火枪之前的远程大杀器——十字弩

整体全貌

时代：约1720年~1730年

地域文化：欧洲， 德国，可能出自德累斯顿

中世纪欧洲最强大的弹射式武器——弩，在十六世纪中期因手持火器效能提升而逐渐退出战场。

然而，凭借精准度高、发射声响小及射程远（依武器规格可达四百码）等优势，弩作为运动器械，在靶场射击特别是狩猎领域仍广受欢迎。

中欧地区广泛使用的重型弩常用于大型猎物狩猎，配有硕大的枪形枪托，常镶嵌饰有雕刻图案的鹿角片。弩弓与击发机构虽由专业匠人打造，但枪托的制作则与火器枪托出自同一批工匠和装饰师之手。

轻型弩在意大利与法国得到发展，此类被称为"投石弩"的器械专门发射石弹或陶丸（而非箭矢），以避免损坏狐、貂等小动物的珍贵毛皮。它们轻便易装填，采用果木制成的独特弓形枪托，常施以精细雕刻或骨片镶嵌装饰。

材质： 钢、木（胡桃木）、鹿角、铜合金、大麻纤维、皮革、丝绸、金、铁合金、羊毛

尺寸： 弩：长 26 15/16 英寸（68.4 厘米）；宽 29 7/8 英寸（75.8 厘米）；重 13 磅 15 盎司（6329 克）；卷弦器：长 14 英寸（35.5 厘米）；宽 4 1/8 英寸（10.4 厘米）；重 5 磅 3 盎司（2341 克）

分类： 射击器械-弩

The most powerful projectile weapon during the Middle Ages, the crossbow had gone out of general use in warfare by the mid-sixteenth century, as a result of the increasing efficiency of hand-held firearms.

The crossbow remained popular, however, as a sporting weapon for target shooting and particularly for the hunt, because of its precision, quiet discharge, and the range of its projectiles—up to four hundred yards, depending on the size of the weapon. 、

Heavy crossbows, widely used in central Europe for big-game hunting, had massive gun-shaped stocks, often veneered or inlaid with engraved staghorn.

While the bows and the release mechanisms were the work of specialists, the stocks were made by the same artisans and decorators who provided stocks for firearms.