Twang!
April 24, 2009 10:39 PM   Subscribe

Like crossbows? Like assault rifles? Got some spare AR-15 parts lying around begging to be crossbowed up? Then the PSE TAC 15 crossbow upper is for you! (video). Or how about this Swiss crossbow that can be cocked in 3 seconds? Alternatively build your own, or even build a repeating crossbow!
posted by Artw (38 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
About time we had something to clear off all these damned vampires watching chicks sleep.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:45 PM on April 24, 2009 [1 favorite]


There's a flash movie thing of the Tac 15 as well, but it's rather complicated and confusing.
posted by Artw at 10:48 PM on April 24, 2009


What about the vampires that like cheeseburgers? Are they alright?
posted by P.o.B. at 11:04 PM on April 24, 2009


Being able to swap between a rifle and a crossbow? It sounds like a zombie hunting weapon (crossbow for silent, but high kinetic headshots, rifle for faster but louder headshots).
posted by mrzarquon at 11:17 PM on April 24, 2009


Crossaultrifow and "whisker biscuit" have a culinary and decadent ring. In the nightmare future of sugar prohibition this gun would fling noirish pastries from unmarked cars.

That Vintage Projects link alone is well worth an FPP.
posted by kid ichorous at 11:26 PM on April 24, 2009


Oh, too bad... I was hoping for the crossbow to be mounted on top of a fully functional AR-15, like an updated version of a bayonet.

"Ok, boys, let's take that hill! Fix crossbows! Charge!"
posted by Auden at 11:52 PM on April 24, 2009


I agree. Zombie hunting weapon.

I sort of want one, just to put in a case with "In case of Zombies break glass"
posted by strixus at 12:17 AM on April 25, 2009


That popular mechanics repeater-crossbow plans have been kicking around for decades. As with everyone else, it strikes me as neat. But...

Has anyone ever made one successfully? Has anyone ever even heard of anyone else making one successfully? Ever?
posted by -harlequin- at 12:22 AM on April 25, 2009


Where can I get a crossbow that shoots assault rifles? Let's say I've got a buddy who lives in the next apartment building over. If the streets were overrun with zombies, I'd want a way to fling him a rifle, now wouldn't I?

-------

(Obligatory Simpsons quote: "and that's how you can turn one gun...into five guns")
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:34 AM on April 25, 2009


I thought that you'd use the normal rifle for zombies and switch to the crossbow accessory for vampires. Get some silver rounds and you're good for the trifecta.
posted by cmyr at 4:24 AM on April 25, 2009


Artw = Metafilter's own Dwight Schrute?
posted by splatta at 5:18 AM on April 25, 2009


Has anyone ever made one successfully? Has anyone ever even heard of anyone else making one successfully? Ever?

Before TV became so widespread, people had a lot of spare time to kill. Although many men read these articles as they watch the "Yankee Home Workshop" nowadays, i.e., a way to scratch the itch to make something without actually doing it, in the old days guys were more handy. Now, many of my friends can't look at a hammer without a side trip to the hospital.
posted by digsrus at 5:35 AM on April 25, 2009


-harlequin- —

Here you go: video of a repeating crossbow made from those plans
posted by starvingartist at 5:48 AM on April 25, 2009 [1 favorite]


Has anyone ever made one successfully? Has anyone ever even heard of anyone else making one successfully? Ever?

The Chinese used repeating crossbows to defend against Mongol invaders hundreds of years ago.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:10 AM on April 25, 2009


On further searching, it seems the repeating crossbow goes back even farther:

"The earliest written references to repeating crossbows in China date back to around 220 B.C., during China's Han Dynasty. The genius of the weapon was that it could be easily fired and reloaded and fired again, all by moving a single lever forward and backward. In addition, the repeating crossbow weighed in at only 10 pounds, making it easy to carry and operate. By the 16th century, Chinese weapons makers could manufacture crossbows that held up to 10 bolts at a time; an experienced soldier could fire these 10 bolts in less than 15 seconds. By modern standards, these were not powerful weapons, but they made a strong impression on the battlefields of China up into the 19th century."
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 6:13 AM on April 25, 2009


The AR-15 crossbow seems like a beautifully engineered and designed waste of a perfectly good lower receiver (the gun part onto which the crossbow is mounted.)

The Swiss crossbow on the other hand is gorgeous and I want one.

