crossbows - whats best ?

hi there,

i am looking to purchase a crossbow. i dont know anything at all about them though.

can someone give me some advice on what to get and why?

needs to be powerful and accurate enough to hunt and for protection too.

cheers. G

Crossbows are nice, but a standard bow would be better. A standard recurve or longbow would be best. And they are easier to maintain. Less parts that can break.


But if you are set on getting a crossbow i would recomend a Barnett Comando II. Don't get a compound X-bow. Too many parts that can break.

thanks anuubis. i never thought of a standard bow. will have a look into these. cheers

www.crossbow.com...
Try Horton.
Ive never had one single issue with them, and ive had 3.

Originally posted by grantbeed
thanks anuubis. i never thought of a standard bow. will have a look into these. cheers

Plus reload time is a lot quicker. If you miss your target then you can get a second shot a lot faster.

Originally posted by grantbeed
hi there,

i am looking to purchase a crossbow. i dont know anything at all about them though.

can someone give me some advice on what to get and why?

needs to be powerful and accurate enough to hunt and for protection too.

cheers. G

The one I bought is a 180 lbs killer which will take care of pretty much anything.

I bought it from here.

www.bestcrossbows.co.uk...

www.bestcrossbows.co.uk...

Cost me £75 back in autumn 2008.

Here's the thread detailing my assembly etc etc.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'm impressed with it. It's minimalist, light enough. You can attach swivels and sling to it if you are bloody-minded enough. It also has a rail for laser sight/red-dot attachment.

Let us all know how you get on.

thanks watchrider. good info. i will look into this. its hassle free here in New zealand to buy a bow or crossbow as you dont need any license.

reply to post by grantbeed


I ordered one of the cheap basic recurve crossbows this weekend

Not the best and flashiest you could get, but spare parts such as strings or even replacement prods are cheap and has the practicality of folding down for storage. Pity the stock doesnt retract or detach to make it even more compact tho



[edit on 23-3-2009 by citizen smith]

reply to post by WatchRider


I'll be adding to the reviews with a few bolt-making experiments and post the results

By chance, I found a set of fibreglass dome-tent pole segments that look perfect for crossbow bolts. They measure the same diameter as standard aluminium shafts and 18" useable length, and dense enough material with hardly any flex to test effects of shortening bolt length

You are a resourceful one citizen.
I'd never of imagined tent poles for a second.
Cornucopa sprouts in all such places once the citizen is on the march!

Well done mate.

Where did you order the spare prod from?

reply to post by WatchRider


Well, worra palaver...the t'interweb company that I ordered the 150lb xbow from emailed yesterday morning to apologise that the order has to be cancelled due to no more in stock (boo)

But I got on another site (blades and bows, who also do spare parts such as 150/80lb prods) and ordered a break-action 80lb 'Tomcat Alloy' pistol model instead and it all arrived this afternoon, thats less than 48hr turnaround (yay)

I've put about a dozen shots through it so far down in my basement range (all 20ft of it) and I'm impressed.

The break-action cocking mechanism makes drawing the string real easy, and with a bit of tinkering, have found that an 8B soft graphite pencil rubbed liberally all over the tracks, string serving, and bolt shafts makes for a far smoother shot...the graphite also has the added bonuses of both allowing the bolt to penetrate the target deeper, and easily removed from the target

If its enough to throw a 6" bolt clean through a 1/2" pine board and the 1" of drywall-board backstop behind at 20ft, it will make deep holes in any burglar!




[edit on 24-3-2009 by citizen smith]

[edit on 24-3-2009 by citizen smith]

Dont go for a normal bow unless you have alot of time to practice. Crossbows are easy to operate but normal bows require alot of training. If you go for crossbow go for a simple one, not one of those complex compound models. Good hunting

[Edit] I'd probably go for Zhaoshi Striking Falcon myself if that's any help

[edit on 24/3/2009 by PsykoOps]

80lb break-action pistol xbow test

Following on from Watchrider's review, I bought the same model (though a different make/brand name, it's still exactly the same as WR's) and thought a destructive testing extra was called for...

Assembly from out of the box was easy enough, but you'll need plenty of swearwords and three hands to get it strung. But with that finally done, and dinky laser-dot sight mounted and finger-switch taped-up to a comfortable grip position it's time to break things!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b353110d69ea.jpg[/atsimg]

First thing before firing commenced was to take a soft-lead pencil (8B pictured) and thoroughly cover the bolt shafts and points, and also the flight-track, the string 'serving', and any other points of friction on the xbow itself.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2c559cf4ca39.jpg[/atsimg]

After half a dozen shots to get the laser zeroed and finger-button mounted in just the right place, it was time to put holes in stuff

First up is a block of pottery clay 4"(100mm) thick and makes for a good substitute for ballistics gel to test bolt penetration of an average-clothed 'intruder'

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/71ea33734f90.jpg[/atsimg]

The red dot of doom marks the target..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/71110a92a0b6.jpg[/atsimg]

..and two rapid reloads later..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d4a568c0c4d2.jpg[/atsimg]

The bolts have gone straight through the plastic-wrapped clay and almost clean out the other side. Bolt 1 penetrated 8"(200mm), and bolts 2 & 3 7"(180mm) ...that's your leg, that is!

