A friend of mine approached with me an interesting quandary: could you make a crossbow that still has the bow part to it, but doesn't use it to fire the projectile. Projectile is fired by a spring. Still looks period, but doesn't actually works that way. Still remains under 15lb test. Thanks, and I will modify this post with further thoughts.
This is interesting. How would one write a rule to covered spring propelled weapons?
1) One must not be able to insert a 1/4 inch wooden dowel between any two adjacent portions of a tensioned (ready to fire) spring. (How to solve: don't stretch the spring much or enclose the spring?)
2) The spring must not exceed X pounds of pull (measured by '*', 'charging', or otherwise putting the weapon into battery, the weapon with a fishing-scale used to pull the spring/carrier/charging handle/etc. to ready the weapon.)
3) The weapon must past a hit test when used with otherwise passing bolt/arrows.