My factory Barnett scope was junk too.

 

Mine was junk also. Got through the first hunting season. Then the second season rolls around and it gave up. Of course right after the 1 year warranty was up.
Got a Horton/Hawke scope and it is A+.

 

Optics? ... I'm a believer in "buy once, cry once." Buy the best optics you can afford.

 

I have vx1 Loopy's on mine

 

I just happen to have a Leupold in the classifieds here. Great scope with great glass and a lifetime warranty goes with it.

 

Crossbow "kits" with scope, arrows and quiver can perform poorly due to the scope, arrows, or both. Spending more to get better quality is a good idea if you can do it.

 

some of the Excalburs scopes and the Tenpoint scopes are not too bad.
You could get buy easily with no up grades.

But yes the leupolds are very nice i have vxr on 4 bows and vortex xbrs on 3 bows and one hawke xb30 pro.

Tried em all at this point. I wish i could like a red dot the weight is so nice.

 

I am Red Dot only right now

 

I have finally settled on these for my hunting crossbows. I have proved over and over to myself that I don't need magnification for crossbow hunting deer. Light weight, compact and parallax free works for me.

 

I've always had good luck with any of the TenPoint scopes I've had.

I will admit I like my Hawke XB30 a little better though.

 

I just purchased a Hawke XB30 from Wyvern's for my Tenpoint, hopefully will arrive Tuesday. I haven't been a big fan of the factory Rangemaster scope that came with it. I worked with that darn thing two years and even had Tenpoint exchange it out due to the poor illumination quality of these scopes. I've had an XB30 on my Parker Hurricane for several years now and can drive tacks with that thing. Illumination quality is excellent, optics as clears a bell. That's why I now own two. It would be great if crossbow manufacturers would provide the buyer an option to buy the bow without a scope at a reduced rate.

The Rangemaster in itself is extremely easy to site in and has exceptional clarity, but the low light illumination is poor and washes out the target. I typically hunt deep woods where it is always shaded early season and gets dark quicker than hunting field edges. Having good illumination helps me stay in my blind just a little bit longer to catch that "magic hour".

 

Bought me a scorpyd vent 175 with a Hawke XB1 SR. Like the scope and I'm used to fairly good glass on my weapons. The other day I was in Atwoods and they had a Barnett hanging to where you could get it and hold it. I grabbed it and looked through the scope and it was like a cheap BB gun scope compared to tbe Hawke. Glad I bought what i did. Very happy.

 

I have the Nikon Bolt on one of my crossbows. Youre really gonna like your new scope, especially when there's a deer in front of it!

 

Zeiss 3-12x50mm Illuminated Duralyt & Hawke 4-16x50mmAO Illuminated. Had a 2.5-8x36mm Leupold with parallax reset to 25 yards on the Orion, just switched out to the Hawke with adjustable objective lens this summer after increasing the speed from 386fps to 408fps. I'll see how I like the Hawke when it gets into the woods.

 

I remember back in the day, rifle to scope price ratio was 1:1, buy a $500 rifle, put a $500 scope on it. Buying a $1500 - $1800 crossbow and putting a $150 scope on it seems like blasphemy, although I believe the quality of lesser priced scopes have increased somewhat. I still believe a quality non-illuminated scope will beat a mediocre illuminated scope every time.

I recall the early years starting out when I use to shoot a recurve without a sight, and used the tip of the broad head at full draw to aim with. And now I sit on stand with a $1000 - $1500 setup to shoot basically the same distances.

 

I remember back in the day, rifle to scope price ratio was 1:1, buy a $500 rifle, put a $500 scope on it. Buying a $1500 - $1800 crossbow and putting a $150 scope on it seems like blasphemy, although I believe the quality of lesser priced scopes have increased somewhat. I still believe a quality non-illuminated scope will beat a mediocre illuminated scope every time.

I recall the early years starting out when I use to shoot a recurve without a sight, and used the tip of the broad head at full draw to aim with. And now I sit on stand with a $1000 - $1500 setup to shoot basically the same distances.

My perspective ... is that scopes are a long term purchase while weapon platforms move in and out of favor. Versatility is usually a large part of any high dollar optic purchase I make. An optic may be on my crossbow one year and on a .22rf the next and a muzzleloader after that. High quality optics are never a poor choice in my opinion. You may be "over glassed" for a crossbow, but "picture quality" and the quality of the experience when you look through that glass count for a lot in my mind. It's simply more satisfying seeing a crisp, clear, vivid view each and every time you look through them.

