3 ms·
The Terracotta Army crossbow that could shoot twice as far as a modern-day rifle
- eesmith 5y agoFrom 2015. Relevant line: "The crossbow, which was found intact this week, could have shot an arrow up to 2,600 feet." The "modern-day rifle" is a summary of the linked-to page saying: "The strong crossbow can shoot up to seven or eight hundred meters, which is twice the effective range of the AK47." The AK-47's design is 70 years old, with an effective range of 350 m - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47 . What about somethings a bit more modern than that? The AK-47's replacement is the AK-74, with an effective range of 800 m (area target) and 3,150 m maximum range - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-74 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-74 . An M16 has an effective range of 2,625 feet for an area target, says https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M16_rifle , and a maximum firing range of 3,937 yards. As https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbow points out, "Han soldiers were required to pull a crossbow with a draw weight equivalent of 76 kg (168 pounds) to qualify as an entry level crossbowman."