rj1

-Quiet.
-Light.
-Small.
-No metal.
-Little maintenance.
-Most are cheaper than your run-of-the-mill AK47 I'd imagine.
-Pretty accurate over a long distance (with practice).

Ironduke

They were used by the Montagnards who fought with the SOG in Vietnam.

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omon

it takes a while to reload, range is limited,

have you ever owned one??? cuz i do, i,d take a .22 rifle over any crossbow anytime, and if i need to be quiet, i'll put a plastic bottle on the barrel, it works, i tryed.

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Cactus

Modern suppressed pistols and smgs are just as quiet, much more compact, require less skill and safer to carry around when it needs to be used quickly. Crossbows used to be popular until 1980s, even mid-90s, with some such users.

omon

they are still popular as novelty, and hunting equipment(in some states)

arrows much more deflect due to wind than a bullet.

rj1

Ok. Thanks for your response, No, I've never used or owned one. Just looked at ones at places like Bass Pro.

Gun Grape

Huum, Sniper weapon. Which will I choose? The M40A2 Sniper rifle that can drive tacks at 1000 Meters or a crossbow with a max range of maybe 200 yds.

Sounds like a no brainer to me. For guys like SEALs, Recon and Army Special Forces that need a close in silent weapon to take out sentries and such, A suppress pistol does a much better job. Easier to carry, faster reload time.

GraniteForge

Not as quiet as some locked-breech, suppressed guns (albeit the sound signature is different and not as readily identified by untrained personnel).

Quality crossbows are specialty items, tend to include metal parts (don't know why you included that) and cost substantially more than a "run-of-the-mill AK47," or most other AK47s, for that matter. They also require significantly more training to use effectively.

tankie

Cheapskate

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Triple C

Taiwanese SF occassionally whips out their tricked-out crossbows on publicized exercizes. It is probably for the media and the legislature's benefit, though.

Gotta look like Rambo before budget gets passed....

Anyone of you gents actually owns a quality modern crossbow? Can those things actually go through a steel pot?

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omon

really, it works, i put a bottle over to collect patches, and cleaning solution, not to make a mess while cleaning, than i thought, "they showed it in the movies pbly b.s. like most of their stuff, let me try), it worked better than i expected, thou first shot made the bottle fly away, i took smaller neck bottle, and hose clamp, and it worked, got me in little troble with range attendant, good thing he knew me well, he just told me not to do it again.
anything bigger than .22 i doubt it would work,

omon

never tryed shooting at the steel pot, but if it is made of steel thicker than 1\16, i seriously doubt, most likely the arrow will bend, without going thru.
i did however shoot at old car door, it whent right thru, leaving stabilizers on the ground, ripped them right off of the arrow. and bent the arrow too.

cape_royds

WRT to "no metal," it would be a selling point for an urban guerrilla who might face metal detectors. What brings that to mind was a visit I made to Cairo a few years ago, where I found metal detectors ubiquitous in the downtown parts of the city.

Probably also the reason the OP compared the price to an AK-47.

Now would a crossbow bolt punch through Kevlar?

omon

easy, you can even punch thru kevlar with a knife, or a needle.

tankie

, i reckon it will only moderate the sound on .22 sub sonic ammo , and fail on H/V