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Crossbow purchase?

sojourner said:
Lots of good recommendations. Going to look at the ravin R26, R18, killer instinct swat X1 and maybe the Excalibur’s. The Excalibur’s seem to be a little too wide for my liking.

It is something that I have 4 platforms, 4 different sets of sticks, 2 saddles, 3 backpacks all in the name of redundancy and yet …. Only one archery weapon which has unceremoniously crapped the bed. At least it happened before season.

I really want to support my local archery guy, he only has killer instinct, and he does all the maintenance. May go with them for ha purpose alone. But the ravin looks quite nice too.
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I preordered the swat x1 but saw the swat xp at Cabelas last night. It’s not nearly as wide as I thought it’d be after watching videos comparing the two. However I’m used to my carbon express piledriver which is by no means a narrow crossbow so this may be wider than you’re interested in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
sojourner said:
My beloved child size Parker crossbow finally gave up the ghost. Further, since Parker is out of business, and there are no replacement parts available, I have to purchase a new crossbow.
And need it before mid sept.

Based on my criteria,

1. Definitely not a hickory creek!!!!
2. Small (length, width) and lightweight
3. Preferably cheap.
4. Speed, I am happy at anything 300fps and above.

Looking at killer instinct crossbows (local archery shop has them).

Anyone have any recommendations for make and model?

And if you recommend hickory creek, I shall taunt you with comments like “you mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries”!

Seriously, no hickory creek and no jx3 please.

Thanks!


Check the internet. There's still Parker crossbow parts available . Just look up Parker crossbow parts
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sojourner said:
All the downsides of a vertical bow without most of the upsides of a crossbow.

Cannot put on a gun rest to zero. (No hooter shooters for me).

Too fiddly.

Issues with the scope and field of view.

Things shaking loose over time.

Look at the hickory creek thread. It appears, to me, that many are working around setting it up, making sure it doesn’t loosen up and change point of impact.

Absolutely no confidence and one more thing to worry about If i got one.

Get a crossbow, the designated bolts, zero it, lube the rail, wax the strings and shoot deer.

Just my 0.02 cents.
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Huh these are all the reasons i did get the HC. Can restring it yourself, tune it yourself, etc. I guess I like fidley though. I just saw too many standard xbows sitting in my local archery shop waiting get fixed cuz they all required special equipment to do so. To each his own.
 
Centerpoint is putting out some good crossbows for the money. I got the Sniper 370 about six months back for around $250. Included everything except broadheads. I upgraded the scope and arrows. But it shoots pretty dead on out to 50 yards. Looking forward to killing some deer with it. I would look at their new Wrath crossbow. It's within your budget and leaves you extra for a case and what not.
 
Apex7 said:
Check around there

Check the internet. There's still Parker crossbow parts available . Just look up Parker crossbow parts
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I found a standard trigger assembly for $120. It’ll have to take mine out and see if it is the same.
 
BuffaloBill said:
Centerpoint is putting out some good crossbows for the money. I got the Sniper 370 about six months back for around $250. Included everything except broadheads. I upgraded the scope and arrows. But it shoots pretty dead on out to 50 yards. Looking forward to killing some deer with it. I would look at their new Wrath crossbow. It's within your budget and leaves you extra for a case and what not.
Click to expand...

They look nice. Thanks for recommendation.
 
I murdered two big bucks with an Excalibur Micro a few years ago.
I put it away. Just not the same as bow huntin’...

I'd probably sell it?
 
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I checked and the ravin r26 cocking mechanism seemed loud and I did not see any other way to cock it.

I talked to my shop about the killer instinct swat xp model. That particular model takes a specific nock

shop.killercrossbows.com

ARC NOCK (SWAT XP) 12PK

shop.killercrossbows.com shop.killercrossbows.com

So I am going to take that model out of my choices.

Shop guy said fatal x is expected to be best seller. That said, it is not yet released and expected on sept. 1.

I am going to check the fatal x and the swat x1. If the x1 is much better than fatal x and if it takes standard bolts, will go with that. If it’s release is delayed, then I’ll pick a cheap/reliable brand to use until I can get the x1 or a different mid / higher end small crossbow.
 
Tenpoint accudraw is a good one. It is a crank handle xbow. If you don't engage the ratchet lock, say if you forget to cock it and Mr buck comes by or you missed and need to reload, keep a good grip on that handle or it will smack your hand hard and can possibly draw blood if it hits the right spot. Comes with a lighted reticle scope
 
sojourner said:
I checked and the ravin r26 cocking mechanism seemed loud and I did not see any other way to cock it.

