Every thing crossbow

[ROCKET]

I was looking at the Bear Fisix and reading good reviews. Do you have any experience with this bow? If so would you recommend it or should I go another route? I've never owned a crossbow but I want to start my son with one and I like the reverse limb design. I'd appreciate any feedback you have. Thanks

Stay away from the bear line as they where hit or more miss as to wether or not their flight track ( barrel ) was true or not, reverse limb where designed to get a longer powerstroke. ( draw length ) by putting the cams / strings out further than a traditional bow, by doing so you not only increase speed but you increase the string angle which is very hard on strings and serving. As an example my scorpyd reverse draw bow would get about 100 shots before it needed reserving .in all honesty I would recommend the center point sniper 370 as it has a fully adjustable AR style stock so it will fit his length of pull and you can pick one up at Academy for less than $300 and will by far out shoot the fisix with good arrows.


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[merlin]

2" groups at 100 yards is awesome. Is it very loud? I went to cabelas last week to buy a 10 point FX4 for $800. 400 off the regular price of 1200. It was extremely loud so I passed on it .Also shot the sniper and was impressed by it, but I was unsure of bolts to buy for it. The guy said they were good-they don't come back

[Storm]

I was looking at the Bear Fisix and reading good reviews. Do you have any experience with this bow? If so would you recommend it or should I go another route? I've never owned a crossbow but I want to start my son with one and I like the reverse limb design. I'd appreciate any feedback you have. Thanks

i have a Bear xfortus and the Fisix should be equal to or better than mine. I used it this weekend and got a doe .

[ROCKET]

2" groups at 100 yards is awesome. Is it very loud? I went to cabelas last week to buy a 10 point FX4 for $800. 400 off the regular price of 1200. It was extremely loud so I passed on it .Also shot the sniper and was impressed by it, but I was unsure of bolts to buy for it. The guy said they were good-they don't come back

Ten point makes a great dependable product, and if you where to add string stops, limb dampeners you can quieten it down a lot, and backed by an awesome warranty. As far as bolts no matter the bow you choose pick up some black eagle executioners ( .001 straight ) arrows and make sure you get the right length and nock. The bees are by far the most accurate for the money, we pay around $5.50 ea for them and have zero complaints.


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[Double-O-Dave]

Rocket:

Very interesting and informative post. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and know how here. Please forgive me in advance for what might be an incredibly stupid question, but like the bank robber said to "Dirty Harry" - "...I's gots to know" - when waxing the strings on my crossbow, should I also be waxing the servings as well? I'm brand new to crossbows, and the instruction manual of my Killer Instinct KI-350 says to lube the rail, and wax the bow string after every 5 shots. I just don't know if that includes the servings. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Dave

[ROCKET]

Rocket:



Very interesting and informative post. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and know how here. Please forgive me in advance for what might be an incredibly stupid question, but like the bank robber said to "Dirty Harry" - "...I's gots to know" - when waxing the strings on my crossbow, should I also be waxing the servings as well? I'm brand new to crossbows, and the instruction manual of my Killer Instinct KI-350 says to lube the rail, and wax the bow string after every 5 shots. I just don't know if that includes the servings. Your advice is greatly appreciated.



Regards,



Dave

When it comes to string maintenance the center serving gets no wax, it is simply there to protect the string from the rail / trigger latch .By placing a very small amount of rail lube on periodically will help prevent serving wear, but too much and to often will cause the center serving to soften and break down faster. Now as far as the rest of the strings/cables just simply get a quality wax and work it in, especially where your cables cross under the rail. As far as the serving everywhere else they should not be waxed, although you can buy a scorpion venom that will penetrate the serving and " hydrate " the string under the serving, but imho I believe this is not needed and again will soften the serving and cause premature wear.
So with that said wax is your friend, rail lube when needed, and nothing required on serving.


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[Double-O-Dave]

Thanks, Rocket!


Regards,

Dave

[Rubi513]

2" groups at 100 yards is awesome. Is it very loud? I went to cabelas last week to buy a 10 point FX4 for $800. 400 off the regular price of 1200. It was extremely loud so I passed on it .Also shot the sniper and was impressed by it, but I was unsure of bolts to buy for it. The guy said they were good-they don't come back

Not really. It’s louder than verticals, but quieter than most crossbows I have shot.
I shot a doe last weekend at 52 yards and she didn’t seem to mind the noise

Just to clarify...I only mentioned the 100 yard accuracy just to show what a good crossbow/arrow is capable of. I would never attempt a shot that far at an animal.

[ROCKET]

Not really. It’s louder than verticals, but quieter than most crossbows I have shot.

I shot a doe last weekend at 52 yards and she didn’t seem to mind the noise



Just to clarify...I only mentioned the 100 yard accuracy just to show what a good crossbow/arrow is capable of. I would never attempt a shot that far at an animal.

Agreed 100%
Let's talk broad heads ( don't shoot me on this one)
I have been shooting 2" shwackers for years with good results, but love a good fixed head. Out of all the mechs I tried out of every i.e. they have shot the most consistent even over rage, grins, and nap heads. With that said I went back to fixed this year and chose ramcat diamondback and originals to try out, they have also been the exact point of impact compared to field points compared to slicks, exodus, Magnus, and strikers. So far I am really impressed with the ramcat as we have taken a hog, bobcat, and a cull buck in the last two weeks and they have performed flawlessly. At the end of the day you need to shoot your heads to see if they fly as intended and if not you will have to sight in just for broad heads or keep testing until you find one that works with your set up.


