Excalibur crossbows are accurate and reliable due to their design but recurve limbs require 2x more draw weight than a compound crossbow to achieve equal speed. A hand crank really helps
Not long ago my neighbor, his son, and a friend were out practicing with their xbows, compounds all, and the friend was cocking his by hand, no rope required, but he's pretty beefy. Cocking my Matrix Bulldog 380 requires 130 lbs with the rope.
I've been futzing around with sights for months, but finally put the Excalibur Twilight DLX back on, in upgraded rings. Nothing else I tried was as easy and sure at various ranges, up to 50 so far. Doubtful I'll ever shoot that far hunting, but nice to know it can be done.
