The crossbow has been around since the 7th century BC.
China was the first to create the hand-held crossbow. The ammunition of choice was the
bolt and was often made of bronze. It was used effectively as a weapon both in battle and for hunting. As powerful a weapon as the crossbow was, it lacked the capability of hunting smaller animals like birds, squirrels, and rabbits. As a weapon, the bolt crossbow was much more popular and therefore more widely developed than the bullet-shooting crossbow. Consequently, the standard crossbow was more frequently updated with new
ammunition, attachments, and other improvements, leaving the bullet-shooting crossbow in the past. However, in discussing
astronomical topics such as
solar and
lunar eclipses, the
Western-Han era Chinese mathematician and music theorist
Jing Fang (78–37 BC) wrote that the moon, shaped like a ball, produced no light and was illuminated only by the sun, which he compared to the shape of a round crossbow bullet. The earliest known bullet-shooting crossbow was invented in the 16th century. It was a simple, two-string crossbow that shot small projectiles. The earliest forms of ammunition included clay balls, which were rolled and baked to form round, hard bullets. The bow's primary purpose was to shoot birds, as conventional weapons lacked the ability to effectively hunt flying prey. The lighter projectiles from a pellet bow flew faster, so the shooter had a better chance of hitting a moving target. One of the most important changes to the bullet-shooting crossbow was the strong, upwardly curved bow. This allowed the strings and pouch, which hold and launch the bullet, to be placed away from the rest of the gun. This allowed for a straighter stock or body of the crossbow, which utilizes stronger springs to launch bullets faster and more accurately. Though it was used extensively for hunting, the bullet-shooting crossbow was not significantly improved until the late 18th century. The English changed the design to allow for a more powerful spring and larger ammunition. The bow was adapted to shoot half ounce lead bullets, which are more accurate and do much more damage than stones and clay pellets. The bullet-shooting crossbow featured many similarities to the
slingshot, a similar weapon. Both feature a pouch that holds a small projectile. In comparison tests, the bullet-shooting crossbow only shoots slightly faster, but much more accurately than the slingshot. A catapult is faster and can be quite accurate, but is not as powerful as the stronger pellet bows and elastic is a relatively modern invention. With the invention of safe, more powerful, and more accurate rifles, the bullet-shooting crossbow became obsolete shortly after. By the time the 19th century came around, the bow appeared to be on its way out. Gunpowder is much more powerful and destructive than a crossbow, and guns quickly became the new weapon of choice both for hunting and war. ==Uses==