nasty neighbour with a crossbow!

[Shooter560]

What sort of crossbow?? If it's one of the little 80lb recurve pistol bows then its probably quite safe, despite what many will say they only put out about 4-6 FPE. If it's something bigger shooting a heavier arrow with a compound prod then neither the dartboard, shed, or fence may provide an adequate backstop.

I've shot an arrow clean through 4mm thick steel plate at 120 yards from my 59lb target compound bow (Not a crossbow, a proper bow). Quite impressive but it wrecked a £20 arrow from a matched dozen.

I don't reckon your in the wrong at all as long as you are shooting safely, certainly the crossbow has a worse image than an airgun in the eyes of populace and there is very little reason to own one. Certainly shooting one in the garden gives you little to complain about if your neighbour is shooting airguns.

"Not a crossbow, a proper bow"....good old bow snobbery in full effect as usual.....

Crossbows are still used by many armies across the world for various reasons, I don't get why archers are so down on them. I've got an Armex Titan(200lb draw, claimed 380fps) and use it safely in my garden using a Third Hand Rag Bag as a target. I'd argue crossbows are more safe than the average PROPER bow....my neighbour has a recurve bow and has done archery for years, he can't hit 2" groupings at 40yards. I can....
(Ah, that's why archers are probably down on them...I can consistently achieve the same results with a £245 kit that an archer would need to spend a grand on, like a Hoyt?)

Anyway, I digress....As long as you both have effective and sensible backstops and don't go out firing/shooting when under the influence of anything then you should both be ok?

If he has a high powered crossbow, look at what he's aiming at and it it isn't capable of stopping the arrows(they're not technically bolts unless they have no fletchings/vanes), point it out to him and if he gets his back up and won't see sense then maybe give the plod a phone.....they may be able to "advise" what he needs...

Regardless of our choice(s) of bow/rifle, responsible usage is the most important thing....

Firstly yes a Crossbow is a bow, just of a different form, I'd suggest a crossbow is best compared to a rifle whereas a bow that requires lifting, drawing and holding is akin to a pistol. Both very good in their own terms and both very capable of killing in the wrong or right hands. Unfortunately though anyone who can hold and pull a trigger can hit most things with a crossbow, hence young ignorant scrots use them to shot cats etc

On grouping, I'd also say a 2" group at 40yds is what a beginner should aim to do, on national squad we used to have to shoot 3 shots at 50m and try not damage arrows, at 30m we went to 3 spot faces when possible again to save damage, this was with both recurve and compound using 4.5mm X10's. I still have probably a dozen or so x10 shafts kicking about the garage that were robin hooded at 90 and 70m.


Back to the OP's question, I'd be more worried about someone shooting a crossbow in their garden than an air pistol. If in doubt report to the police and see how they feel

[Snooper601]

I still have probably a dozen or so x10 shafts kicking about the garage that were robin hoodel

You need to get onto Mythbusters mate, they spent ages recently trying to "do a Robin Hood" and concluded that it was impossible.If you can prove it to them fame and fortune await!

Cheers

John

[danam1]

You need to get onto Mythbusters mate, they spent ages recently trying to "do a Robin Hood" and concluded that it was impossible.If you can prove it to them fame and fortune await!

Cheers

John

I think you will find archers " Robin Hood " quite frequently ( inadvertently of course!).

[Daryll]

You need to get onto Mythbusters mate, they spent ages recently trying to "do a Robin Hood" and concluded that it was impossible.If you can prove it to them fame and fortune await!

Cheers

John

Ah, but they were trying to do the old "split an arrow from nock to point" thing, which they decided was impossible in reality.... I think they did talk to an archer expert and he showed them some that had been "Robin Hood'ed" as we know it today.

[Shooter560]

Ah, but they were trying to do the old "split an arrow from nock to point" thing, which they decided was impossible in reality.... I think they did talk to an archer expert and he showed them some that had been "Robin Hood'ed" as we know it today.

Quite right, they were trying to do it with solid wooden shafts, whereas modern ones are hollow tubes with plastic nocks which explode/deform when hit and as they found out in that episode its quite easy to robin hood a shaft, though they did test it at close distance not proper target distances and by a target archer

[blooregard]

We had someone robin hood an arrow about a month ago at 70 metres, it happens quite a lot. We were running a beginners course with some kids on it at the time who had all seen Brave (The girl Robin Hoods an arrow in one scene), they thought it was excellent when I showed them the arrow. Generally when it does happen it goes up on the wall in our club house so we have quite a few of them, some still with the second arrow embedded.

With a wooden arrow you just tend to shoot the nock off and the second arrow deflects from the taper, if you use self nocks I imagine it could be just possible to split a weak shaft along the grain of the arrow if you have incorrectly nocked them parallel to the grain and you hit the first arrow perfectly.