Basic Ballistics

[The Frying Weegee]

Basic Ballistics
Volume I
1st Edition

By Peroppi Rini

This book focuses on launchers of projectiles, and the parts used in them.

 

Crossbow:
Overview

An easy to use, simple weapon that can cause a large amount of damage, with the ability to wind it back with the use of a winch or lever further than most bows, it can make the bolts that it fires pierce tough armour. The crossbow comes in two main variants, a lever operated crossbow, and a winch operated crossbow. A third type, the Arbalest, is the largest handheld ranged weapon there is, and is so large that it requires a windlass to reload. The projectile a crossbow uses is called a bolt.

Parts Involved

The crossbow is basically a bow, mounted on a stock, with a pin or a similar device to hold the string, which is connected to a trigger, which when pulled, releases the string, and the projectile that is is holding is fired. The winch or lever is used to make it easier and possible to draw back the bowstring further than most arms could alone.

How it Works

After the bowstring is drawn back, either by the winch or lever, and the projectile is mounted, all the user has to do is to take aim and pull the trigger, releasing the pin, launching the projectile from the bow at the target.

 

Trebuchet
Overview

The trebuchet is basically a catapult that uses a counterweight to fire the projectile. It can fire heavy projectiles at high speed, devastating enemy fortifications on impact.

Parts Involved

The Trebuchet is made up of a sling, which is where the projectile is placed before firing, and increases the power behind the projectile from the counterweight further. The sling is attached to a throwing arm, which is long and multiplies the speed of the projectile on launch. The throwing arm is attached to an axle, which it rotates around when launching the projectile.On the opposite end of the throwing arm to the Sling is the counterweight, which provides the force to launch the projectile. The counterweight is held in place with a trigger to release it.

How it Works

When the Trebuchet is loaded, the operator simply has to pull the trigger, releasing the counterweight, which swings itself and the arm forward, with the sling following. The sling releases the projectile at the vertical position, putting most of the power it has gathered into the projectile it fires.

 

Onager
Overview

The onager is a catapult that recieves the power to launch its projectile from a twised rope. It is a simpler weapon than a ballista or a trebuchet.

Parts Involved

As previously stated, the onager is a simpler weapon than the Ballista or Trebuchet. It is made from a wooden frame, with a wooded spoke with a bowl shaped bucket for holding projectiles and a rope, which the other end is attached to a windlass. The other end of the spoke is attached to an axle, to enable it to fire the projectile. The rope is held in place before being fired by a pin, which make sure it doesn't misfire.

 

How it Works

The windlass is wound up, creating tension in the rope that is connected to the spoke and held in place by a pin. When it is fully wound and the projectile has been placed in the bucked, that pin is hit with a hammer, releasing the tension and launching the projectile.