Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting New Crossbow Didn't Work Out Well

Received new Carbon Express CX3-SL+ yesterday, first off the scope would not adjust got it close at 20 yards and it had no more movement. Called customer service and they were great and sent it back today. Well me being me I wanted to get things going so I purchased a scope on my dime from a local shop, mounted scope got it sighted in at 20 after about 10 shots. All is good at this point, moved back to 30 shot 4-5 times and was hitting good, then next shot I cocked it and heard a popping/creaking sound and got to looking and the limb was breaking. Got scared and backed away and got to thinking what to do. Called carbon express CS they said to take it to shop to have it broken down on a press. I ended up just getting behind a sheet of 3/4 plywood and discharged it into target at close range. Didn't have any problems on the discharge by the way. Pic is below, has anyone had any similar problems with a Carbon Express bow. Carbon Express is shipping new limb assembly out for warranty. Should I get rid of this and keep shooting my compound or try again once I receive the new limbs. I have always been skeptical of crossbows especially at 175lbs.

Wow, that's pretty scary.

If you get rid of it, buy a 10 point. When I got mine, no need to sight it in right out of the box. Plus I would buy something from a dealer. That way, if something goes wrong, they can fix it without going back to the manufacturer.

I guess all those commercials showing life cycle of compound crossbows VS recurve crossbows might have some merit!

I saw the stats they had on the TV commercial and it was astonishing how few rounds many top of the line compound crossbows had when they failed. It was only hundreds of shots. VS the recurves which were decades old and many thousands of shots!

I don't use a crossbow so it never really made any difference to me, I just thought it was a very telling statistic!

Yea I have always been skeptical on crossbows because of the high poundage. My daughter was wanting to go bowhunting so I figured this would be easier to shoot and make a good shot. I guess my skepticism was correct. At least it has a 5 year warranty on it. Maybe it will last a few seasons.

Glad no one was hurt.

Stuff like this is why I chose an Excalibur.

Best of luck getting it fixed

Burt2506

Yes I also have an Excalibur, had 2 10points before this one the 1st was a great bow the newer 10pt. was a pain one thing after another, the Co. would fix or send parts but that dont help in the middle of deer season!

I've got a Carbon Express CX-1. The CX-1 had a probable dry-fire late in the QDM this Spring and cracked a limb. I most likely bumped the bolt off of the track or the string when getting ready for a shot on the deer.

The bolt was recovered, and missing a vane, we think the string went under the bolt, caught the vane, and fired.

Carbon Express was fast, about 10 days, from shipping to return of my CX-1. It came back with new limbs, and a new string and cable set. I paid $20 shipping.

I like Carbon Express x-bows, and the local shop where I bought mine does not have many come back.

I also have an Excalibur, good x-box as well, just big.

2 words...
Ten
Point

Since I'm on crossbows, I have a question? On the bow I have it says minimum arrow weight is 380 gr. This is way off the old standard of 5gr per pound rule that all compound bows are based off of. By these figures the crossbow bolts are on about 2 gr per pound. This seems very out of norm to me and seems like it would be way too light. 175/380= 2gr per pound. What do you bow guru's think?

Crossbows don't have a common industry standard like the vertical bows do.

That may coming, but for moment, it seems to be hovering around a bolt weight set by each company, which appears to be around 350-400 grains.

Most modern crossbows do not have the draw weight or draw length adjustment ranges like the vertical bows, so it's easier to set a minimum weight of bolt, than to have a range of weight per pound of draw.

run 22" carbon with 100 gr heads ffora 420 total at 300fps.
The idea is to reduce stress so I didn't stay with the 20" bolts.
I also don't leave the libs loaded or leave the bow in a place with extreme temp changes.