Are these legal in Ireland

Are these "Crossbow pistols" legal in Ireland? This one is listed as plastic and weighs less than a pound or something. I'm unsure. It's for a production and I can get a prop design firm to make me an authentic crossbow that would shoot fake plastic arrows at low speed but will run me about €250-€350 where as this is only like a €10. The big question is, is this legal?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-50LB-Crossbow-Pistol/dp/B00AVZFSF6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1358527148&sr=8-3

Neutron_pot

Any crossbow over a joule in power is classified as a firearm . . . to give you an idea a paintball gun is about 3 joules in power.


But to be perfectly honest that crossbow your looking is looks like a no good, cheap toy . . and as you say yourself its plastic and light. i cant see it being more than a joule..... or lasting for that matter.

I reckon your safe

Neutron_pot

Neutron_pot wrote: »

Any crossbow over a joule in power is classified as a firearm . . . to give you an idea a paintball gun is about 3 joules in power.


But to be perfectly honest that crossbow your looking is looks like a no good, cheap toy . . and as you say yourself its plastic and light. i cant see it being more than a joule..... or lasting for that matter.

I reckon your safe

Thanks, it's just more for appearance and set than actually using it.

Here's the Description of the CB for those who don't want to click the link:

"50LBS Crossbow (Plastic) Specifications: 50 DRAW WEIGHT 150 FPS 5" POWER STROKE 6.5" BOLT RECOMMENDED 0.88lb WEIGHT 12.8" LENGTH x 16.5" WIDTH METAL LIMB PLASTIC BARREL"

goose banker

I'd say that x bow is shooting bolts well in excess of 1 Joule of energy and therefore not legal without a firearm certificate.

To work out the kinetic energy (KE) of the bolt in Joules you need 2 things- the velocity (v) and the mass (m). I'll work it out using metric/SI units which is mass measured in kilograms and velocity measured in metres per second.

The formula is simple: KE = m X (v X v) / 2 {in other words mass by velocity squared all divided by 2}

We don't have a mass for the bolt but I know my recurve arrow is 21 grams or 0.021 kilograms. That X bow is firing a small bolt so lets take a guess and say it is 10 grams, or 0.010kg for arguments sake.

We have the velocity stated at 150 feet per second. converting that to metres per second we have approximately 46 metres per second.

So kinetic energy using the formula would be: KE = 0.010 X (46 X 46) /2

= 0.010 (2116) / 2

= 21.16 / 2

=10.58J

So your little X bow, using my guess at the mass of the bolt is putting out about 10.6 times the legal limit without holding a firearm licence.

Even if you guess the mass of the bolt at half that again, you're still 5 times the limit....eye opening

[edited for spelling]

Well.... That's kinda crazy. Couldn't purchase anyway, shipping restrictions thank god.

Got a cool super fake toy one which I'll just paint black and it shall be fine!

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/221140564919?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649