[Ansteorra-archery] Bullet bows - allowed?

[Eadric Anstapa]

The would not be allowed.

First, yes I do recognize that bullet bows and stonebows are period.
 No arguement there.

However, that type of ammo is not allowed by the SCA Target Archery
rules.  The rules say:

Arrows and Bolts
  1. All shafts shall be of wood or of bamboo-like materials.
  2. Both self and footed shafts are permitted.
  3. No broadheads or tips that cause excessive damage to the 
     targets shall be used, except for special competitions using 
     these heads with the permission of the Target Archery 
     Marshal-in-Charge and the Kingdom Archery Marshal.
  4. Fletched arrows and bolts shall have feathers or other pre-17th 
     century material. Plastic vanes are not allowed.
  5. Nocks for arrows, and caps, rings, or nocks for bolts may be 
     of any material, provided they are securely attached.


Thats it.  No other type of missiles are mentioned as being allowed.

Bear in mind that our rules CAN NOT document the infinite
possibilities of what will not be allowed.  

All we can hope to do is document the finite number of items that we
will allow.

Since stones and bullets as missiles are not explicitly allowed,
they are implicitly denied.

Why are they not allowed?  Why are there very strict limits to the
types of bats allowed in major league baseball?  Why limit the bat
to 2.75" in diamter?  Why only solid wood bats?  Why not aluminum or
titanium or carbon fibre bats?  Why only 18 inches of grip allowed
on the bat?  

Because that is the way the game is played.  Keep it simple.  

  *  Marshals need to be familiar with the equipment that would be 
     used and they would not be familar with stone/bullet bows. 
  *  To keep things as fair as possible people need to all be 
     shooting similar equipment and projectiles and many percieve 
     that there are already too many dissimilarities for a level 
     playing field when you have people shooting period self bows in 
     a competition against crossbows and modern recurves.  
  *  The branches need to have targets and butts to accomodate the 
     equipment they expect to be used.  Their equipment my not be 
     suitable for these projectiles.

We publish rules, set limits, and everybody knows what to expect
within those limits.

Now, having said all of that if someone was doing research on period
stone and bullet bows and wished to have an exhibition then I am
reasonably sure that the Kindom and Society Archery Marshals would
be happy to accomodate you and allow these to be used on specific
occasions as one time exceptions for exhibition.  Likewise if you
were to dig up a bunch of stone/bullet bow enthusiasts then I bet
you would be allowed to hold a tournament.

I would not expect them to be allowed as a general rule any time soon.

Regards,

-- 
HL Eadric Anstapa
DSEM CA
eadric at scabrewer.com


  

David Ruff <davidsbox01 at yahoo.com> said:

> --0-37283802-1116352469=:65338
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> 
> 
> Has a Bullet bow ever been allowed to shoot in competition in this
area?
> 
> By bullet bow i mean one that shoots a ball thru a barrel. Its
power source is a prod much like a crossbow, but with a barrel. 
> 
> Of course one would have to count holes and use there own target
butt for face targets etc. But i am curious as i have built one and
it is a very period, documentable build. 
>
> Power is within allowable poundage limits of crossbows and the
ball weighes about the same as a bolt. Range (of mine atleast) is
under what my competition bow's range is. 
> 
> You know me - i like mixing it up :)
> 
>  
> 
> If not allowed why? 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Ulrich
> 
>  
> 
> 		
> ---------------------------------
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> --0-37283802-1116352469=:65338
> Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
> 
> <P>Has a Bullet bow ever been allowed to shoot in competition in
this area?</P>
> <P>By bullet bow i mean one that shoots a ball thru a barrel. Its
power source is a prod much like a crossbow, but with a barrel. </P>
> <P>Of course one would have to count holes and use there
own target butt for face targets etc. But i am curious as
i have built one and it is a very period, documentable build. </P>
> <P>Power is within allowable poundage limits of crossbows and the
ball weighes about the same as a bolt. Range (of mine atleast) is
under what my competition bow's range is. </P>
> <P>You know me - i like mixing it up :)</P>
> <P> </P>
> <P><U><STRONG>If not allowed why?</STRONG></U> </P>
> <P> </P>
> <P>Thanks</P>
> <P>Ulrich</P>