Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A deep dive into historical sources claiming how fast English archers could shoot.
Sources referenced:
Franklin, B. (1776, February 11). Letter to Major General Charles Lee. In E. Langworthy (Ed.), Memoirs of the life of the late Charles Lee, Esq. (pp. 312–314). J. S. Jordan. (Original work published 1792)
Hardy, R. (1976). Longbow: A social and military history. Patrick Stephens.
Hergrim. (2022, September 26). English archers shooting 12 arrows a minute: Celebrating 190 years of bad history [Online forum post]. Reddit. reddit.com/r/badhistory/comments/xoglgk/english_archers_shooting_12_arrows_a_minute
Loades, M. (2019). War bows: Longbow, crossbow, composite bow and Japanese yumi. Osprey Publishing.
Mason, R. O. (1798). “Pro aris et focis”: Considerations of the reasons that exist for reviving the use of the long bow with the pike: In aid of the measures brought forward by His Majesty’s ministers for the defence of the country.
Neade, W. (1625). The double-armed man, by the new invention: Briefly shewing some famous exploits atchieved by our Brittish bowmen: With severall portraitures proper for the pike and bow. J. Grismand.
Thumbnail created with ChatGPT based on historical artwork.
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A deep dive into historical sources claiming how fast English archers could shoot.
Sources referenced:
Franklin, B. (1776, February 11). Letter to Major General Charles Lee. In E. Langworthy (Ed.), Memoirs of the life of the late Charles Lee, Esq. (pp. 312–314). J. S. Jordan. (Original work published 1792)
Hardy, R. (1976). Longbow: A social and military history. Patrick Stephens.
Hergrim. (2022, September 26). English archers shooting 12 arrows a minute: Celebrating 190 years of bad history [Online forum post]. Reddit. reddit.com/r/badhistory/comments/xoglgk/english_archers_shooting_12_arrows_a_minute
Loades, M. (2019). War bows: Longbow, crossbow, composite bow and Japanese yumi. Osprey Publishing.
Mason, R. O. (1798). “Pro aris et focis”: Considerations of the reasons that exist for reviving the use of the long bow with the pike: In aid of the measures brought forward by His Majesty’s ministers for the defence of the country.
Neade, W. (1625). The double-armed man, by the new invention: Briefly shewing some famous exploits atchieved by our Brittish bowmen: With severall portraitures proper for the pike and bow. J. Grismand.
Thumbnail created with ChatGPT based on historical artwork.
===
Facebook: facebook.com/nusensei
Instagram: instagram.com/nusensei
![NU Archery Practice [Kaya KTB] | Feb 4th 2020](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vwf--6JW0MI/mqdefault.jpg "NU Archery Practice [Kaya KTB] | Feb 4th 2020
Pimple still fresh on my lip, so no Olympic recurve training. Decided to try to do a stress test with rhythm shooting with thumb draw. Issues were clearly present. My Toparchery Turkish bow made a loud crack, so something mustve failed, so I used the Kaya KTB. I hadnt practised with this bow, the string thickness was different and slightly clumsier with nock quickly, and I was having trouble with the thumb ring and a blister on my thumb. Wobbly arrow flight indicates an issue with release and/or khatra. Shooting instinctively, it seems my current confident distance is 20 metres. Even with all that, I felt my rhythm was off - could have gone slower and more consistently instead of rushing to get to the shot.
Overall, it was exhausting and a good physical challenge. Hoping to get more practice in and refine my base technique so that this comes out more naturally.
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![NU Archery Practice [Python] | January 26th 2020](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/x8ju3TQQTE4/mqdefault.jpg "NU Archery Practice [Python] | January 26th 2020
Slow day, and a little lethargic.
Riser: Chaser Python
Limbs: 36# Uukha Ex1 Evo2
Arrows: Easton A/C/E
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