A Layman's guide to Crossbow Purchasing - Part 2

Now that you have seen some of what is available on the market for the lower prices, its time to move on to something better. There are three bow manufacturers that stand out above all the others when it comes to Crossbows. The first is Barnett (http://www.barnettcrossbows.com/), They offer both Recurve and Compound crossbows. Their sight is easy enough to navigate yet I found that it never quite gave me all the information I wanted when looking into it. Barnett has some great gear for sale. The second one is Horton (http://www.crossbow.com/) They are the leading manufacturer of compound crossbows in the world. Horton gear is tough, accurate, and some of their products just have that sexy look to them. I would buy a Horton for my next crossbow purchase. Lastly we have my favorite of the big three, Excalibur (http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/). Now I love the Excalibur Crossbows for three big reasons. The first being that they just have a fantastic look to them. Sleek, thin, strong, and lasting. The second being that they are Recurve bows instead of compound. And lastly, Excalibur makes the strongest crossbow on the market and its a Recurve. Their president killed an Elephant with it. Well lets move on to the video section.

-Videos-
1 - Excalibur President kills Bull Elephant with Excalibur Crossbow

2 - Chinese Special Police Unit using Horton Crossbows as main weapon

3 - Sportman's Guide Ad - Horton Ambush Crossbow

4 - Sportman's Guide Ad - Barnett Quad 400

Video 1 was pretty cool, it was the one thing that convinced me I wanted a crossbow. The President of Excalibur goes Bull Elephant hunting and kills an Elephant with one shot from their high end Crossbow. Sure it takes a couple hours to die from the hit but it died none the less. People have offered alot of criticism saying idiotic comments like "Why did you only take a one shot weapon? If you would of hit it in a non vital area it would of hurt the poor animal instead of killed it." Well, If you watch the video, the only man armed with a Crossbow is the Guy holding one. The other guides and men all have rifles. There are also other comments such as hunting is evil (fuck off! No its not!) and the like.

Video 2 is fantastic. I really want a Horton Crossbow now because of it. For me its pretty much the best kind of advertising that makes me want a product. I have heard that Peruvian units are adopting the Crossbow as a kind of silent urban weapon. If you have a unit armed with Crossbows as primary and pistols as secondary, highly trained, then they are a nearly unstoppable force.

Video 3 & 4 are some ads to show you a crossbow in action and give you abit of information on them. As I mentioned in Part 1, I really love Sportman's Guide (Hint hint, I could do your advertising for you, all you need to pay me is gift certificates!) and their prices on the better stuff can't be beat.

Unfortunately when talking about price as a major factor in buying a higher end crossbow, I would have to suggest one go with Horton since their bows tend to be a hundred to a couple hundred less then Excalibur's. If I could afford it, I would buy one of each to test them out and really see what the better deal is. For now I am just content with my Guide Gear 150lb draw bow, launching bolts through my fence and into the trees (Sorry Neighbors if you ever find those tipless bolts that have buried themselves in your garden). That is not to say I am not careful when it comes to shooting. I have a proper backstop and I make sure that there is nothing and no one that can be damaged if I miss and hit it. That having been said let me relate to you the first time I used my Crossbow.

I had not been expecting too much. I knew there would be no recoil. After throwing the bow together I went downstairs to the lawn and strung it using two logs as a brace. Then I pulled back on the string. My first thought was "What the hell?" since it was such a hard thing to pull back on it. The bow really was a l50lb draw. I pulled three or four times never knowing when to stop because I did not know that it would click into place. Eventually it did click into place and I let go of the string. Sweating from the effort I looked at the bolt and placed it into the rail, red fletching down to align the half moon nock with the string. Pushing it all the way back I checked the sight to make sure it was on factory zero setting. Convinced that it was time to fire, I turned to the lawn, took it off safe, and pulled the trigger. The damned thing was faster then I expected. The bolt buried most of itself into the lawn with only the fletchings still above ground. I pulled it out, wiped it off and set about cocking the bow again.

This time my target was the base of the big Chinese Elm tree we have in my back yard. I wanted to shoot where the root structure was. I had accidentally moved the sight settings by bumping it. When I fired it went into the trunk halfway up. I thought I had lost the bolt since I saw something fly off to the right into the neighbor's yard. Walking over to the tree I found the bolt lodged in the trunk about two inches in. The object that had taken flight was bark from the tree. I tried twisting and pulling the bolt out yet it would not come. I had to snap it off and the field tip is still in the tree.

So what did I learn from my first Crossbow experience? These are definatley NOT and I stress NOT toys. I already knew that yet I had no idea about the killing capability of crossbows. After abit more research into it I found that my Model would have trouble doing this, but a Horton or an Excalibur Crossbow can Penetrate a Bullet Proof Vest. Makes me want to test that out. Secondly I found out that the bow is quicker then I anticipated. 210 f.p.s. (feet per second) doesn't seem like much when you are used to shooting rifles that travel at 2600 f.p.s. over ten times faster. Yet as soon as I squeeze the trigger the bolt is pretty much at the target. I have yet to do any shooting over 30 yards. Accuracy has not been an issue for me yet since everything I fire at is close. I really want to dial in my bow so I can do sniper style shots at distances of upto 100 yards.

Now lets look at some of the better bows on the market, and their deals. All of these can be researched or bought at Sportsman's Guide.


The Barnett Predator, Sexy, Beefy, and deadly. 175lb draw delivering 375 f.p.s., You may be asking "Ok Erik, that looks awesome but where is the stirrup?" you are looking at it. The front of the bow is the stirrup, it was specifically designed to be shot through. I would love to have this Crossbow yet my wallet says otherwise. The starting price is $559, Ouch.


Next up we have the Excalibur Exocet 200. It was named after the Missile for good reason. This thing is powerful, fast, accurate, and above all else silent. It has a draw weight of 200lbs which means that since it is a recurve you may need a cocking aid such as a rope draw or a crank device. All this brings the bolt flying at 330 f.p.s. The price tag for such a great Crossbow? $519

Lastly we have the Horton Explorer HD 150. I would choose a scope instead of a red dot sight for this one. I happen to not really trust red dots. You have to have a power source for them and without that power source? It turns into a Useless hunk. So a Scope is the better way to go. As far as I can tell it has a 150lb draw but I don't know for sure. It does launch bolts at 270 f.p.s. And the price? Cheaper at only $399. I like this bow.

Two big things to remember about Crossbows. Recurves are more silent then compounds. The second is that a crossbow has a definate twang when fired yet unless you know what you are hearing, it would just sound like someone coughing from fifty yards off. A silencer on a gun has a specific fire pattern that is easily identified as a silencer.

I hope this guide helped, drop me an e-mail or some comments if you want to know anything more.