 

Come to find out my issue was something completely different, and not scope related, BUT definitely was worth the upgrade. This will be my first season hunting exclusively with a crossbow instead of my vertical. I'm quite excited.

 

If Blazers are too high and you still have some you can always just trim down the top of your cock vane where it does not touch. It does not effect arrow flight.

 

I have a Red - Dot Bushnell and it works fantastic!

 

Sew - not sure what you meant. IF I have a scope, it will be an upper tier optic. Needing it is one thing, but if I'm going to look thru one it dang well better be clear as a bell.

My recent purchase was a new Leupy VX-2 3-9x40 with the CDS target turret for my "backup" muzzleloader that I haven't used in 5-6 years! But the price was right, I just couldn't pass it up.

 

Have one high end Ziess, 2 Nightforce competition scope, and one Swarovski on rifles...

Put something with writing, black, red, blue and green works best, about 200 yards away at civil twilight and you'll be able to tell the difference.

Have to back that up to 75-100 yards for the xb30, it's a great scope for the price but nowhere near the quality of a real high end scope.

With that said, I do like the marked hold over points, in fact that's why I don't try installing a rifle score, I'd lose the holdovers....

 

Have one high end Ziess, 2 Nightforce competition scope, and one Swarovski on rifles...



With that said, I do like the marked hold over points, in fact that's why I don't try installing a rifle score, I'd lose the holdovers....

Put one of those scopes on an Optimizer and you have it all. Yes, I think for a fairly user friendly (too busy reticle) dedicated xbow scope the Hawke XB30 SR PRO is the best overall. But, it falls well short of a good rifle scope/ Optimizer. If I had to buy from scratch, I'd get an Optimizer/3-9 VXR for my moderately long range setups. I'd get an even higher end scope if I weren't married .

 

T.P,
I was agreeing with what you stated concerning keeping our ranges down though our capabilities have increased times over.
Maybe a parallel is comparing a 50 cal RB muzzleloader with a 30-06, one of which is slightly less than 200 years old and the other is a little over 100 years old. The first has approximately 75 effective yards of range considering trajectory and the very rapid velocity/energy decay ( normally <500'lbs of energy remains beyond 75 yds) and rudimentary sites whereas the other has effectively 3-4+ times the range. Many 30-06 users have no qualms about considering 300yds as well within their effective range, and are correct in doing so. I see a lesser differential between a stick bow and a high performance xbow but not a lot less. A Scorpyd 175xx or R15 or others shooting well >400'/sec and able to shoot sub-1 1/2" 3-shot groups at 100 yards have appx 3 times the velocity and likely 5 times the accuracy of a stick bow many of us used. I'll admit, my Palmer White Tail Classic #52 shoots faster than what I used in the 50s and 60s, but I have upped my personal ethical range with it to at least 30 yards from 20ish yds back then. Point is, many xbow shooters keep their max range to much less than what math should indicate it could be if the same parameters were used: time of flight and accuracy. If 25 yds was ethical then, at least 75 should be now.

I was referencing "shooting basically the same distances".

 

T.P,
I was agreeing with what you stated concerning keeping our ranges down though our capabilities have increased times over.
Maybe a parallel is comparing a 50 cal RB muzzleloader with a 30-06, one of which is slightly less than 200 years old and the other is a little over 100 years old. The first has approximately 75 effective yards of range considering trajectory and the very rapid velocity/energy decay ( normally <500'lbs of energy remains beyond 75 yds) and rudimentary sites whereas the other has effectively 3-4+ times the range. Many 30-06 users have no qualms about considering 300yds as well within their effective range, and are correct in doing so. I see a lesser differential between a stick bow and a high performance xbow but not a lot less. A Scorpyd 175xx or R15 or others shooting well >400'/sec and able to shoot sub-1 1/2" 3-shot groups at 100 yards have appx 3 times the velocity and likely 5 times the accuracy of a stick bow many of us used. I'll admit, my Palmer White Tail Classic #52 shoots faster than what I used in the 50s and 60s, but I have upped my personal ethical range with it to at least 30 yards from 20ish yds back then. Point is, many xbow shooters keep their max range to much less than what math should indicate it could be if the same parameters were used: time of flight and accuracy. If 25 yds was ethical then, at least 75 should be now.

