Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is lovely early 18th century crossbow from the European Continent, featuring a lovely fruitwood stock, shaped much like a gun stock. It features love brass fittings of butt plate, trigger guard, side plates, nose fitting, and even the “lock” mechanism that holds the string back. The flight groove on top is well executed though it is not lined with metal or horn. The “bow” portion is a single piece of spring steel, and there is a small retainer on the end of each limb to hold the sturdy string in place.
The firing mechanism has a brass plate that holds the string in place behind a horn fitting, and pulling the trigger causes it to pop up, releasing the string. There is also a brass and horn fitting at the end of the groove that we assume holds the bolts in place, or may be for attaching to some kind of mount. There is also a small wing nut under the nose cap, which pushes this fitting upwards. There is an iron bar through the front, probably used to help “cock” the crossbow. Stock measures approximately 36″ long by 1 1/4″ wide and 7 1/2″ tall. The bow measures approximately 31 1/4″ wide.
Condition is very good, with exceptional eye appeal. There is however signs of past wood worm damage to the stock, so we definitely do not recommend any attempts at using the crossbow. It is being sold as a display piece only.