17thC Balestrino crossbow - SOLD

Very little is known about these small medieval and renaissance crossbows and there are very few in existence, but all were loaded with a screw jack in the grip and usually had a top trigger and were often highly decorated. This example has a mounted bronze lion at the end of the grip and comes with three bolts. 

They are also known as assassins crossbows, though the low impact energy really counts this out, so we suspect they were rich men's ‘executive toys’ rather than weapons.

The bow has a high poundage at 220lb, but the short draw length means this cannot be translated into a powerful shot. However they are great fun. See one here on a YouTube film from the past. 

This one is IN STOCK and available to buy and ship immediately. 

Specification

• All steel, body trigger and bow
• Waxed silk string
• Inbuilt screw jack
• Range (not really applicable) around 80m/90yds