where is the best place to order a cross bow? thinking real hard about the excalibur matrix 330 or some other variant of the excalibur series.
any tips or help is more than welcome!!
Dave
I chose the Excalibur Matrix 330 after doing my homework. I chose based on simplicity, reliability and accuracy. I got what I was looking for. The first three deer I shot with it this year were heart shot. The last I tucked tight behind the shoulder and just above the heart on a dead broadside shot.
I shot three with Rage 2 inch crossbow broadheads and one with a Muzzy 1-3/16 three blade. The broadside deer (Rage head) I barely clipped a rib on the way in and went between on the way out.
The good: Superb accuracy. Easy to hold 1-1/2 inch groups at 50 yards. Plenty of power. Decent trigger. Dead simple, and no failures of anything in 8 months of shooting and three months of killing deer. None of the deer so much as twitched at the shot.
The bad: It is loud. It is more expensive than a cheap compound. The scope is excellent until you have to deal with low light conditions and then it sucks. I was shooting under red oaks, heavy canopy and the scope would not get me to the end of legal shooting time (1/2 hour after sunset) on a lot of days. I cured that with a Zeiss Duralyt which left me the crosshairs for 20 yards and at just below 3x the top of the bottom post was dead on for fifty yards.
Were I to do it over, I would look for a Matrix or faster Excalibur crossbow without a scope and just get the Zeiss right off the bat. Excalibur sells a scope with a 44mm objective that should be better, but my tests of it didn't show much improvement. I looked at a lot of decent rifle scopes but the reticles were not capable of providing a fifty yard aim point or were too fine to be well visible in bad light.
I shot the bow at six critters and they all died. The broadheads all worked. The Rage 2 inch killed three deer quite nicely plenty of damage, plenty of blood once it started. The first 20 feet to fifty feet can be a little sparse with any head.
I use a couple of cold shuts for a restringing tool. You nee to remover the string on one end to twist it back to proper length once it's been shot some.
Get lighted nocks! The instant confirmation of where the arrow went is worth the price. The last deer I shot bolted to my right and then after she was out of my sight she hooked 180 degrees and managed a good run before she pumped herself dry and tipped over. I saw the arrow go exactly where I wanted it and knew she was dead somewhere nearby so I wasn't the least bothered by not being able to sort it out immediately.
If you opt for the optional 44mm scope, or no scope, you might be best off ordering through a archery shop or maybe a big box like Cabelas. You may well be able to get a Matrix cheapest off ebay. A good archery shop with experienced staff is worth a lot though.
