Aldarion
Archmage
Inspired by statement in "Bullets vs armour" thread.
That is... well, it depends. On the armour, and on the arrow. Properly made and maintained plate armour was more-or-less impervious to arrows even at point-blank. Problem is, medieval armour would have impurities, and was not always well maintained.
This is the only really accurate video I know of (as in, replicates properties of both arrows and armour of the period):
Most other videos make mistakes which result in biased outcome (either too weak bows - low draw weight, inexpert archer, wrongly-made arrow heads; or else too strong or too weak armour - inaccurate materials, inaccurate shaping etc.). This test however:
1) Guy shoots a 200-lbs longbow. As I recall, Mary Rose longbows were about 150 - 200 lbs draw weight. So, historically accurate.
2) Arrows are made by a full-time fletcher and arrowsmith, by medieval methods.
3) Armour is also made by an armourer who specializes in smithing with 15-th century smithing methods, and who also does conservation metalwork.
They first did some test shots. At 25 meters, arrow has energy of 109 joules. He also states that he shoots at 160 lbs, but can shoot at 200 lbs; however, 160 lbs bow was more likely the one used for warfare, as a 200 lbs bow tires archer out too quickly (so what I got from that is: you train with 200 lbs bow so that you can actually utilize 160 lbs bow in battle). Both bow and arrows are based on the Mary Rose finds.
Armour is based on 1390 breastplate; it has physical design and carbon content of the original, as well as its weight and dimensions. Thickness is 2,5 mm in the center, and tapers off to 1,5 mm at the sides. Original breastplates would max out at 0,6% carbon content, while this piece has 0,5% carbon content so it is closer to the average. It is also made the same way as the original (e.g. air-cooling). Plate is backed by riveted mail and arming doublet. Everything is placed on ballistic gel, which compresses like human body would; the only shortcoming I can see is that ballistic gel has no bones, and even bullets can deflect off e.g. ribs.
In tests, arrow penetrates mail and padding as if it weren't there, but simply deflects off the plate.
Also, arrows are not reusable. Unless they miss, the head breaks off at the impact. However, case-hardened arrowheads do bite more than non-hardened arrowheads.
EDIT:
Later part of the test includes addition of textile armour over plate. It acts as "arrow catcher", and stops arrows from exploding. It also reduces impression on the armour - there are no deep dents from when textile armour was used over the plate
At 10 meters, with no textile again, arrow makes deeper impact but still fails to get through.
This is good addition to the video by scholagladiatoria:
Maybe a medieval-like steel armor would need to be very thick and heavy in order to stop bullets, I am not sure. After all, medieval armor could be pierced by bodkin-style arrows shot from a short distance.
That is... well, it depends. On the armour, and on the arrow. Properly made and maintained plate armour was more-or-less impervious to arrows even at point-blank. Problem is, medieval armour would have impurities, and was not always well maintained.
This is the only really accurate video I know of (as in, replicates properties of both arrows and armour of the period):
Most other videos make mistakes which result in biased outcome (either too weak bows - low draw weight, inexpert archer, wrongly-made arrow heads; or else too strong or too weak armour - inaccurate materials, inaccurate shaping etc.). This test however:
1) Guy shoots a 200-lbs longbow. As I recall, Mary Rose longbows were about 150 - 200 lbs draw weight. So, historically accurate.
2) Arrows are made by a full-time fletcher and arrowsmith, by medieval methods.
3) Armour is also made by an armourer who specializes in smithing with 15-th century smithing methods, and who also does conservation metalwork.
They first did some test shots. At 25 meters, arrow has energy of 109 joules. He also states that he shoots at 160 lbs, but can shoot at 200 lbs; however, 160 lbs bow was more likely the one used for warfare, as a 200 lbs bow tires archer out too quickly (so what I got from that is: you train with 200 lbs bow so that you can actually utilize 160 lbs bow in battle). Both bow and arrows are based on the Mary Rose finds.
Armour is based on 1390 breastplate; it has physical design and carbon content of the original, as well as its weight and dimensions. Thickness is 2,5 mm in the center, and tapers off to 1,5 mm at the sides. Original breastplates would max out at 0,6% carbon content, while this piece has 0,5% carbon content so it is closer to the average. It is also made the same way as the original (e.g. air-cooling). Plate is backed by riveted mail and arming doublet. Everything is placed on ballistic gel, which compresses like human body would; the only shortcoming I can see is that ballistic gel has no bones, and even bullets can deflect off e.g. ribs.
In tests, arrow penetrates mail and padding as if it weren't there, but simply deflects off the plate.
Also, arrows are not reusable. Unless they miss, the head breaks off at the impact. However, case-hardened arrowheads do bite more than non-hardened arrowheads.
EDIT:
Later part of the test includes addition of textile armour over plate. It acts as "arrow catcher", and stops arrows from exploding. It also reduces impression on the armour - there are no deep dents from when textile armour was used over the plate
At 10 meters, with no textile again, arrow makes deeper impact but still fails to get through.
This is good addition to the video by scholagladiatoria:
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