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Well, I had a good day at the bow shop and ended up bringing home the crossbow I went after. I spent the better part of 4 to 5hrs shooting a good variety of their crossbows and this Ravin R15 won it hands down for me! The Ravin was way more user friendly when it came to cocking and loading the bolt. Ravin is definitely balanced good and a lot less cumbersome to handle compared to the others also, in my opinion. The scope or optics seem fairly decent and I think will get me through at least my 1st hunting season but I may look into better optics in the future. I also purchased some rubber limb dampeners and installed them on the limbs to try to help deaden the xbow when it fires some and for sound. Yes ... these xbows are louder than your standard compound but everyone I shot today was comparable to the next. I actually thought the TenPoint Carbon RDX was a lot louder than this Ravin R15. Now, for the trigger ... WOW! That's all I can say ... WOW! The trigger on the Ravin is super crisp and smooth. The trigger on the TenPoint absolutely stinks compared to the Ravin! Lol. Or any other crossbow I shot today. I just came in from the backyard and I'm easily hitting the 3" dot on my target at 60yds standing and shooting freehand. I contribute a lot of that to the sweet trigger on it! Anyway, super excited to go through the fall and take my 1st deer with a crossbow or even put my 10yr old son on a nice deer with it. I'll keep you guys informed the more I get to use it and my thoughts. Ravin R15 all the way!

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Glad you took the plunge into Xbows RB. Fine looking unit and I hope that you and your son have many, many hours of enjoyment together !


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Originally Posted by 284LUVR
Glad you took the plunge into Xbows RB. Fine looking unit and I hope that you and your son have many, many hours of enjoyment together !



Thanks! Really appreciate that. We will try our damnedest! Lol


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@RickyBobby thats one sweet crossbow, damn;

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Hey guys, I'm all ears on good optics for xbows ... please feel free to share any opinions or suggestions for me when it comes time to upgrade my optics in the near future! I'm having hard time with Internet searches on quality xbow scopes. It just doesn't pull up much. I seen where HHA makes a slider scope mount for xbows, and then you can mount any standard scope or optic with a single crosshair reticle on top of it and use the slider with yardage tapes like their single pin compound bow sights. It looks like it really raises the height that the scopes mounted though. Also, keeping my Ravin as light as I possibly can will be my main objective. Not wanting to add anything bulky and have unnecessary weight.


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Ask here http://www.crossbownation.com/community/ or the 24HCF will have you buying a freaking Swarovski.

Just not needed for the short distances encountered. Would you put a $1K scope on a squirrel rifle ?


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Originally Posted by 284LUVR
Ask here http://www.crossbownation.com/community/ or the 24HCF will have you buying a freaking Swarovski.

Just not needed for the short distances encountered. Would you put a $1K scope on a squirrel rifle ?



Thanks for suggestion ... just signed up over there.


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I'm also open to suggestions on broadheads for my crossbow, if anyone knows what might shoot good out of it??? I am currently shooting the solid 1piece machined G5 Montecs from my current compound setup and really like them. Might try similar with my Ravin.


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... can't get enough of this thing! Out back flingin some arrows this morning.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

This was @ 30yds. They all hit my mark except the top one was low. Keep in mind I've only shot about a dozen arrows through it up until here so I'm still getting the feel for everything. Black dots on my target are about 2 1/2" big. I'll definitely get better with it the more I shoot it. I really like it so far! Kinda fun compared to my regular compound ... lol. My goal is to be confident shooting freehand out to 40 or 50yds and possibly stretching it to 65 or 75yds off a rest of some sort, hopefully by the time archery season comes in this fall.


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Nice shooting!

I got to handle a Raven on Saturday, it's a very compact package. The LOP wasn't as bad/short as I had expected for the stock, but I'd need to run the forearm piece further up the rail.

Do you find that you need to brace the front of the bow when you cock it? I'm used to the stirrup, without it, you're bracing on the pads on the front of the limbs?

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Originally Posted by AH64guy
Nice shooting!

I got to handle a Raven on Saturday, it's a very compact package. The LOP wasn't as bad/short as I had expected for the stock, but I'd need to run the forearm piece further up the rail.

Do you find that you need to brace the front of the bow when you cock it? I'm used to the stirrup, without it, you're bracing on the pads on the front of the limbs?



Until I know of a better way ... I've been resting it on the pads on front of limbs when cocking. I see no real issue with that but I'm just a 1st time xbow owner. Lol. I think a person would have to get pretty rough with it to cause an issue there. My dealer wasn't hesitant about doing it either when I demoed it. I'm open to suggestions though.

Between the integrated and very simple crank system, the awesome trigger, and the way this thing just handles in general ... I was impressed! But again, it's my 1st crossbow. Still not sure about the optics but they aren't a deal breaker. They're useable for sure.


