How far could an English war bow shoot?

There is evidence of English longbows shooting farther than 250 yards, particularly at Crecy, where the longer bowshots were around 300 yards.

There is no good answer to the question asked. Depends on what kind of bow, culture and other factors like professional soldier archer verses conscript. How tall and strong the person is.

Many people look at English Long Bow which according to historic records found in several museums suggest 200 to 300 yards is the effective range for targeted shooting. Accuracy as in hitting a bulls eye type of target (8-10 inch circle) is generally around 150 to 200 yards. Wartime targeting is within 18 to 24 inches which was effective up to 250 yards.

Barrage shooting where you are not trying to hit a specific target can have ranges between 300 to as much as 650 yards. There is references during the Crusades of archers sitting where they draw with 2 arms against legs and feet for maximum distance. This was especially the case during the second battle of Acre which decimated the Christian army as the muslims were firing volleys well out of range. That type of bow had a draw weight of about 150lbs or so. I remember reading in the British national museum that a person could not draw that type of bow without sitting and using two arms.

So, how far can a person shoot an arrow? Depends on person and type of bow. The answer is anywhere from 100 to 650 yards. Accuracy of shooting is roughly under 250 yards. Pin point shooting is less than 150 yards. However, there is statements in the historical record that pin point shooting was available up to 250 yards. As another poster pointed out that Henry III required Archery fields to be at least 220 yards. However, Henry III was best noted in use of Crossbows as part of his archery force as crossbows and hand cannons were the preferred used weapons of his time though long bows were also still deployed. Henry V used crossbows over long bow in lopsided defeat of French at Agincourt as an example.

I took my 75 lb compound bow with wooden limbs to a gun range and the furthest shot I was able to make was 335 yards. That was just firing at the high angle and letting it land somewhere far out of sight, then go find it.

There is no way you could aim at a target at that range though. I could barely see a person at that distance, and the variations between shots are way too much. You really can't even see the arrow after just two seconds of flight, and can only guess where it landed. The arrow was stuck in the ground at 335 yards, but not very firmly. I don't know how fast it was going, but I think it would have broken if I shot the arrow directly at the ground without all that distance to lose speed.

Compound bows shoot further than traditional bows granted the same arrow and draw weight/length.

I know this is not the same thing as a longbow, but I think it relates to the question.

The English longbow had a draw weight of around 175/180 pound it could very easily to achieve a distance over 300 yards and as far as 400 yards in the right hands. As long as the archer did his practice every week, as he was ordered to do by the king, accuracy was I suppose much less important at distance, because the arrows would arrive en masse.

As I understand it between 5 and 6 arrows on average could be fired a minute, it sounds a bit far-fetched but if you have your arrows stuck in the ground in front of you then I guess it's easier to grab one point draw and let loose as it's about distance not being accurate. Some of my information came from a British actor and expert in the English longbow and it's use in medieval warfare, Robert Hardy.

there are a lot of factors for an answer to this question. English warbows were not all the same draw weight, arrows were not all the same weight either, some bows were faster than others.A heavy (draw), and faster shooting bow with a light arrow will shoot further than a light slow bow with a heavy arrow. Sorry if that has muddied the water. In the days of yore the yeomans and peasants who were the guys that used the warbow, shot at a distance of about 200 yards. they were accurate at that distance to a degree. In war, at that distance they were only expected to be able to get an arrow within a few feet, once the distance got to around 100 yards they would then be picking targets. There are more variables to take into account. i would say that average shooting distance to be 240-300 yards.

The general population of today cannot grasp the abilities of archers or other warriors. One must realize that archers were trained at a very early age and they developed asymetric bodies as they progressed to higher draw weights. Archeologists have found that archers spines were curved and the muscles of the right arm / back were abnormally large.

Regarding "replica bows", the yew tree is an endangered species now, so I doubt that a replica bow made of other wood would perform WRT the elasticity and compression loads of the famous Yew.

Having built wooden bows up to 80lbs myself and taken part in reenactment, i can say: it depends on the wood, the bow's construction, the string and the arrow (besides weather, geography/topography, wind and the archer, of course).

Without helping gear for aiming or visual references, a good traditional archer can maintain a narrow distribution disk up to ~20-30m when shooting level on a range with an equal flight of arrows, considerably less when shooting in nature with its ups and downs, obstructions and distractions. Traditional bow hunting is stalking, on a less degree with fully equipped modern compound bows and fiber arrows.

Long range shots, e.g. clout shooting, are mass shootings. A quick archer can keep 2-3 arrows flying, and 50 archers will produce a nice optical and acoustical coulisse :-). The arrows are shot at ~45°, when they impact they only have their respective terminal velocity. But if the head is a long needle, it'll still poke through a light armour or ring mail or a skull's orbit.

Long shots in traditional archery, level and without wind, are around 200-250m meters, as others have noted. My longest one was ~180m with a 65lbs Osage Orange bow, arrow with natural feathers and forged head, wayfarer shaft. It would have been a little more with a much lighter fibre glass arrow.

As to the range of the longbows, chronicles of the Battle of Agincourt that was already mentioned here say that the arrows were feared of piercing light armour at the joints up to distance of 220 to 200 yards, though these were of course unaimed ballistic shots. I would see that range as the maximum effective range under these conditions, farther would mostly be a waste of arrows, imo.

Also mentioned is the wreck of the Mary Rose, that contained a load of staves and bows. Though some technical data (especially the draw weight) is still discussed, we can assume a draw weight of 100 to 160lbs. Quite a few replicas have been made.

Further reading: Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volumes 1 to 4.

I am not a archer but would make this point. From a military point of view the use of a few arrows at extreme ranges would seem to be very useful.

Think about it for a minute. Would you, as a defender, want the enemy setting up for an attack at 250 yards or setting up at 350-400 yards? From a military point of view I would have a few of my archers move out in front of my line and launch a broadside at the assembly "area" to move the enemy as far back as possible before he could started his attack. Any problems, confusion or damage you can do to the enemy before the real fight begins is all to the good.

Therefore the issue of extreme range and useful range might have different meanings/answers at times during different stages of an engagement.

The new distance record for the war bow is 412 meters set by Josef Monus of Hungary shooting a 100# Elb built by Stephen Gardner ( Me)

Too many factors at work to really say 'a bow has a range of X'. How strong a man is drawing the bow, is the wind for or against the direction of the arrow, how strong is it blowing? How well made is the bow? Is it in good repair?

Also what kind of shooting are you doing? Are you simply trying to shoot an arrow far regardless of it hitting anything? Or are you aiming at a set target?

I'm not into shooting so I've no idea about these distances. How far away could someone accurately expect to shoot with a standard rifle? Add in the extra difficulty of a bow and it won't be too far.

I don't think 165-228m is too broad a range of estimates given all the different factors that can be at play.

Shooting and hitting a target at a greater range does not necessarily mean that they were aiming for a small bulls-eye at that distance. More likely, it meant just shooting into a cluster of men and happening to hit one random unlucky chap.

I have an 80lb draw weight english war bow and can manage 245m with a "standard" medieval type arrow and 220m with a heavy war arrow. The last flight shoot I attended was won by an archer who shot the heavy war arrows over 300m. When shooting at the marks we have to guess the distance to a series of targets (think golf) and most decent archers get on or two out of three arrows within 10m of the mark, easily accurate enough to hit a group of men on a battlefield. The marks are any distance from about 140m to 220m

Modern day warbow archers, who uses replicas of medieval (tudor) bows, and shoots replica arrows (from finds) shoots from 292-315 yards with war arrows.

See records on http://www.theenglishwarbowsociety.com/