Very interesting perspective. I've never thought about it like that before. Good point!

 

I've always been intrigued with the Optimizer but not a fan of the side wheel - although I've never used one - but I probably have more of an issue with the height. But if I ever tried one, I might think of pairing it with a Swarovski 3-9 x 36 with th 4A reticle. I think you could see those heavy horizontal and the single bottom vertical at night in a closet with the door closed! I had it on my T/C Triumph B/C.

I sold when I got a great bargain on a 2-8 Zeiss Duralyt. I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice because I've never had to turn the Zeiss LED on yet. The clarity and FOV on that Swaro was incredible.

 

I sold when I got a great bargain on a 2-8 Zeiss Duralyt. I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice because I've never had to turn the Zeiss LED on yet. The clarity and FOV on that Swaro was incredible.

I expect if you put the Duralyt 2-8 (what I have also - 2) on an Optimizer and shot a lot out to 100 yards at the range, that "your" max ethical range might just creep up a "little".
I make bets with people by suspending ping pong balls in front of my 80-100 yard targets and using my 400 & 405 each with Optimizers/Duralyt 2-8s.
When hunting from a treestand, I set the power on "2" and the range on "30". I aim a little low for less than 30 and a little high for more than 30, but not over 40. AND higher yet for <15.
If the deer is >40 yards, rarely is there a problem with sneaking the trigger finger and thumb up to the dial. The Excal cheek peace places my chin just about perfectly.
I have 1 Optimizer with over 7,000 shots thru it. It's just as tight as the newer one.

 

What distance is your zero and how far can you shoot with it using hold over?

 

TP, with a 30yd zero that's 1.5-2" high at 20 and 3"-4" low at 40yds depending on the bow. A 175 or R15 would most likely be 35yd zero because of how flat they shoot. When I was shooting my Micro is a 25yd zero and I kept my shots 35 and in. I didn't shoot a deer over 20yds so all of that was for nothing

 

Thanks Ramrod, but I just realized I think Moon has what looks like an Optimizer or something similar with his Zeiss - duh.

 

Optimizer (likely shortened).

 

A week ago I bought a Barnett Vengeance. Sweet shooting bow. But as I started shooting it more it seemed that my groups got wider and not tighter. It got worse with every passing day. I knew I was not that bad of a shot. I've been shooting guns all my life, and my Jackal sure shot better than this.

I measured my axle to center, measured my ATA, checked the cam timing. Everything was spot on. I made sure that I was cocking it centered every time. It did not seem like it was the bow. I figured it was the factory arrows. I was wanting to pick up some GT Ballistics and fletch them with some Blazers anyway so I went out and grabbed some from BP, and refletched them. It didn't seem to help, if anything it seemed to make it worse. I thought I was losing my mind.

Something told me to check and scope. Everything looked fine and dandy. Nothing was moving and the scope didn't have anything lose or rattling in it. I didn't feel like it was the scope, BUT I was wanting to replace it anyway. Stock scope is junk like most are on crossbows that come straight from the manufacturer. Which is fine. It is meant to get you out in the woods that is all.

Academy was running a sale on the Nikon Bolt XR for $129. I decided to pick one up. I mounted the scope and stood back at 20 yards. I hit the target about 6" low, but dead center. Shot it again after adjustments, and got closer, one more adjustment and I was dead on. I went back to 30 yards and nailed it again. Shot my other two arrows and darn near all of them are touching.

I pulled the arrows, and did it again just to make sure that it was not a fluke. Same result.

Just goes to show you that having the right scope can really make or break a crossbow. It really makes me think that most of these crossbows that come from the factory shoot like crap due to the fact of a horrendous scope, and not necessary cam timing or out of spec bows.

Rule of thumb. If you haven't replaced that factory scope...do it! You will not be disappointed. This Nikon scope i can definitely vouch for. Clear optics and won't break the bank!

My Barnett scope was junk also. I got three replacement scopes from Barnett and they were all the same Chinese junk. ( Reticle was off center) Bought the Nikon bolt and works fine.