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MR replica (pics)

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adb:
Oh... I forgot to ask... with your side nocks, does the nock go on one side of one tip, and the other side of the opposite tip, or did you put both your nock grooves on the same side? Thanks.

Kviljo:
All of the MR bows I have seen have the nocks cut on both sides, and it seems like the top one always is on the left side, seen from the belly - and the bottom one on the right side.

Not sure about the "except the draw weight" thing. :) If there are MR-bows with the same dimensions as this one (80"+ and 39x31mm), it is only the density of the wood that decides the draw weight, and that is unknown as far as I have heard. Even the growthrings and amount of sapwood seems to be close to the originals. - and if they used this kind of less dense wood, the original MR bows could not have had any higher draw weight. In fact some of the smaller bows would have had even less draw weight if they were made from this non-dense yew. :)

The distances shot with heavy arrows we can read about in the historical scources seem to be the most reliable source of information on the draw weight of the MR bows.

Still, this bow is perhaps a bit too long and too thin to be a typical MR bow and to represent a typical MR draw weight - but not by much :).

adb:
Do you think a Medieval archer, who was depending on his life with the bow he carried, would have carried a 60 or 70# bow into battle?

Davepim:
Nice bow Kviljo!
     My last bow in Italian yew was very very similar in dimensions to this but weighed in at a tad over 120lb at 32". I have tried shooting 1/2" to 3/8" bobtailed shafts that weigh in at just over 90g from another bow of 75lb draw weight and they just don't work; I doubt I'd get 100m distance and absolutely no chance of going through plate armour! I really don't think arguments that the MR bows might have  been around the 100lb mark, or even less, will hold water. ;)

Cheers, Dave

Kviljo:

--- Quote from: adb on August 17, 2009, 12:24:12 am ---Do you think a Medieval archer, who was depending on his life with the bow he carried, would have carried a 60 or 70# bow into battle?

--- End quote ---

Yep, and it was most likely done over and over again. - just look at the Nydam bows. Some have estimated them to be around 60-70#. That was 300 AD, but still.

I don't disagree that ~120# probably is the best estimate for the MR bows, but we can not be too sure. If we were to depend on replicas alone to estimate the draw weight, it would have to be a very broad estimate - probably from 60-200# at 32". But then again, what the bows will do with replica arrows, is probably the best scource of information on the draw weights. - on the other hand, as I said in my previous post, some of the largest bows may have been made that large because the stave was not as dense as the other staves.

So while shooting replicas might hint at draw weights over 100#, the reconstruction of replica bows from less dense yew might give us a hint that the extra large bows not necessarily were as powerful as they might look. :)


...after all, stories tend to make things bigger and bigger over the years...  ...and longbows in Britain are probably not the exception, hehe...

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