looking at getting a crossbow

[wildcoy73]

Oka fellow crossbow hunters, I am looking at getting my first crossbow real soon. I will not have a ton of cash to spend on it so the ten point is out, plus from what i have heard about them I would not want one.
So what are some other goods ones out there for around $300.00
I will be wanting a red dot scope on it.

[srconnell22]

talk to my brother (dsconnell) on here. He can get you in touch with someone from Excalibur. From what I understand they are as good as it gets for the price.

[SpawnSac27]

Anything you heard bad about the ten point is false. It is the best of the best. Don't let anyone fool you. But if your budget is $300, it is out of the question. Parker seems to make some pretty good ones...

[Buckeye Dan]

If $300 is your limit then you might want to think about used. That way you will get a much nicer quality with all the bells and whistles. Drive down to Ohio and comb the pawn shops or check out ebay. I missed out on a new in box Horton Team Realtree 175 package by $5. It sold for $355 + shipping.

[November Sunrise]

I was in your shoes 3 years ago. At that time I decided that I wanted to pick up a crossbow for my children to use in Ohio once they reached the age of 9 or 10. I purchased the most basic bow that I could find - it's a Horton bow, 150 lb draw weight, single pin sight (no scope), and it came with four arrows and a quiver as well. If I remember correctly I think the cost was around $350.

I've been really pleased with it - it seems to be good quality and with our single pin system it's quite accurate out to 20 yards, which is the longest distance that my boys practice at. My 2nd oldest son, who is now 11, has taken his first two bucks with it in Ohio since that time. My oldest son also used it in Ohio in '06 when we was 13 and then graduated to a compound bow last season.

[sputty]

Oka fellow crossbow hunters, I am looking at getting my first crossbow real soon. I will not have a ton of cash to spend on it so the ten point is out, plus from what i have heard about them I would not want one.
So what are some other goods ones out there for around $300.00
I will be wanting a red dot scope on it.
Cabelas fall preview has a nice looking Barnett W.C. package (320 fps) w/quiver, red-dot and 4 bolts for $330. I've always used Hortons w/ good success but they will be more $$.

[wildcoy73]

the ten point is from someone I know. his was not even a year old and all the screws kept comming loose on it. Finally the sling bolt broke, and he had to send it in for repair. He has went out to a horton and has only said good things about it. The crossbow is going to be for the kids and thats the main reason for the red dot. Plus I love the red dot myself I have one on my shotgun, bow the xi magnum, and my 22, I allso will put a red dot on the 44 mag when I buy one.

[wildcoy73]

what your thought on the horton summit hd. Most the reviews I read are good for this package.
Will it shoot the 2 blade rage? Or should I stay with my trusted thunderhead 125.?

[SpawnSac27]

It should shoot just about any broadhead you want, but I would stick with the Thunderhead. My dad shoots 'em out of his xbow, and they shoot slicker than heck...

[DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI]

what your thought on the horton summit hd. Most the reviews I read are good for this package.
Will it shoot the 2 blade rage? Or should I stay with my trusted thunderhead 125.?

i shoot a 80 grain aftershock exspandable. my late father had the old and true FRED BEAR razor heads with inserts on the shafts, which weighed a ton. when i put those aftershocks on and i shot the first arrow whooosh off it went into the dirt burm, over the top of the target at 20 yards. after some serious dialing down on the scope i finally was wacking the bullseye. i shot it in on paper at 25/35/45 yards. the scope dad put on it is one of those with mutiple hash marks. the top one is 25 2nd is 35 3rd is 45 and i haven't shot it any further because i don't believe in the WILLIAM TELL nonsense. my groups are in a 1.5" circle and tighter, just like when i could shoot my recurve and compound, oh well. i know i can get within 35 yards of the ever elusive whitetail deer and much closer, i do it all the time.:evilsmile
a 125 grain broadhead is a lot of weight for a crossbow arrow, you may wish to drop down to at least 100 grain for a flatter flight path. one must remember that that arrow has quite an arc with extra weight as i found out. thank god we have a 8 foot high berm, or that arrow was off to the RACES INTO NEVER NEVER LAND.:yikes:

[marty]

I love my horton but I don't think you could go wrong with barnnet or excalbur. These guys been doing crossbows forever:D

[wildcoy73]

looked at the spec on the barnet and with the spec and looks of it the horton would be out for $20.00 more I will take the barnet.

[BigBirdVA]

I've owned several different brands and I was not impressed with the Barnett line. For $300 I would look for a used Excal on fleabay. Do it now while it's off season. Come fall prices and demand go up.


Just stay away from the junk import ones.

[TOW]

For $300 it would HAVE to be a used one if you want a decent crossbow.

Buy cheap and you will be disappointed..

[marty]

I've owned several different brands and I was not impressed with the Barnett line. For $300 I would look for a used Excal on fleabay. Do it now while it's off season. Come fall prices and demand go up.


Just stay away from the junk import ones.

How do you know what you get off the internet and it's not junk?? any indentifer??

[TOW]

How do you know what you get off the internet and it's not junk?? any indentifer??

Stick with the name brands.

TenPoint, Excalibur, Horton, Stryker, Parker.

I think that Barnett has improved the last year or two, but they still have a way to go.

IMHO..

[November Sunrise]

what your thought on the horton summit hd. Most the reviews I read are good for this package.
Will it shoot the 2 blade rage? Or should I stay with my trusted thunderhead 125.?

When I was looking into the broadhead issue for crossbows the one thing that appeared to not be desirable was 2 blade fixed broadheads. Apparently some problems with planing and thus accuracy. It seems to me that a mechanical such as the Rage 2 blade would work great, but I don't have any experience to refer to with mechanicals. For what it's worth, we ended up settling on Montec G5's.

[BigBirdVA]

I've done a lot of testing with broadheads. I shot the Rage and they did not impress me. I also tested shooting through mesh in blinds. I wanted one head that did it all and I could gear up or invest in one set of arrows and heads and go hunt. I ended up shooting Slammerheads by Rocket. They weigh about 92 grains and I bought 5 grain brass washers for arrows and it gets them up to 97 or so. Close enough to 100 gr. I get good groups out to 40 yds. through the mesh. Past that they go to heck. That's at 350 fps in the Desert Stryker with a 22" arrow with 2" blazer vanes. I shot Tenpoints, Excalibur and even a Browning xbow I have. Yes even Browning made an xbow at one time. Shot Buckmasters Maxpoint too. All did the best with the Rocket heads with double rubber bands. Best fixed blade and a close second was Slick Tricks 100 gr if you're into fixed heads. Very close second.