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Worldbuilding

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  • $\begingroup$ "Why waste time pulling back the bowstring?" Maybe in order to accumulate energy at a lower power rating for release at a higher power rating. A crossbow typically pushes some 200 J into the bolt in say 10 milliseconds, for a power of about 20 kW. $\endgroup$ Commented 16 hours ago
  • $\begingroup$ Re weight: who says you have to carry the weapon in your hands while firing? Late medieval hand cannons were often fired while bracing them on a pronged stick or other support. $\endgroup$ Commented 15 hours ago
  • $\begingroup$ Early coiled springs were used for clocks, where they only had to store a small amount of energy sufficient to overcome the internal friction of the mechanism. I agree one large enough to store the kinetic energy of multiple crossbow bolts would be quite unwieldy, if it's even possible at all. $\endgroup$ Commented 14 hours ago
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    $\begingroup$ Coil springs are generally not efficient for bursts of kinetic energy. They are good at slow, controlled releases of energy, but not so much powerful ones. $\endgroup$ Commented 14 hours ago
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP That's a good point. The unwinding spring must push that hard, but might not be capable of pushing that fast. $\endgroup$ Commented 12 hours ago