empires, also deadliest warrior and the kungfu magazines made the repeater a lot more famous than the humble but more powerful han crossbow

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

good old OG days, i miss deadliest warrior, one of my favourite shows when i was a teenager lol. still playing AOE2

@perrytran9504

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons lol I see you on the comments for AoE 2 channels now and then Deadliest Warrior was cool as a kid but now I can't help but shake my head at its historicity/methodology. Still dumb fun to look back on though.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@perrytran9504 ya it’s childhood fun back then we don’t understand the history either

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@perrytran9504 i still rember that scene when the chukunu penetrate the butted chainmail but the medieval crossbow bounched off the leather LMAO

It's interesting that these ancient crossbows seem to outperform later medieval ones.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

i would say they are about the same as a 1000lb european HORN crossbow. the steel crossbows are not even really medieval, it is more associated with late medieval history, a time period when gunpowder already started to replace crossbows. even the italian crossbowmakers at the time complained about steel craftsmen who stole their buisness for an inferior crossbow. the main advantage of the steel crossbow is its more durable than the composite ones...and of course its easier for modern people to make steel crossbows than horn crossbows

@DinoPimp

Жыл бұрын

A longer powerstroke is what does it.

@alifr4088

Жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons the chinese crossbow also has a very long draw weight lol, much more than any european crossbow

@elchudcampeador5642

Жыл бұрын

@@alifr4088 No? They have longer powerstroke, but the mean draw weight is lower.

@cool06alt

Жыл бұрын

@@elchudcampeador5642 Yeah it seems we got a guy who confuse between pull weight and pull length. Hahaha I am more curious if you can design hybrid of both version. Like heavy composite crossbow with the aid of spanning device. Goat foots lever got mechanical advantage for about 30:1, with just 300 lbs composite crossbow you only need to pull 10 lbs. But the result would be immense more powerful than the heaviest western crossbow.

this deserves more views

excellent video man! Thank you for your existence.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

any feedback?

keep up the good work

Heck, a 360 pound prod with that longish power stroke would shoot like a demon.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah for sure

@xiaotian5863

2 жыл бұрын

360@25. not 28 inch

this took u like 2 years to make bro

heavier M shape prod coming

@mattconroy3918

2 жыл бұрын

Tunic?

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@mattconroy3918 no clothing

@mattconroy3918

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons clothing, maybe autocorrect did something was trying to ask if u had the samurai bow that sounds like you me, I’m in love with that bow. Did u know that is native americans here in canada had a bow same design but very short with off centre handle. Reason why we did it is that it changes the trajectory to a straight one and u can aim with arrow. the other question was about the simplest design, i tried but the release is too awkward n hard to push, using my fingers along both edges worked well but I mean it needs a trigger or release mechanism.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@mattconroy3918 hi regarding the simplest design it works for light bows up to 50lbs, anything more and it needs a trigger or else its too hard to flick with finger

@HelghastGrunt

2 жыл бұрын

Any chance you're selling a Han style crossbow like the one in this video?

If you notice something is forgotten then it is no longer forgotten?

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah that’s the entire dilemma of Ian lol

@mattjones6990

Жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons agrred

Thank you for continuing this project! I can't wait to see the tests of heavier prods. Was the 95@31" Korean bow draw to 31" when mounted as part of the crossbow?

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

the korean is 31 for thumb draw and 31 for crossbow cuz at the time the stock was longer. im not surprised it had more fps cuz thumb draw with khatara by the way that carbon fiber machine is only 95lb but shoots faster than the 120lb wood+bamboo bow lol

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

thanks for you support too, check my moving sale list if u want anything

You mention the Chinese crossbow dating back to around 600BCE, which is what I know of from the archaeological record as well, but an early writing, may be Spring and Autumn Annals IIRC, mentions the use of crossbows by the Zhou when they overthrew the Shang (though this was really just in passing and more as a reference to why it was "ok" to overthrow the Zhou, though they never succeeded, and less history). And it has always made me wonder; was this kind of like the early Greeks who wrote how the Homeric heroes fought, making things up entirely, or were crossbows actually already in use, probably without triggers or with a very simple design, as far back as like 1200BCE? You say this is "Han dynasty", but do you know when the design is from specifically, at least to century? I can only imagine in the about 400 years of Han rule crossbows went through a variety of experimental forms, like always happens with arms races, but the only changes I know of over time are use of harder, more Central China woods being imported up north. Xiong'nu technology, primarily horses but at least to some degree their bows, started to be adopted during the Han, is that 390# draw weight the one from the Han Dynasty armory from shortly after Wang Mang's short-lived dynasty, 50ish or something CE IIRC? Because I would imagine early Han crossbows wouldn't be nearly as powerful as once they had adopted Xiong'nu bow technology. You mention horn bows up in the northwest, but up in the northeast they were fighting against the Xiong'nu Confederacy too, I would imagine they would have adopted horn bows as much as they could too, no? Man, I could discuss the use of Chinese crossbows ad nauseum. My area of interest is primarily Rome and Greece, and as badass as I think they are and incredible as the Roman military was, I have no doubt the Chinese would have absolutely slaughtered the Romans because of this one piece of equipment. No armor, short of a lorica segmentata MAYBE is stopping an arrow from a 390# crossbow until the Middle Ages. I don't think even the Imperial era lenticular, rectangular scuta of the Romans, their "final form" if you will, could have held up long against the kinds of numbers of crossbows the Han put into the field.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

