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What crossbow performance measure is most important to you?

  • Cost

  • Speed

  • Reliablity

  • Width

  • Weight

  • Accuracy

181 - 200 of 217 Posts
I guess Excalibur ... better fire up the assembly line and start building Excalibur Vortex' again.:rolleyes:😂:p Not to be a Debbie Downer and not to lampoon the Vortex crossbow, but there's something fundamentally flawed with research data that comes up with an Excalibur Vortex as the premier crossbow on CBN. At some point you have to step back from running the data & formulas in physics and say to yourself "does this answer make sense in the real world?";)
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Discussion starter · #182 ·
I guess Excalibur ... better fire up the assembly line and start building Excalibur Vortex' again.:rolleyes:😂:p Not to be a Debbie Downer and not to lampoon the Vortex crossbow, but there's something fundamentally flawed with research data that comes up with an Excalibur Vortex as the premier crossbow on CBN. At some point you have to step back from running the data & formulas in physics and say to yourself "does this answer make sense in the real world?";)
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numbers don't lie. got to give the people what they want and Crossbow nation wants cheap reliability and accuracy per the poll.
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Seriously? ... "How many crossbows are "unreliable" these days???" You buy a crossbow in 2025 you can just assume it's reliable. I understand that everyone votes "reliable" number one but to me that's like saying I want a car that's reliable. They're ALL reliable, it's a given.
Respectfully disagree Duke 🤔. While all cars MAY be reliable to a degree, some are moreso than others, just check out some consumer ratings. Some mite be faster, flashier, more prestigious, tho it means nothin if it's in the shop. Rolls Royce an others (BMW, Mercedes, etc) ain't goin too fast when ther in the shop, an ther owner ain't all that thrilled with em then either.
To imply it's a given that all crossbows are reliable seems inconsistent to me when I read some o da threads I see. 🤔
 
Another thing ... The poll should be "Rank these criteria according to importance." NOT, what is MOST important. Everyone's buying philosophy is different. Guy#1 with lots of money cost means nothing. He rates cost at 6th most important. Guy#2 with a nagging wife and cost is very important. He rates cost at #2. (behind #1 reliability...LOL) See what I mean?

MY rating of the 6 characteristics with an explanation added:
#1. Reliability (they're ALL reliable these days, but since it's on the list)

#2. Speed ("Speed" also means Kinetic Energy and momentum. It means short flight times and flat flight path. It's the third most wonderful thing about crossbows over vertical bows) (#1. Shoulder fired - #2 optics - #3 ungodly arrow speed)

#3. Width (Narrow crossbows are eminently more huntable. Big & wide is completely off my radar nowadays)

#4. Accuracy ALL crossbow are accurate enough to kill deer out to 50 yards, and all crossbows can be made accurate well beyond that. The vast majority of deer, probably higher than 95% are arrowed within 30 yards; and most of them within 20 yards! Like "reliability, "practical accuracy" is a given.

#5. Cost I'm retired, have limited costs to live now and still have a decent income. Cost is still meaningful but not as much as it could be. I think we all have "ceilings" where we refuse to buy an item whether it be a pair of boots or a crossbow because we feel it's too expensive. But for a crossbow "cost" rates down at #5 for me.

#6. Weight Other than special circumstances, I've always thought weight was a non-issue. We don't spot & stalk deer like so many Mohawk Indians. We're bushwhackers who walk a relatively short distance to a treestand or blind and sit with the crossbow on a rail or tripod or in our lap. Sure a lighter bow is nice to a degree, but guys fixate on weight when the reality is that for most of them it's really "much ado about nothing."
 