I've just gotten back into archery so this is all quite timely.
posted by quin at 6:34 AM on April 25, 2009


shootability is not a word. *minces off*
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:00 AM on April 25, 2009


Unfortunately, I won't be taking any game with a crossbow anytime soon... unless I take a mongolian whistling arrow in the leg.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 7:42 AM on April 25, 2009


Got some spare AR-15 parts lying around begging to be crossbowed up?"

Why, I've got like hundreds of those lying around.
posted by dunkadunc at 8:53 AM on April 25, 2009


"That Vintage Projects link alone is well worth an FPP."

I totally agree.
posted by Mitheral at 9:04 AM on April 25, 2009


Gentlemen prefer Mongol bows.

Those things don't work very well in high humidity. That's why Genghis Khan never conquered the Indian subcontinent.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:19 AM on April 25, 2009


Yeah, the thing that made the Mongol bows so effective was the fact that they were a composite made from horn, wood, sinew and stuff. This allowed them to be really short, powerful, and able to be fired accurately from a charging horse. Unfortunately, the only thing they had to hold the composite together was animal glue which quickly breaks down when wet.

This means that Mongol bows could catastrophically fail in rain or heavy moisture.
posted by quin at 10:04 AM on April 25, 2009


StarvingArtist - thanks! That's great!

(Marisa - I'm aware there have been many repeating crossbows, it's just the popular mechanics one that I wanted to see. Those plans were cool when I was a little boy, but all my life since then, I've been coming across the plans but not anything built from them :-)
Until today!
posted by -harlequin- at 6:07 PM on April 25, 2009 [1 favorite]


In the video the TEC company clearly makes the claim that you can mount standard rail-mounted accessories to their crossbow frame. Including, but not limited to, underbarrel bipods, shotgun, grenade launcher and...


CHAINSAW?!?


Ok, these guy's should get some kind of award for pandering to the Geek demographic.
posted by Severian at 8:01 PM on April 25, 2009


Underbarrel paintball gun
posted by Artw at 8:11 AM on April 26, 2009


except that the underbarrel paintball gun probably is designed to fire teargas balls.
posted by Severian at 8:22 AM on April 26, 2009


.68 caliber, 8.5 gram projectiles - indelibable plain, washable paint, "clear impact"(?) and PAVA powder, which is some kind of evil pepperspray type thing.
posted by Artw at 9:07 AM on April 26, 2009


The Mefi chainsaw bayonet thread.
posted by Artw at 9:09 AM on April 26, 2009


Game developers - we are definately going to need that chainbow.
posted by Artw at 9:10 AM on April 26, 2009


A crossbow that shots chainsaws?
posted by Severian at 9:11 AM on April 26, 2009


The Scythian bow predates the Mongol bow by over 15 centuries and has many of the same features, and may have inspired the Mongol bow since remains of Scythian bows have been found near the Gobi desert. Btw, the Scythians -- an Indo-European group related to the Achaemenid Persians -- were also very effective mounted archers who were later incorporated into the Persian army (as were their weapons and tactics).

The Scythians were also among the first people to use cannabis "both for relaxation and religious ceremonies" and probably spread its use throughtout the ancient world. They Scythians disappeared long ago, but not before introducing their lethal bow, the scythe, and cannabis (use) to much of the old world.
posted by Devils Slide at 10:37 AM on April 26, 2009 [2 favorites]


Crossbow for firing bullets
posted by Artw at 3:01 PM on April 26, 2009


Completely off topic, but the Wikipedia article on Scythians mentions that their range extended into Southern Russia and that their burial mounds were known as "Kurgans", and now I'm left to wonder if the character from Highlanders name and origin was somehow derived from this strange little fact.
posted by quin at 5:17 PM on April 26, 2009


RAMIREZ!
posted by Artw at 5:30 PM on April 26, 2009


I can't fucking believe I screwed that up *blush*. Sorry. Here it is again: Scythian bow
posted by Devils Slide at 8:22 AM on April 27, 2009


Bah. A good archer with a bow and two arrows can defeat a man armed with a crossbow in a duel. Thorgal proved that.
posted by homunculus at 9:08 AM on April 27, 2009


Thorgal bad-ass-ness aside, the key is a good archer. That is what made the crossbow so dangerous was that you didn't need men who had trained their whole lives as archers to be deadly.

Hell, because of its ability to level the playing field between trained soldiers and peasants, for a while the Catholic Church condemned the use of the crossbow as unfit for Christian use (except against infidels, naturally).

So you know it had to be awesome!
posted by quin at 9:27 AM on April 27, 2009


So, why does this thing need a heat disbursing foregrip?
posted by Pollomacho at 9:35 AM on April 27, 2009


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