"but an early writing, may be Spring and Autumn Annals IIRC, mentions the use of crossbows by the Zhou when they overthrew the Shang"

@Nick-hi9gx

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons So the reference is just from memory, and it was a mention in History of China podcast, I think it was an episode on the Records of the Grand Historian, where he explain that Sima Qian was influenced by things like the histories of Lu and Jin, and mentioned that the reference to crossbows could be anachronism. He was basically explaining how Qian is like China's Herodotus, filling in the blanks with anecdotes and anachronisms rather than sticking to what we would now consider solid history. I kind of figured it was just "generic Han design" because the Han were really bad at keeping records of things that were just...everyday military minutia. Just like the Romans. And pretty much everyone until the Italian city-states. While I think you are right that geography, supplies and the like, would play a larger roll than anything in a war, I was speaking more about a battle. While I don't think the Chinese crossbows would cause many fatalities against Rome's heavy infantry, I think they could easily pin the infantry down, while obliterating any Roman cavalry and skirmishers. The Parthians against the testudo is a bit overstated though. Plutarch tells us that after an entire day of taking fire from the Parthians ~10-12k horse archers, most of the legionaries were still alive, though many were wounded through the hands, legs, and with facial wounds. This was absolutely enough to pin the Roman infantry down though, and the tactical benefit of that cannot be overstated; if your enemy cedes control of the field and all momentum, the battle is already nearly won for you. It is this reason I believe the Romans would be easily defeated; Rome had no answer to the Chinese crossbow because they couldn't field nearly enough horse archers to peel apart blocks of mixed ji/nu like the Xiong'nu did.

@fatboy8420

2 жыл бұрын

@@Nick-hi9gx the chinese crossbow could cause serious casualties. a typical parthian bow only does about 100 joules of energy. a 390lb@25 crossbow would generate around triple that energy. 100 joules of energy already penetrates shields. imagine what triple that can do

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@fatboy8420 dont forget a chinese bolt is shorter so the wood shaft could completely penetrate the shield and not shatter, unlike a long arrow that will continue to rub against the shield along the shaft, although the dimeter is large. its hard to say. 300 joules of energy is very possible with 390lb@25. in fact andreas bischer already made 300 joule european crossbow of horn composites 1200lb@ short powerstroke. in the end, i dunno why roman vs chinese keep getting discussed...lol they never met militarily. both empires adapt and had impressive generals and leadship to change tactics and equipment so its difficult to say but the easy answer is geography prevents either side from winning. against xiongnu cavalry those crossbows were devastating with Ji pike support. crossbowmen without pikemen are perfect targets for cavalry. pikemen without range support is perfect for horse archers.

@Nick-hi9gx

2 жыл бұрын

@@fatboy8420 I think probably a Parthian bow would have to be fired at fairly close range to pierce shields, but reports say it absolutely did happen. So I can only imagine an arrow (does it become a bolt even if it is just being fired from a regular bow turned sideways?) with triple the power would be able to, on occasion, get through the shield enough to get into the arm beneath. Granted, this is why the umbo of a Roman scutum was steel, so it would have to come in at the right angle to get to the arm through the shield, but it WOULD happen sometimes. I think you would see a whole lot of life-threatening injuries, but more life-threatening from infection over the course of the next 2 weeks, without a ton of fatalities on the Roman heavy infantry from crossbows. But Roman auxilia would be sooooo fucked.

that is awesome, before i knew it existed i built one but couldn’t get the trigger right.

Impressive job making such a complex metal trigger mechanism.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

unfortunately i didnt make the trigg. i contacted a machinist from china

Cant wait to see your heaviest bows on this thing!

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

i dont plan to put the 300lb here cuz its d shape and would look out of place. i will put it on ming design yao kai nu

@dan_the_dj

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons What about the Tiron? 195lb, was it?

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@dan_the_dj 145@28

@dan_the_dj

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons my bad 😆 But still, impressive..