Respectfully disagree Duke 🤔. While all cars MAY be reliable to a degree, some are moreso than others, just check out some consumer ratings. Some mite be faster, flashier, more prestigious, tho it means nothin if it's in the shop. Rolls Royce an others (BMW, Mercedes, etc) ain't goin too fast when ther in the shop, an ther owner ain't all that thrilled with em then either.
To imply it's a given that all crossbows are reliable seems inconsistent to me when I read some o da threads I see. 🤔
But Jack ... "How Many" crossbows are actually blowing up? I don't see the highway shoulder littered with broken down cars and I certainly don't see any pattern of ONE brand when I do see the rare vehicle on the shoulder. Right now, today, if there's any brand of crossbow I'd be afraid of it's the brand that this thread has as #1... Excalibur! I don't keep track but Excalibur seems to have so many limbs breaking that the Excalibur lovers around here seem to advocate buying, storing and even carrying a spare set of limbs! I'm drifting ... LOL My point is it's easy to buy a reliable crossbow because the vast majority ARE reliable. Anyone buying a gorilla recurve knows he's rolling the limb dice; same as anyone buying a narrow crossbow is going to be buying strings often.
 
remember some folks can ruin an anvil with a rubber mallet......................... :D
 
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I guess Excalibur ... better fire up the assembly line and start building Excalibur Vortex' again.:rolleyes:😂:p Not to be a Debbie Downer and not to lampoon the Vortex crossbow, but there's something fundamentally flawed with research data that comes up with an Excalibur Vortex as the premier crossbow on CBN. At some point you have to step back from running the data & formulas in physics and say to yourself "does this answer make sense in the real world?";)
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I knew when I gave him that info that it would be burning a hole in your brain.
 
I knew when I gave him that info that it would be burning a hole in your brain.
I've been ... bypassing this thread because it's an exercise in futility to try to come up with a highest rated or best value crossbow. It is a fun thread though, so I stopped back in...LOL This is like trying to come up with the highest rated car sold in North America. You simply are peeing into the wind rating Ferrari's, Camrys, Broncos, and BMWs all in one pot. Heck, Sub-compacts, Compacts, SUVs, Minivans, Crossovers, Luxury, Sports Cars, Pickups, EVs, Hybrids, and then sub-categories of each???
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Discussion starter · #193 · (Edited)
I've been ... bypassing this thread because it's an exercise in futility to try to come up with a highest rated or best value crossbow. It is a fun thread though, so I stopped back in...LOL This is like trying to come up with the highest rated car sold in North America. You simply are peeing into the wind rating Ferrari's, Camrys, Broncos, and BMWs all in one pot. Heck, Sub-compacts, Compacts, SUVs, Minivans, Crossovers, Luxury, Sports Cars, Pickups, EVs, Hybrids, and then sub-categories of each???
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The current #1 big dog BARNET TS370
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I still not understanding where you are coming up with your numbers formulas for your rankings. Seems like political fuzzy math.
 
Discussion starter · #199 ·
I still not understanding where you are coming up with your numbers formulas for your rankings. Seems like political fuzzy math.
its just multiplying the score for each measure for each bow buy the weight of each measure in the Poll. Here is the calculator. For example your venom x scored 6.6 for reliability (5 points for round count without mechanical failure+5 points for no mechanical failure times 66% Poll Weight for that measure = 6.6 points for reliability for your venom x.

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do you have any bows that would beat the ones on the current list? if so send me the shot count before mechanical failure if any and accuracy at 40 yard, make, model.
IDK I"m not reading your list. I make my own mistakes to learn from.
I'm a machinist. My life revolves around precision repeatability and, making sure I enjoy my day with the choices I take in getting there. That was my advice for your thread.
I do have many xbows and, probably more arrows with their own broadhead than most and, that's all I launch.
40yd accuracy really? That's 8moa or 3mrad to me. With the 4-16 ffp's I've let xbow virgins pound 2" dots at 70yds. And that's with a bunch of arrows. I'm not the shoot 2 or 3 arrows guy. I set 4 or 5 blobs out and, shoot a case of numbered arrows. Arojac makes life ez.
Carry on it's amusing.
 
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