In medieval times crossbows with 1000lbs draw weights were pretty normal; but how powerful were they compared with modern crossbows?

Here I test a 960lbs medieval windlass crossbow and a 150lbs modern compound crossbow, side by side and compare the two and why they perform so differently.

Medieval windlass crossbow by https://todsworkshop.com/collections/...

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Medieval bow 67g bolt
Draw weight Bolt weight Speed Energy Momentum
435kg. 67g 56m/s. 104J 3.7 Kg.m/s
960lbs. 1034 grains 182fps. 77 ft.lbs. 26.8 lbs.ft/s

Medieval bow 90g bolt
Draw weight Bolt weight Speed Energy Momentum
435kg. 90g 51m/s. 117J 4.6 Kg.m/s
960lbs. 1389 grains 167fps. 86 ft.lbs. 33.3 lbs.ft/s

Modern bow 23g bolt
Draw weight Bolt weight Speed Energy Momentum
68kg. 23g 110m/s. 139J 2.5 Kg.m/s
150lbs. 355 grains 361fps. 103 ft.lbs. 18.1 lbs.ft/s

The numbers below are from the "Lockdown Longbow" using medieval longbow arrows, shooting at the same speeds as that from a 160lbs longbow    • Lockdown Longbow - Now I have WAR ARR...  

TYPE SPEED MASS MOMENTUM ENERGY

7 54m/s 94g 5.1 kgm/s 137J
9 55 m/s 85g 4.7 kgm/s 129J
M2 59 m/s 73g 4.3 kgm/s 127J
16 63 m/s 68g 4.3 kgm/s 135J


Edited by Greg Bright