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@dan_the_dj yeah that tiron would probably outperform a 200lb flatbow

Good job, Jack. You might need these crossbows, since nuclear WW3 may kick off at any time, these days.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

nah id rather stick to lars anderson style with horsebows. portable and fast

@user-qd9nj1ux2r

2 жыл бұрын

in ww3, you do lars anderson style and people still gonna complain its historically inaccurate

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@user-qd9nj1ux2r lol

Great video man! I’ve always wanted to know more about ancient Chinese army tactics, very little on the web about specifics like there are for the Romans. I think this weapon really makes so much sense when thinking about China’s historical relationship with northern nomads. It’s ability to adapt the common bows of the period into it and have it function perfectly makes repairs easy, and it’s relatively cheap so you can have two or three or 10 rice fed farmers shooting equivalently powered arrows at one nomad plucking from horseback.

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

Yes not only that you can mount heavier than humanly possible bows and span them with mechanical device to outrange horse archers

Very nice! Awhile ago i saw that same design in a history show, very amazing crossbow and powerful powerstroke.

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

yes they are efficient but bulky, a tradeoff but worthwhile behind walls

This video was quite educational 👍🏻 Would you say these han crossbows were effective anti armor weapons?

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

yes historical records indicate the enemies of the chinese struggled against these crossbows. xiongnu and turkic cavalry armor was unable to stop these. they relied on hit and run tactics and ambushes instead to minimize the crossbow effectiveness. against chinese armor its difficult to say

Thanks for the information

Amazing work

crossbows were independently invented multiple times in different parts of the world.

@mattjones6990

2 жыл бұрын

he literally said that in the video mate

@cn4s490

Жыл бұрын

The crossbow is a Chinese invention. The first crossbows were found in China. and then it was used in middle east and europe. The chinese crossbow has the same trigger mechanism as the gun's trigger

@cn4s490

Жыл бұрын

The ancient Chinese crossbows dating to around 600 BC. while Europe and the Middle East only used it from the 4th century

Many a times I have mistaken your voice for Henry from 9 hole reviews.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

my bad

There is so much work out into this video!!!

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

thanks plz share it if you can

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

where can i share it. mainland people cannot see. taiwan people small percentage

The trigger with safety mechanism was from Zhan Guo period, and this kind of trigger with customized bronze case are rare even in that period. Most trigger system in Zhan Guo period are just three main parts fit in wooden case.

You can round out or thin out the string track to make the contact area as small as possible.

I think the reason the repeating crossbow gets so much discussion is that it's uniquely Chinese, while regular crossbows made it all over Eurasia.

you can thank AGE OF EMPIRES for making CHU KU NU famous

@Nick-hi9gx

2 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure it is more...Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is literally named after Zhuge Liang, "Chu Ko Nu" is a derivation of "Zhuge Nu", nu is just bow. Zhuge's bow.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

hes talking about making it mainstream in western media, cuz 3K is relatively unknown in the west during this time, but age of empires, that is known by a much larger audience

@xiaotian5863

2 жыл бұрын

WOLOLOLOLOLOL 1111111111111111111111111111

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@xiaotian5863 11111111

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

bro i still play aoe but mostly single player for the history

Since 6 Dan (~387 lbs) consists of the majority most common of the Han inventory, when are you going to mount and make the standard 6 dan Han crossbow? I'm looking forward to it. Pew pew.

Really cool video! Kind of annoying I stumbled on this by accident, when I was searching for exactly this a couple months ago lol. Literally searched this EXACT title and the YT algorithm at the time was just throwing stupid modern repeating crossbows at me, so frustrating. I'll just say that the Greek mechanical trigger crossbow, the gastraphetes, was probably invented in the 5th century BCE during a siege. The earliest credited source of the gastraphetes points towards about 420 BCE in southern Italy, the source was initially deemed unreliable, but upon subsequent reevaluation in the 90/00s it has been proven credible. Then in 399 BCE the stone throwing catapult is invented, again during a siege, presumably using the gastraphetes as a prototype. Which is backed up by a 1st century AD account that references a lost manual from the 3rd century BCE on making catapults and ballista, stating the gastraphetes was a precursor of the catapult. Since society revolved around city states and sieges, crossbows were quickly adapted into larger and more dangerous stationary siege devices.

nice work

why don't they have stocks or more solid grips which would have made them easier to aim

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

they did have more pistol looking grips. my woodworking skills is miles away from the ancient woodworkers. my reproduction is a demonstration of what it generally looks but the intricate details are lacking. no stocks are needed because recoil is forward and then back. adding a stock would make it even more cumbersome and these are designed for volley fire not precision

as your in canada, you need to do a colab, with kevin hicks, the warwick bowman :)

I suppose the power loss can be compensated by accuracy when overall performance is considered

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

yes not to mention a hand bow can only go up to 200lbs. after that your legs are stronger and can reach 800lb

Great info

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

thanks

Awesome video

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the visit

Brooooo, what happened to all your hitch hike videos? How's it going anyway, I watched your hitch hike videos 2 years ago and was wondering how you're doing

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Hi man I was applying for jobs so I private them temporarily

What is the easiest working trigger, would u be able to make a diagram or help in some way, but be many crossbows, none of them had a suitable trigger.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

hi i dont recommend this one for simple trigger. i recommend roller nut of european design, it easier to make

@mattconroy3918

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons thank you neech!! means friend

Cool video!