Next up was a panel of ABS plastic, about 5mm thick propped against the clay block, that once formed the seat of an office chair, and is the same material used for things such for motocross and other lightweight sports body armour

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8993c99f315f.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/842b85113ffb.jpg[/atsimg]

...thats gonna hurt! The first 2 bolts passed through 4"(100) through and into the clay, whilst the 3rd shot broke a hole in the plastic and buried itself up to the fletches in the clay brick

And finally...a material I've been itching to test out, the HDPE chopping board. I'd previously posted an idea in the 'Body Armour' thread about using this stuff and just had to see what happened when fired at from close range. Well, here's the answer..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8e572f5ca56d.jpg[/atsimg]

The board is 5/8" (8mm) thick, and 3 bolts fired at 80lbs-draw from a close range of 20ft made 3-4mm deep holes, no penetration, or distortion to the back face of the board, nor any sign of blunt-force impact on the clay brick it was held up against. In fact, it riccocheted all 3 bolts, and when retrieved, found that 2 of the bolts were buckled and unuseable!

In short...its well worth the cash. It's sturdily built, surprisingly quick to cock and reload once you get the hang of it, destructive enough for household defence, and small enough to weild in a confined space, such as corridors and hallways.

The addition of a basic laser-dot sight with mountable finger-button, and allen-screw x/y zeroing (£6 from ebay) make it even easier to use by being able to take snapshots without the need to bring the weapon up to aim by iron sight




[edit on 24-3-2009 by citizen smith]

reply to post by citizen smith
Now we need to test the cutting board against small arms fire like 9mm and 5.56mm. If it holds out against that it would make decent body armor.

Well said Citizen.

Don't be too worried about not getting the big daddy 150 lbs crossbow.

I started with the 80 lber, kept in the car for anti-car jacking.
I moved up to 180 lbs a month or so later.

Yes I did a pre-test with the xpistol 'gainst a solid wooden tv cabinet. They bounded off against the compressed material! That was heavy duty though.

The tip on the coating the bolt and slide with pencil, however may sound like a gompish question but why does it make it so 'quick'??
Or is it to cut down on the wear and tear?
Might be good to do some with pencil versus without.

Have you tried bbs yet?

When you have chance try for some 10-20 yards plus target practice, this will mean you get the hang of some longer ranged stuff.
The ballistics do change somewhat.

I like the laser pointer you've got. More accurate than mine as it's purpose built and mounted.

You're a dude who prepares having the clay like that. Good testing!

Now, on the chopping boards, how thick are they?
You might want to look into drilling and fastening them inside body armour. In fact, body armour nowadays comes with inserts so theres opportunity on that one.

150 lb out of stock is interesting, there must be more xbow enthusiasts out there than I first though. Or maybe more potential survivalists, not necessarily good ones


[edit on 25-3-2009 by WatchRider]

You had a crossbow in the car for anti-carjacking??? That just sounds way unpractical

Originally posted by PsykoOps
You had a crossbow in the car for anti-carjacking??? That just sounds way unpractical

Not really, you're making the mistake of assuming it's the big crossbow I have, that's for outdoor work. This is the small one, perfect for car interiors
It's still there now

Ok, just didn't really think that trough The look on the perps face when someone shoves a crossbow out of the window must be priceless

Originally posted by WatchRider
The tip on the coating the bolt and slide with pencil, however may sound like a gompish question but why does it make it so 'quick'??
Or is it to cut down on the wear and tear?
Might be good to do some with pencil versus without.

The first few shots out of the box before coating had the string showing a fair bit of wear after only a few shots. After the application of the graphite, the action sounded appreciably quieter on firing, and the bolts seemed to fly faster. Also, the graphited bolts seemed to penetrate deeper after the initial impact, as they had in effect, a non stick coating

Now, on the chopping boards, how thick are they?
You might want to look into drilling and fastening them inside body armour. In fact, body armour nowadays comes with inserts so theres opportunity on that one.

The chopping board I tested was an old scrappy one about 8mm thick...and as its a thermoplastic, panels could be cut up and easily heat-softened to reshape to fit body contours. Its quite a light material too for its density, so a brigandine-type jacket lined with plates to cover the most vulnrable areas of the torso would be do-able and not too heavy

150 lb out of stock is interesting, there must be more xbow enthusiasts out there than I first though. Or maybe more potential survivalists, not necessarily good ones

Hence the need for anti-crossbow protection

-*-

Another bit to add to the test/review data:

I had another tinker-session this lunchtime to test the effect of shorter bolt lengths. I took the two standard 6" ones that got mangled in the line of research and dremelled (is that a real word? ) off the buckled section, and remounted the points with hot-glue, giving me a 3-1/2" and a 4" bolt each.

On test-firing they flew way faster than the 6" standards with no noticeable ill effects to the prod, and perforated the target (an full unopened tin of Rabbit flavour Whiskas to test effects against armour-plated-meat, much to the disapproval of the moggy) thru-and-thru like a hot knife through butter







[edit on 25-3-2009 by citizen smith]

Just realised the 80LB bow you have posted pics of is identical to my Barnett pistol Bow , but when I bought mine they were only rated at 50 Lbs draw weight not 80,