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Today I went to the Horton Manufacturing plant where I met lead design and engineers Dave Choma and Mark Beck. They invited me down to have a go with the latest Horton crossbow, the Recon 175. When I first saw the bow in person, my initial response was wow. It is like nothing I've ever seen, at least nothing I've ever seen before in a crossbow. The bow resembles a tactical rifle and has an adjustable stock, suitable for different framed shooters. It has a pistol grip which also comes with three backstrap plates and two frontstrap plates for a fully customizable grip allowing adjustment to fit any hand and finger length. It also has a piciatinny type rail/ grip with a drop down handle. The rail system will allow multiple after market accessories from a bi-pod or flash light, to a laser aiming point. The most noticeable feature of the bow is that it has reverse draw parallel limbs mounted to a billet machined aluminum barrel. As soon as you pick up the bow you can tell something feels different, in a good way. The bow balances very well in your hand unlike most forward mounted limbed crossbows. It is very easy to aim. This is mainly because the main mass of the bow is located directly over the grip. The Recon will come as a complete package including a scope, quiver, 4 arrows, a cocking sled, and a press cable that allows you to work on the strings and cables without needing a bow press.
So how does it shoot? It's awesome!!! Because of the reversed parallel limbs the bow has virtually no recoil. It is also very quiet. While standing down range (and to the side) while the bow is being shot, the arrow flying by makes more noise than the bow itself. It seems if it has a soft thud sound compared to the loud twang sound we have grown accustom to. Even indoors this bow is much quieter than your conventual crossbow. It has the Horton Talon trigger which weighs in right around 4 pounds. It's very crisp with little to no creep, a pleasure to shoot. As far as the speed goes, I chronographed two different carbon arrows. The first is a 320 grain arrow that will be supplied with the package. It read an average of 318 fps. The second arrow weighed in at 415 grains and went 285 fps. Both speeds are pretty good for the relative weights of the arrows. As far as accuracy, this is where the Recon really performs. Shooting from a rest (from 20 yards), I shot six total arrows and numbered the holes after each shot. I must state that after the first shot, it was discovered that the arrow retention spring was found to have a piece of torn rubber hanging from it which was then removed. I then shot the remaining five shots in the same hole. I don't know how it could be any more accurate than that. These arrows weren't touching the other holes or cutting each other, there were in the same hole. It was truly amazing.
At the top of the price range for the Horton line of crossbows, this bow comes in at a suggested retail of $1,499.00 for the complete package. It is very well built and put together. It is truly a top performer in the crossbow industry. One thing I did like was with the adjustable stock and grip, it is a bow that would fit anyone from a young child, to a small framed woman, to the manliest of men. It also does not take up a lot of room and could easily fit on the back, bench seat of an extended cab truck. So when can you get your hands on one of these? The guys tell me that because of the overwhelming positive response to the Recon, there is an unexpectedly high demand for them. They feel confident that they should be ready to be shipped out in about 3 weeks.
Thanks, Jeff
So how does it shoot? It's awesome!!! Because of the reversed parallel limbs the bow has virtually no recoil. It is also very quiet. While standing down range (and to the side) while the bow is being shot, the arrow flying by makes more noise than the bow itself. It seems if it has a soft thud sound compared to the loud twang sound we have grown accustom to. Even indoors this bow is much quieter than your conventual crossbow. It has the Horton Talon trigger which weighs in right around 4 pounds. It's very crisp with little to no creep, a pleasure to shoot. As far as the speed goes, I chronographed two different carbon arrows. The first is a 320 grain arrow that will be supplied with the package. It read an average of 318 fps. The second arrow weighed in at 415 grains and went 285 fps. Both speeds are pretty good for the relative weights of the arrows. As far as accuracy, this is where the Recon really performs. Shooting from a rest (from 20 yards), I shot six total arrows and numbered the holes after each shot. I must state that after the first shot, it was discovered that the arrow retention spring was found to have a piece of torn rubber hanging from it which was then removed. I then shot the remaining five shots in the same hole. I don't know how it could be any more accurate than that. These arrows weren't touching the other holes or cutting each other, there were in the same hole. It was truly amazing.
At the top of the price range for the Horton line of crossbows, this bow comes in at a suggested retail of $1,499.00 for the complete package. It is very well built and put together. It is truly a top performer in the crossbow industry. One thing I did like was with the adjustable stock and grip, it is a bow that would fit anyone from a young child, to a small framed woman, to the manliest of men. It also does not take up a lot of room and could easily fit on the back, bench seat of an extended cab truck. So when can you get your hands on one of these? The guys tell me that because of the overwhelming positive response to the Recon, there is an unexpectedly high demand for them. They feel confident that they should be ready to be shipped out in about 3 weeks.
Thanks, Jeff