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the visit

impressive!

awesome!!!

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Cheers!

Could we use a big lever to reload quickly a powerful large draw length crossbow?

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

Too long

@cool06alt

Жыл бұрын

You can use windlass probably.

bro thats awesome

thats sick

great work man

How did you construct this? Wow.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

check my DIY videos of han crossbow

Yes

When you said wahh, your chinese ancestors clapped in happiness lol.

Varry interesting

Wow

What is the effective range on this

@zhangtony3372

2 жыл бұрын

depends on the draw weight, they had 60lb-1000lb

@Polymath9000

2 жыл бұрын

@@zhangtony3372 Hmm but what is the range on the one you are using in this video.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

id say about 200 meters is the range for shooting at infantry formations/cavalry formations, volley fire

@Nick-hi9gx

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons Wow that is pretty huge considering it isn't one of the giant draw weight crossbows.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

@@Nick-hi9gx those giant draw weights are typically made of steel which is inefficient

do u have a simple design for good trigger

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

follow the vietnam design with side lever

awesome

Ancient Chinese crossbows were verry effective against and very feared by the Huns!

who came here from his twitch?

In your opinion why did the Europeans restrict themselves to crossbows with short draw weights while the Chinese did not? Those were some mighty impressive performance by those Chinese crossbows!

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

i think the earlier european crossbows were also long powerstroke (for european standards), see some of the artwork of 10th century crossbowmen of europe, they used wood prods so the wood had to be long to be an effective weapon. the steel crossbow were short because steel is expensive and heavy. these later renaissance crossbow survived for 20th century archeologists to study the most, so our impression of european crossbows are short powerstroke steel crossbows when i reality that is a later invention after firearms

@elchudcampeador5642

Жыл бұрын

Surely you mean draw lengths?

@HaNsWiDjAjA

Жыл бұрын

@@elchudcampeador5642 yea, typo

in regard of crossbows, undinieably the chenese made the best ones.

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

All have different purpose. Medieval European crossbows are more compact and it can be advantageous indoors. Thier shorter prods are easier to make. Their steel crossbows are also a lot more durable

I lov brother

🤠👍🏿

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

thanks

The Chinese crossbow is lighter than a rifle...? Whhaaaa? THat thing look so thick and heavy...

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

lighter than some- guns

bro this video is legendary

lol he talks about africans being first to invent crossbow in stone age to make blak community happy

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

i genuinely think the stone age people who first invented bows invented the crossbows as hunting traps. no evidence

@Nick-hi9gx

2 жыл бұрын

@@HistoricalWeapons Huh, that is a fascinating idea. That essentially they were built with a tillering stick with the string JUST about to fire, so movement of an animal coming by will jiggle the string loose and loose the bolt? That makes a whole lot of sense, I love it!

@andkonblack

2 жыл бұрын

you cant even spell black community properly

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

@@Nick-hi9gx yeah such traps are proven to work with stone age tech. was it done? we cannot be sure

WOW

i bet the crossbow can kill 5 northern barbarians at the same time

Da Han

the legend is back

Lol

Nice

AFRICANS INVENTED THE CROSSBOW

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

i did say that is my hypothesis as well, but we have no archeological evidence

@elchudcampeador5642

Жыл бұрын

Pygmies have one model

Interesting

AOE 2 NEED CHINA CAMPAIGN

@HistoricalWeapons

2 жыл бұрын

yes that tutorial was a joke

@xiaotian5863

2 жыл бұрын

1111111111111111

@dsasd778

2 жыл бұрын

1

Romans laugh at this

@mattjones6990

2 жыл бұрын

romans and chhinese would never fight

@HistoricalWeapons

Жыл бұрын

im pretty sure romans would admire the trigger and stock design. but they would not use it in their military

Porque tanta palabra. Una imagen vale más que mil Palabras. Video muy aburrido, corto y cierro.

@HistoricalWeapons

8 ай бұрын

este video se centra en la historia de las ballestas chinas en ingles. es un video educativo similar a los libros de texto en la escuela. Si quieres ver videos emocionantes y no aburridos, hago muchos Shorts de KZread.

Good on you for not pointing out that the Chinese crossbows were about 3x as powerful as the European knockoffs. There's really no need for any sort of cringe historical elitism on the internet just because everything Chinese is better 🥹

Yes

Wow

Wow

Yes