Interesting- I've never fired a crossbow so I didn't have the frame of reference. Just figured stick boy Dwight couldn't handle it.

 

Dwight was being an asshole. He murdered Denise with Daryl's own crossbow and he wanted to gloat for as long as he could.

 

How about Newton's 3rd law?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM35GDq4CgA

 

Anything that's firing a projectile is going to have some kind of recoil. Obviously it's not going to have the recoil of a .308 or .50 sniper rifle, but it's still going to have a bit of kick.

 

My crossbow or compound bows don't really have a kick. But if you anticipate the shot as you fire - and move the bow before the bolt or arrow leaves - you are gonna mess up your shot. Same with a handgun

So if this were the real world - when the string releases there is a bit of a thwak feel on the bow (both kinds). If you never shot before - you could be anticipating this and moving before the arrows is fully gone. You are supposed to have as light of a grip on a bow as possible so you don't move your shot. Especially on a compound bow - your grip should be so loose, that the bow can almost fall down after your shot. Same with a crossbow - light. Dwight could have a death grip on the crossbow and - messed up shot.


So not kick - but the shooter is holding too tight from lack of experience

 

Not exactly. The energy of the string moving forward was provided by the energy put into pulling the string back, but that's not the same thing as saying there is no tension between the string and the rest of the weapon. Once the string is pulled back, it creates tension between the string and the hardware it is connected to. I'm not a weapons expert, but this really does fall under Newton's third law. Is there a reaction that most experts would call a 'recoil' when a crossbow is used? Probably not, but its also not true to say the force is zero on the bulk of the weapon. A tension is suddenly being released, which will cause an opposite reaction from the weapon. But you are probably right in that it wouldn't be considered what most people call a recoil that would actually effect their aim.

 

Newton's 3rd Law and the Conservation of Momentum are still in effect. Whatever forward momentum is put into the bolt is balanced out by backwards momentum in the crossbow and its holder.

The "thwak" (recoil) may not be very large, but there is one. I suppose that a well designed crossbow will fire accurately whether it is being held tightly or loosely, provided it is being aimed properly when the trigger is pulled.


ETA: The term for a change in momentum is "impulse".


ETA: We went around and around with the OP before when discussing the braces of the ASZ walls. Although he claimed then to have education in engineering (mechanical, I think), a lot of the things he said were nonsensical, to the point that I figured that he is a troll. This thread confirms that.

 

I been shooting bows for maybe 10 years now - much more skill needed in a compound bow then a good crossbow. Not sure how many of you guys have shot bows - any kind before. A tight grip on a regular bow is gonna make you miss as you torq the bow a bit.

But not so much on a crossbow. I bet if i had all of you over at my house i could put 90% of you on one of my crossbows for the first time ever - and you are gonna hit your target 5 out of 7 times. Crossbows are much easier especially at short distances. First time my wife shot a corssbow she bullsyeyed easy. But then again she is a better shot than me on a compound too. And now guns also. I think its has something to do with women just having better concentration then us guys.

 

A force is pushing an arrow forward. the same amount of force must push the bow backwards, regardless of what parts it goes through to get there.

I'd imagine the reason there's less "kick" is that given the arrow (bolt?) is traveling much slower than a rifle bullet, its overall kinetic energy is much lower, so there's really less force to feel.

 

He lied. He was just being an asshole and taunting Daryl.

 

Pretty sure he just said it to taunt Daryl, as it was HIS crossbow. Dwight even slightly smiled when he said it.

 

The potential energy stored when the string is pulled back goes into doing two main things. 1)shooting the arrow forward 2)pushing the bow back, in accordance with Newton's 3rd law. It may be a mild force, compared to some projectile weapons, but it still exists. You're looking at it wrong. Just because the potential energy comes from the act of the string being pulled back, doesn't mean that ALL that energy is transferred to propelling the arrow forward.

 

To your point on female shooters: as an instructor one thing I have noticed is that women have a tendency to squeeze the trigger and allow the gun to surprise them - resulting in greater accuracy, whereas some males pull or slap the trigger - over-muscle the firearm resulting in diminished accuracy.

So important to get the basic mechanics right and develop good habits.

Now to your invitation to come shoot the crossbow.. I'm in, esp. if BBQ afterwards!

 

lol, you are completely ignoring Newton's third law. Of course some of the energy goes into making the bow move back.

The sum of the forces do balance and equal zero. Potential energy in string = forward force on arrow + backward force on bow. Your mistake is thinking that all the potential energy in the string must be transferred to the arrow, which is not true. It is transferred into a force on both objects that it is connected to. The bow and the arrow.

 

Here's a crossbow being fired, without a person holding on to it to keep it stable. You can clearly see the bow move backwards a bit when the arrow is fired.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...=69f1a050ce8fc4b8e39440f2741db640&action=view