Speed & Range of a Longbow

In its heyday, the English longbow was considered an indispensable fixture on the military battlefield because of its range and penetrating power. Though the longbow was accurate from long distances, becoming a skilled longbowman could take years of intense training. To make it effective at long range, the longbow had to be highly tensioned, making it difficult to draw and aim. Though the longbow gave way to firearms, many archers and hunters alike remain who still prefer its traditional speed and range.

  1. Speed

    • The speed with which an arrow flies from a longbow varies based on the wood construction and the distance between the nocks (notches for the bow string). These variations affect the draw weight and the draw length of the bow string. Using a chronograph and a variety of wood types, Green Man Longbows estimated the speed of a traditional English longbow to range between 160 and 177 feet per second (fps). The site also found the speed of modern laminated longbows, featuring many different combinations of layered wood, to range between 136 and 183 fps.

    Range

    • Historians dispute the range of the traditional medieval English longbow. According to Robert E. Kaiser, many sources report the effective range of medieval longbows to range from 180 to 249 yards. However, Kaiser reports that current bowmen in the Queen's Body Guard for Scotland, who still use yew bows 6 feet in length, have an effective range of 180 and 200 yards.

    Features

    • The traditional longbow is made from a solid piece of wood stock, usually yew, using both the more flexible outer sapwood and inner hardwood, which provides the necessary tension. Modern longbows are usually laminated flat, using two or three wood layers of different types. Longbows are simple in construction but large --- around 6 feet in length --- and difficult to shoot accurately when compared with modern compound bows.

    History

    • Used for protection and hunting for thousands of years, the medieval English longbow gained the most recognition for range and accuracy. First used by the Welsh, then adopted by the English, this longbow proved an indispensable asset on the battlefield, allowing armies to stage an attack from hundreds of yards away. Due to the long range and speed of the arrows, longbows could pierce the armor of heavily armed cavalry as well. The design elements of the traditional longbow have remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years.