Abstract: A safety device for a crossbow includes a wrist strap with a crank aperture in a palm portion thereof, and is secured around a user's wrist with the crank aperture over the palm of the user's hand. The crank aperture allows passage therethrough of a shaft of a crossbow crank, but prevents passage of a handle; wearing the wrist strap, the user can grasp the handle with the shaft extending through the crank aperture away from the palm of the user's hand. The wrist strap can be divided at its dorsal-wrist portion and include a closure to allow the wrist strap to be secured around or removed from the user's wrist as desired. Restraint of the crank handle by the crank aperture prevents uncontrolled spinning of the crossbow crank.

Abstract: An inventive mechanism includes stationary, reciprocating, winch, and stock subassemblies. The winch subassembly is mounted on the stock subassembly; the stationary subassembly is mounted at the rear of a slotted mainframe of the stock subassembly; the reciprocating subassembly moves along the mainframe between forward brace and rearward drawn positions. The winch subassembly takes up a rope to cause rearward movement of the reciprocating subassembly and lets out the rope to permit forward movement. The reciprocating subassembly includes a body engaged with the slot, a catch, and a sear. The stationary subassembly includes a trigger and an actuator. In the drawn position and retaining a bowstring, trigger movement causes actuator movement, which causes sear movement, which permits catch movement, which releases the bowstring. In its latched position, a trigger latch obstructs forward movement of the reciprocating subassembly from the drawn position; in its unlatched position, it permits that forward movement.