I talked to my shop about the killer instinct swat xp model. That particular model takes a specific nock

shop.killercrossbows.com

ARC NOCK (SWAT XP) 12PK

shop.killercrossbows.com shop.killercrossbows.com

So I am going to take that model out of my choices.

Shop guy said fatal x is expected to be best seller. That said, it is not yet released and expected on sept. 1.

I am going to check the fatal x and the swat x1. If the x1 is much better than fatal x and if it takes standard bolts, will go with that. If it’s release is delayed, then I’ll pick a cheap/reliable brand to use until I can get the x1 or a different mid / higher end small crossbow.
Click to expand...

I have an x1 ordered. It doesn’t require any special nocks. I believe it’ll shoot any nock.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
sojourner said:
I checked and the ravin r26 cocking mechanism seemed loud and I did not see any other way to cock it.

I talked to my shop about the killer instinct swat xp model. That particular model takes a specific nock

shop.killercrossbows.com

ARC NOCK (SWAT XP) 12PK

shop.killercrossbows.com shop.killercrossbows.com

So I am going to take that model out of my choices.

Shop guy said fatal x is expected to be best seller. That said, it is not yet released and expected on sept. 1.

I am going to check the fatal x and the swat x1. If the x1 is much better than fatal x and if it takes standard bolts, will go with that. If it’s release is delayed, then I’ll pick a cheap/reliable brand to use until I can get the x1 or a different mid / higher end small crossbow.
Click to expand...
I got to shoot a ravin this weekend and the crank can be silenced by holding the release button while you crank. Shot a softball size group @100 on the 4th, 5th and 6th shots. Impressive weapon.
 
BTaylor said:
I got to shoot a ravin this weekend and the crank can be silenced by holding the release button while you crank. Shot a softball size group @100 on the 4th, 5th and 6th shots. Impressive weapon.
Click to expand...

That grouping is impressive!
 
I have a Barnett Recruit Tactical and aside from slightly misaligned cams which I readjusted, it has been dead on. It is a smaller crossbow as well.
 
The limiting factor was the shooter lol. The really impressive thing to me was the energy delivered at the target. It was sinking the arrows nearly up to the fletch in a new rhinehart target @100 yards. Made me have a better understanding of the pushback on crossbows being allowed during archery seasons. I have never really cared one way or the other for 2 reasons, just dont see many crossbow hunters in the field and we have a 6 week modern gun season that encompasses all of the rut. After shooting that one, if I was going to hunt with a crossbow, it would be at the top of my list for considerarion.
 
BTaylor said:
The limiting factor was the shooter lol. The really impressive thing to me was the energy delivered at the target. It was sinking the arrows nearly up to the fletch in a new rhinehart target @100 yards. Made me have a better understanding of the pushback on crossbows being allowed during archery seasons. I have never really cared one way or the other for 2 reasons, just dont see many crossbow hunters in the field and we have a 6 week modern gun season that encompasses all of the rut. After shooting that one, if I was going to hunt with a crossbow, it would be at the top of my list for considerarion.
Click to expand...

Impressive for sure, but I self impose a max of 35 yards. 99% of the time I stay within 25 to 30 yards. I watched a YouTube video. It timed from the shot to hitting target and compared to deer reaction time. If I remember correctly, 30 yards is safe and 35 is about max before deer jumping the string caused issues.

 
BuffaloBill said:
Centerpoint is putting out some good crossbows for the money. I got the Sniper 370 about six months back for around $250. Included everything except broadheads. I upgraded the scope and arrows. But it shoots pretty dead on out to 50 yards. Looking forward to killing some deer with it. I would look at their new Wrath crossbow. It's within your budget and leaves you extra for a case and what not.
Click to expand...
There is a ton of sniper 370s ! They are extremely popular. Very budget friendly. There is a guy who does triggers on them as well. I have a cp400. Other then the center serving going to crap it’s been good. I called the ravin side and they sent me a string set for free. No serving issues since.
 
RamBam said:
There is a ton of sniper 370s ! They are extremely popular. Very budget friendly. There is a guy who does triggers on them as well. I have a cp400. Other then the center serving going to crap it’s been good. I called the ravin side and they sent me a string set for free. No serving issues since.
Click to expand...

It's my first crossbow and i've enjoyed it for the $250 I paid for it. The trigger does kind of suck but i've gotten used to it. I upgraded the scope to a Ravin speed scope and got better arrows. I may eventually pick up another Centerpoint to tinker with.
 
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