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I don't think you are doing it wrong, just a question coming from limited past experiences in a treestand using a crank.

A couple of crossbows have been a PITA to recock in the stand. My experience with a couple of different cranks was that the nose of the bow had to braced "someplace" and usually standing up was the easiest. I've tried just sticking my boot in the stirrup while sitting, but it didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

In our deer management areas in urban archery seasons, we'll see deer in groups, and especially does with yearlings. If you can get the doe down, the yearlings will usually hang around, or come back to the area if they spook a bit. A quick reload has resulted in more than one deer down in the same sit.

If the crank system is a PITA, you end up standing and cranking to reload, making more movement, more noise, etc. A buddy had an upper end 10 Point, the crank was pretty easy to run, but it a noisy clicker that ratcheted the line back into the spool. I tried a crank on my Carbon Express, it felt like I was flopping around, without standing up.

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Originally Posted by AH64guy
I don't think you are doing it wrong, just a question coming from limited past experiences in a treestand using a crank.

A couple of crossbows have been a PITA to recock in the stand. My experience with a couple of different cranks was that the nose of the bow had to braced "someplace" and usually standing up was the easiest. I've tried just sticking my boot in the stirrup while sitting, but it didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

In our deer management areas in urban archery seasons, we'll see deer in groups, and especially does with yearlings. If you can get the doe down, the yearlings will usually hang around, or come back to the area if they spook a bit. A quick reload has resulted in more than one deer down in the same sit.

If the crank system is a PITA, you end up standing and cranking to reload, making more movement, more noise, etc. A buddy had an upper end 10 Point, the crank was pretty easy to run, but it a noisy clicker that ratcheted the line back into the spool. I tried a crank on my Carbon Express, it felt like I was flopping around, without standing up.



You can push in on the button that releases the crank system, and while cranking, the clicking noise is non-existent on the Ravin. Hopefully that made sense! Lol. It is a nice option for doing a reload in a tree stand I would think. Also, I wouldn't see any issue of not being able to reload while sitting down in a tree stand.


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Thanks - The narrow profile of the bow would be the cat's meow for sitting reload.

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Op got a very nice crossbow, been looking to pick one up but a little twisted with choice but this seems really convincing.

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Originally Posted by RickyBobby
... can't get enough of this thing! Out back flingin some arrows this morning.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

This was @ 30yds. They all hit my mark except the top one was low. Keep in mind I've only shot about a dozen arrows through it up until here so I'm still getting the feel for everything. Black dots on my target are about 2 1/2" big. I'll definitely get better with it the more I shoot it. I really like it so far! Kinda fun compared to my regular compound ... lol. My goal is to be confident shooting freehand out to 40 or 50yds and possibly stretching it to 65 or 75yds off a rest of some sort, hopefully by the time archery season comes in this fall.




really nice, i bet it cost top $$$

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Originally Posted by goldroger
Originally Posted by RickyBobby
... can't get enough of this thing! Out back flingin some arrows this morning.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

This was @ 30yds. They all hit my mark except the top one was low. Keep in mind I've only shot about a dozen arrows through it up until here so I'm still getting the feel for everything. Black dots on my target are about 2 1/2" big. I'll definitely get better with it the more I shoot it. I really like it so far! Kinda fun compared to my regular compound ... lol. My goal is to be confident shooting freehand out to 40 or 50yds and possibly stretching it to 65 or 75yds off a rest of some sort, hopefully by the time archery season comes in this fall.




really nice, i bet it cost top $$$



I'll be honest, I shot the R9 and its just as sweet! You're only giving up about 30 FPS by going with the R9 and you'd save a decent amount of money. Only reason I went with the R15 was because I have a couple really good ground blinds on fields where I might be tempted at a longer 50yd or 60yd shot "If" the right deer presents himself. Just thought the extra speed may help when hunting on the ground. Plus, I knew if it bought the R9 I'd always be wondering why I didn't go with the R15. Lol! It was pricey but I had a pretty good slush fund I had been saving up for this purchase.


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My crossbow is lots of 'new' fun. With a lifetime of owning guns the xbow is something I can learn and shoot right here in the basement at night after dinner.

It makes NO noise and is fun!!


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Been using an Excalibur Phoenix for about 4 years now. Couldn't be happier. Has the 4x ShadowZone scope on it. Once you set up the scope for the speed of your bow it holds zero year after year. I set mine up like a rifle zeroed at 30 yards and within a inch or two out to 50 yards. But honestly, their loud and deer can easily jump the arrow beyond 30 yards. Most of my kills have been 20 or less yards.. Also, you can cock it in the tree stand. I really like it over a bow because I can anticipate my shot without having to wait for an opportunity to draw or hold a draw for a longtime. Each season a just shoot a couple of bolts to verify I am still on zero and then I'm ready to hunt.

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Did the dampeners work well?


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