American frontiersmen use longbows as well as muskets/rifles

[Melvin Loh]

So WI the likes of Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone had become as good marksmen with the bow & arrow as with their firearms ?

[Flocculencio]

They'd have had a lot less time to go wandering. Training to use a longbow properly takes years of dedicated practice.

[Ran Exilis]

Flocc's absolutely right.

Crossbows however, are a completely different story...

[Flocculencio]

Originally Posted by Ran Exilis

Flocc's absolutely right.

Crossbows however, are a completely different story...

That's true. I'm not sure if a crossbow would take longer to crank up than an early-19th C musket would take to reload. IIRC trained British regulars could fire three or four times a minute with their muskets so I'll assume the same for Crockett and his ilk. That's probably a bit faster than a crossbow though the crossbow could probably get a bit more accuracy.

[Chengar Qordath]

Originally Posted by Flocculencio

That's true. I'm not sure if a crossbow would take longer to crank up than an early-19th C musket would take to reload. IIRC trained British regulars could fire three or four times a minute with their muskets so I'll assume the same for Crockett and his ilk. That's probably a bit faster than a crossbow though the crossbow could probably get a bit more accuracy.

The firing rate of a crossbow depends a lot on how heavy the draw is and what kind of reloading mechanism it uses; I'd assume if they're going to use a crossbow they'll use one of the more practical fast-firing ones that can put out about four shots a minute. However, that really doesn't give an advantage compared to a gun, especially since skilled bowmakers and fletchers are going to be fairly hard to find compared to gunsmiths.

[EmptyOne]

Originally Posted by Flocculencio

IIRC trained British regulars could fire three or four times a minute with their muskets so I'll assume the same for Crockett and his ilk.

Frontiersmen took much longer to load than soldiers. Carefully measured powder, freshly greased patches, trimmed musketballs and longer barrels all add to load time ... and accuracy.

[The Mists Of Time]

As I read this two thoughts come to my mind.

During The Revolutionary War, I believe gunpowder pretty much had to be imported, so they tried to conserve on gunpowder. Had frontiersmen been as accurate with a longbow, or better still a crossbow, and had a number of Continental soldiers been equipped with crossbows, it might have made the gunpowder concerns less of a problem. Perhaps more powder could have been reserved for cannons.

An advantage for the bow is that a rifle makes a loud sharp "crack" when it fires. If you cannot see where a shot came from, you can hear just about where it came from. The bow, even the arrow in flight is almost silent.

I'm thinking in TTL frontiersmen would probably have used a crossbow instead of a longbow. Easier to learn to use, smaller and easier to carry, more accurate. While it would be hard for a crossbow to replace the handgun, there might have been somewhat less reliance on firearms. Hunters today might hunt with crossbows, gun collectors might have several crossbows in their collection.

Had the crossbow figured prominantly in America's westward movement, the crossbow today might be as much a part of America's gun mentality as rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Had that been the case it would be interesting to see the technology of today's crossbows in terms of power, accuracy, and ease of use.

[Flocculencio]

Originally Posted by EmptyOne

Frontiersmen took much longer to load than soldiers. Carefully measured powder, freshly greased patches, trimmed musketballs and longer barrels all add to load time ... and accuracy.

Ah, so more comparable to riflemen.