Der Regensburger Schnepper und seine Entwicklung

Abstract

Prior to the exhibition on the Regensburg crossbow society “Großer Stahl" in 2013 the author could study the crossbow stock of the Historical Museum in Regensburg. There are a total number of 15 weapons and fragments mostly from the local crossbow shooters. Beside weapons with cranequin the collection includes a number of Schnepper crossbows from Regensburg. The last-mentioned pieces form a distinctive typological group. Their construction is related to other Bavarian/Austrian crossbow forms.
The Regensburg crossbowmen lost their firing range in the Thirty Years War and in 1666 they got a new house at the town wall. Shooting with Schnepper crossbows ("Schnäpperl") originally was an activity for younger participants. The latter designation is assigned to the objects presented in the article. They all were bent by a one-armed lever, which is hooked into a ring at the front end of the weapon. And they all have a flap lock (fig. 2) and a double sight, which consists of an adjustable diopter and an open front/rear sight (fig. 3).
The earliest crossbow of this type (fig. 1), dated “1612”, shows a light steelbow, fixed in a heavy wooden tiller by means of wedges from wood and iron. The renewed string was made in the traditional manner. The flap lock comes with a set trigger and an additional pin for supporting the forefinger. The tiller shows an open rear sight on a brass spring and a diopter sight, adjustable by a wing nut (fig 3, above). The other pieces, presented by the author, have apparently developed from this early form.
Traditional Austrian shooters today use match crossbows (the so-called "Stahel"), which have developed from Austrian weapons similar to the Regensburg Schnepper crossbows.