this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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Look dude. I'm not trying to get overly analytical and in a life and death debate but no that's factually incorrect.
The reason I said modern recurve was because if you try to put excess strain on traditional recurve bows most of them will shatter or delaminate as they are laminate technology.
Yes, both types of bow will fire the same types of arrow. The key difference is the English longbow Men can put a lot more oomph behind his shots than a recurve bow man. I am not saying that the English would draw to 180 ft lb for every pullback I am saying that their artillery pieces could do that.
To put it another way, the theoretical maximum range was much higher on a longbow than the theoretical max range on a recurve bow because you can use double or triple the maximum draw weight on the same arrow.
You seem to be under the impression that there is a fundamental material problem in composite bows that prevents them from being high draw weight. Here's a study examining historical ottoman bows which note that while most average around 110 pounds, they go up to as high as 230 with 140 not uncommon. The glue and laminations did not make them fundamentally unable to reach those high draw weights, it's just dependent on what the draw weight is. A self bow that you overdraw will crack as well. Modern recurves are lighter because they're not meant for slave soldiers raised from children like the Janissaries. Once again, if you think it's a material problem, realize that early Chinese crossbows were constructed with this exact laminating bone glue and sinew technology and could reach draw weights of a truly ridiculous 750 lbs if drawn by both feet by a truly expert crossbowman. They likely looked essentially like a laminated composite recurve attached to a stock with a trigger.
https://www.tesble.com/10.1017/s0003598x0009565x
No, I'm trying to explain to you that one of these devices is meant as an defensive artillery piece to shoot over and beyond fortifications while the other is meant as a very accurate assault weapon to be wielded by mounted Bowman and shot accurately while riding a horse.
Or to put it another way. Yes, you can take a cricket bat to a baseball field and slam a home run with it but it's not meant for that.