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Antique Pistol Crossbow

This is a functional pistol crossbow I made, based off one in an Italian museum.

14 comments

Apr 7, 2012. 7:42 AMzzoe says:

This is HUGELY cool.

Sep 17, 2011. 5:56 PMTheTicklemehellmo says:

Looks absolutely gorgeous

Sep 17, 2011. 5:55 PMdoc92606 says:

AMAZING!!!!!!

Aug 20, 2011. 5:08 PMjli8 says:

complete genious

May 28, 2011. 11:33 AMyoung skipper says:

It's beautiful. Does the firing mechanism work well and did you just drill a large hole in the middle to put the mechanism in place?

May 30, 2011. 3:02 PM

spookylean (author) says:

I made the body in two halves which allowed me to do all the interior work before sandwiching them together and doing the final shaping. The firing mechanism is a bit stiff but I didn't want a hair trigger.

May 28, 2011. 11:34 AMyoung skipper says:

What is the bow made of? Just a piece of metal that you shaped into place im guessing.

May 30, 2011. 3:01 PM

spookylean (author) says:

I tried making a bow out of spring steel from a car suspension but in the end I just gave up and bought one. Safer.

May 29, 2011. 12:14 PMboomboy123 says:

EPIC

May 24, 2011. 6:32 PMmatt_and_nick says:

you. are. awesome.

Apr 13, 2011. 10:44 AMbillyberserker says:

Beatiful piece! What kind of string did you use?

Apr 13, 2011. 10:51 AM

spookylean (author) says:

I just used a generic 50lb draw pistol crossbow string made of polyester. About $4 at a sporting goods store.

Apr 2, 2011. 8:11 PM

fishinigami says:

it looks really cool and i would like to try to make one!
do you think you could make some instructions?

Apr 4, 2011. 7:15 AM

spookylean (author) says:

Thanks! I'm afraid I didn't take any photos of the construction, but I've included my design of the trigger mechanism if that helps. I was lucky at the time because I had access to a metal shop (which I don't anymore).