German madman’s fully automatic crossbow will have you laughing maniacally

By Luke Dormehl Updated April 27, 2021

More Full Auto Slingshot Stuff

You can keep your fashion-obsessed vloggers, your fake “pranks,” and your boring unboxing videos, the YouTuber that has our attention is DIY slingshot maker Jörg Sprave. Hailing from Germany, Sprave has created a plethora of envy-inducing homemade “launchers” over the years — ranging from a steampunk pistol to a machine which propels bowling balls at a frankly terrifying speed.

His latest creation? A fully automatic crossbow, brought to life by way of a cordless drill and impressive gear mechanism to rapid-fire bolts just like a machine gun. To this, Sprave has now added removable magazines — with the result being one of the greatest things we’ve seen on YouTube in ages.

“I’ve been running my channel now for eight years and I always wanted to have a full auto slingshot,” Sprave told Digital Trends. “I wanted something that could do rat-a-rat rat-a-tat fire, rather than single shot, but it wasn’t easy to do. I made several attempts that weren’t successful before I got here. I think this is my best creation so far.”

Since building his rapid-fire beast, Sprave — who doesn’t use the weapons to hunt — said that he has been utilizing it to carry out target practice. “The nice thing about it is that you can reuse the bolts after you’ve fired them,” he continued. “It’s a joy to fire. It’s like shooting a solid stream of crossbow bolts. Aiming is like spraying water from a garden hose.”

Unsurprisingly, Sprave’s YouTube channel has been a hit. His videos routinely rack up hundreds of thousands of views, and his subscriber count is climbing ever northwards. His explanation?

“My channel has three things I think that people find attractive,” he said. “That is stunts, construction, and destruction. I love building things and I love destruction, particularly when it’s filmed at high speed. Destroying things can have a strong aesthetic look, which I think attracts a lot of users.”

Who would dare disagree?

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I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…

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