Buying a new crossbow

[shogan]

Well I rammed it into the ground and fgured out to the best I could come up with.

Horton, TenPoint, and Excaliber are the big 3.

Barnett has some serioius quality issues I saw a quad 300 that had to be completely rebuilt including the limbs being replaced etc and the barnett revolution had trouble with the bolt holder (once the bow was in place and ready to fire) these fellows were using electric tape to keep the proper tension on the device and these were new bows.

PSE has some cheap tiawan stuff but they do have two bows made from Tenpoint the maxim and the deerslayer. You can look at 10point and at pse and see that they are almost identical. And now they don't even offer them in 2005 all they have is the cheap POS. So the 10points are going to be hard to come by.

Basically the verdict is you can't go wrong with Horton (never really found out why) TenPoint, and Excaliber. Excalliber was my first and best choice due to simplicity of design, quietness of operation (none of them are near as quiet as a compound bow), and ease of changing the string. IF money was not an issue that is the way I would go.

Couldnt really figure out any place that had all the bows in stock to try them out. So I bought online not what I wanted but figure if I don't like it I'll sell it. The one pro shop I went didn't offer to let me shoot them.

dicks didn't have anything though they sell them online and at other states.

Couldnt find any information on Parker. I liked the look and feel of the terminator but not being able to find any information on it and not any better priced then excaliber I didn't dig on it a whole lot.

Just my two cents worth and really at this point it aint worth 1 red cent.

[gwhilikerz]

shogun, what did you buy? btw Thanks for telling us about your search for a crossbow. It has sure helped me in comparing models as well. I didn't even know all the manufacturers of xbows. Still not sure what I will buy, but the excalibur is in the lead right now. But then i get a kick out of taking something less than top-of-the-line and making it work for me. We'll see.

[shogan]

What I bought was a PSE Maxim (made by tenpoint). I bought it simply based on the perceived value. http://www.pse-archery.com/Catalog/X-bows/2k3Maxim.html

If I made a mistake I'll let you all know and then I 'll sell it on ebay.

But I heard it from reliable sources that it was made by tenpoint and thus I felt comfortable that I was getting a decent quality bow. They look identical except the pieces that connect the limbs to the stock. The comparable ten point (TL4) was listed by the american dealers as best entry level bow. The funny thing is the bow lists at over 500 bucks.
http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTarget=search&hvarTextId=54553&hvarAID=shopping%2Ecom&cm_ven=Performics&cm_cat=Search&cm_pla=Shopping%2Ecom&cm_ite=DDI%20Link
BUT PSE no longer lists these bows in their 2005 line up so I think they are going to be selling only their Junk from taiwan.

Had I not found this deal on the PSE. I would have bought an Excaliber. Phoenix or Exocet (because they were the next in line as far as value) but I was leaning more towards the Phoenix due to shorter power stroke and standard in camo. The exocet 175 has about 10-15 fps on the phoenix and would be a good choice as well.

[Lamberneese]

I have a Horton Legend SL that I bought when I lived in Oklahoma in 1999. Last year the string broke when I was uncocking after hunting, when it broke it cracked the limbs. I took it to Shooter's to have it checked out and the string replaced. They said they would have to send it in and see what they said. Horton replaced the limbs with the upgraded version at no charge to me, even though it was my own dumb fault for not changing the string earlier. I just had to buy a new string. No complaints here, service and turn around time was great, had my bow back before season was out and continued hunting.

The lesson learned, always change your string at least every two seasons, whether it looks like it needs it or not.
Not trying to sway anybody, just my experience. Great company in my opinion.

[joekat46]

On my last trip to Bass Pro the manager in the archery department agreed to let me test fire several when I was ready to buy. I'm still of the opinion that trigger pull is a major factor in xbow accuracy. I have borrowed and shot a few while up in Ohio that had miserable trigger pulls. This is going to rule out the Walmart off the self xbow. Nothing looks as good as the 10 point (or cost as much). I'll be in Ohio during early May and intend to do some serious used bow shopping. I'm going to avoid the "entry level" mistake and go all the way when I do find one I like.

[Willie]

"entry level"

Will give you something you might not be satisfied with and might have a hard time getting rid of..It might be cheaper in the long run to go with what you really want.

I know with Excalibur I have a lifetime hunting tool..

Divide the amount you spend by the number of years that you will use it and you will find it works out pretty dang in-expensive in the long run.

[shogan]

IN the realm of things the excaliber has somthing close to an entry level price