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[kmon]

Some good information already, will try to add a little more.

If you want a quite crossbow get a Darton. I have heard compounds that are louder than the Darton crossbows.

Tenpoint, Excalibur and Parker are ones that have lifetime warranties and really stand behind them. Have repaired 19 year old bows from Tenpoint and Parker and just almost never have an issue with an Excalibur. Horton is made by Tenpoint and has the same warranty.

Another thing that affects crossbow accuracy not covered is timing, if your cams are not in time you will not get the same POI as field tips with broadheads and the bow will just not shoot correctly.

Best accuracy will come from using a cocking rope or crank device as we are all a little stringer on one side or the other it is too easy to have the string drawn in even if just drawing it back with your hands.

I personally would not purchase a Ravin this year at least as I have seen them visably out of time right out of the box and with the cables fully served timing one is not easy if you even can.

Bolt selection, you loose some speed with heavier bolts but you gain quietness and often accuracy and loose some noise.

I know the guy that makes the Center Point trigger kits and have shot some of them they do make an improvement to that bow.

For the $ the CenterPoint Sniper is a heck of a bow, Like was said above limb dampners do help a little, Cat wiskers in the string helps also as would the 10 point barrel dampners installed in the cable channel.

Oil the rail your cable slide rids on or I use white lithium grease for that as it lasts and functions well.

On the Center Point Sniper use blue locktite on the screws that hold the foot Stirrup in place, those little 1/4-20 et screws tend to work loose without it. Tenpoint uses the same type setup to hold the stirrup in place but include locktite on theirs already dried on the screws.

Excalibut crossbows are handy to be able to replace strings in the field if needed but you still have to have an extra string and stringer in the field and a friend along helps with the chore. .

The Ravin is another that you could replace the string and cables at camp or the truck since the press is not that expensive to have for it and portable.

Barnett went through a very bad time with Strings breaking, I have seen a Barnett Raptor string break on the first time it was cocked and the bow was never shot before it went back to Barnett.

On string stops adjust them correctly so there is about a credit card gap or a bit more between the stops and the string, they will be much more efficient at settling the string and will quieten your bow much better.

Rambling some here but most of the Ravin crossbows the string is hardinto the stops when new which I think is leading to some of the short string life issues compred to many other crossbows.

With my Parker Tornado that is 8 years or so old perhaps a bit older I make sure the bow is in time and shoot 2 inch dots at 70 yards with it propped across the truck hood so good enough for me. I have replaced the string twice and the cables once and will probably replace them again before next season, They are easy for me to replace as I do have access to bow presses that handle crossbows. ..

If I were buying a crossbow right now it would be either a Darton for the quietness or a Tenpoint Reverse limb for the balance of the bow which feels much more like a firearm with the balance point between the hands. And yes I shoot a lot of crossbows and work on lots of them.

[Rubi513]

Agreed 100%
Let's talk broad heads ( don't shoot me on this one)
I have been shooting 2" shwackers for years with good results, but love a good fixed head. Out of all the mechs I tried out of every i.e. they have shot the most consistent even over rage, grins, and nap heads. With that said I went back to fixed this year and chose ramcat diamondback and originals to try out, they have also been the exact point of impact compared to field points compared to slicks, exodus, Magnus, and strikers. So far I am really impressed with the ramcat as we have taken a hog, bobcat, and a cull buck in the last two weeks and they have performed flawlessly. At the end of the day you need to shoot your heads to see if they fly as intended and if not you will have to sight in just for broad heads or keep testing until you find one that works with your set up.


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Nice choices!
I shoot the Swhackers out of my crossbow and Ramcats out of my vertical.
Love both of them. I have lost a few blades in my target on the Ramcats, but have never lost one in an animal. Both of these heads fly with my field points.
I have also had good luck with NAP FOC and spitfires out of my crossbow. The FOC has a 3" cut and weighs 170 grains. I was shooting these with the factory Mission arrows.
When I went to the Spynal Tapps arrows I had 92 grain inserts added, so 170 grains was a little much up front. The 3" of cut was devastating on deer.
With that said I am not sure I would recommend them if you were shooting a slower crossbow (>325 fps).

[dexterc]

Great info, I just bought my first xbow this year. It is a Wicked Ridge Warrior made by Ten Point. It uses the Omni nocks and I haven't found any lighted nocks so far, do you know if they make them in Omni? Also interested in what would help to make it quieter! Mine came with 100 grain field points for the bolts, should I stick with 100 grain broadheads? I also bought some wicked ridge bolts to add to the 3 that came with the bow. Bolts are 20". Any info is appreciated, thanks in advance!

[kmon]

You can get Tenpoint and wickedridge bolts with lumnanocks installedin 3 pack packages which are around $60 for the 3. Or can get a pack of Lumna nocks tenpoint packaged with setup for 3 bolts and 6 LEDs for 40.

Search for TenPoint Omni-Brite

[boleman154]

Great thread. Wish I would have read it a couple weeks ago. Was deciding between the sniper and a fortus. Went with the fortus. No complaints so far with may have picked up a good one. Already took a spike with it.


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[R Dubya]

Count me in, I also just purchased CenterPoint Sniper 370, and I really like the way it shoots. I am looking forward to upgrading the scope though.