This design is for an entire crossbow bolt. It's made using a fiberglass shaft and UHMW blunt and APD. It's designed for use on a heavy (golf-tube style) crossbow.

Specifications: All shafts shall be constructed from a 12" length of .25" minimum diameter solid fiberglass rod. The shaft shall be spirally or longitudinally wrapped with fiber-strapping tape leaving only 1 inch at the tip and .25" at the rear of the shaft uncovered. The tape should be strong enough so that if the shaft should break, it will still be held together.

All blunts shall be of the Heavy Modified UHMW Blunt design. This consists of a not less than 2" long by 1.25" diameter core of UHMW Polyethylene, drilled to a depth of 1" to accept the shaft. All cut edges of the UHMW core shall be rounded off. The shaft should be friction fit into the core and the core secured by at least two strips of .5" wide (minimum) good quality strapping tape. These strips shall cross over the face of the core and down the sides, and onto the shaft for at least one inch.

The striking surface of the blunt shall be covered with no less than 1 inch thick by 1 3/8" diameter closed cell foam. The sides of the blunt centering on the join between the UHMW and foam tip shall first be wrapped with 1/8" thick closed cell foam (2 wraps of 1 1/4 "wide x 10" long strip of standard 1/16" mailing foam), then covered by a layer of strapping tape (a single wrap of 1.5" wide tape is recommended). Padding on the face of a blunt which has compacted under use to less than one inch in thickness must be replaced.

The assembled blunt shall be secured by at least two strips of .5" wide (minimum) good quality strapping tape. These strips shall cross over the face of the blunt and down the sides, and onto the shaft for at least 1". It shall be secured to the shaft by another strip of tape that wraps around it as well as the base of the blunt and the shaft.

The APD disk shall be a disk of no less than .5" inch thick by 1.25" diameter UHMW Polyethylene rod, drilled .25" deep to accept the shaft. All cut edges of the UHMW disk shall be rounded off. The shaft should be friction fit into the APD and the core secured by as many strips of .25" wide (minimum) good quality strapping tape are required to completely cover and attach the disk to the shaft, leaving no gaps between the strips of tape. These strips shall cross over the face of the core and down the sides, and onto the shaft for at least 1" past any additional foam or taper used in front of the disk. It shall be secured to the shaft by another strip of tape that wraps around it and the shaft.

The assembled bolt must additionally be covered with either duct, gaffers or electrical tape. Fletching is allowed and may be of any standard method approved for SCA combat arrows (feathers, vinyl vanes, card, foam, etc.).

This APD/bolt can be purchased. See my list of suppliers for more information.

If you have any questions, please let me know.