In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
On 04/11/2020 09:22, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Wed, 4 Nov 2020 08:08:56 +0000, jim.gm4dhj wrote:

I had a crossbow because of willian tell on the telly in the 50's
Some one made, in the mid '70's, with permission of parents and
school, a full sized practical crossbow in wood work/metal work at
secondary school. When it was ready for a test firing we all went out
onto the playing field to watch. The bolt went beyond a hedge a
several hundred yards away...

My friend made a ball bearing cannon - steel tube on a block with a
banger contents inside it. A quite snug fitting ball bearing was tamped
on top and some Jetex fuse was inserted into a breech hole. We aimed it
at the cast metal sign on the side of a tennis court, that ended up
with a neat 1/4" hole in it. It was never fired again...

Starting pistol blank cartridges were readily available when I was 15.



--
Tim Lamb