Question/Advice on 2 Excalibur crossbows to purchase for beginner

[thelopeztribe]

@nicaburns - I've searched and cannot find the specs. All that comes up is for a 200 Excoet. Seller said it is about 305FPS. I was just curious on the weight.

I am sure you could google the exact specs but #175 is plenty... I loaned my vixen to a guy to let his son hunt... he took a shot he shouldn't have. Straight on, went in above the shoulder along the spine. Went through all the paunch and exited through the ham... bolt exited and he got the doe. Not good to take that shot on a deer but the bow claimed a first doe for a 10yr old boy.

 

[thelopeztribe]

GAgunLAWbooklet - Do you mean draw weight of 150 not 50? Good thoughts on the arrows.

My brother used to hunt deer and elk with a compound bow.
The draw weight was only something like 50 lbs. I'm not sure what the velocity was.
Anyhow, he and his buddies killed plenty of animals with them in Colorado and Wyoming over the years.
I think I'd save the $100 on the price of the bow and put that money into quality arrows and MORE arrows, so you aren't afraid to practice with the same good (expensive) arrows (bolts) you hunt with. Yes, you'll lose or break some if you practice with them. But do it anyway. Write off a couple of them as a necessary expense (loss) to hone your skills.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

GAgunLAWbooklet - Do you mean draw weight of 150 not 50? Good thoughts on the arrows.

Ya know, I think his was adjustable from 40-70 lbs "draw weight" (meaning the actual force the limbs needed exerted against them for full draw), but this was NOT the amount of pressure you needed to draw it. You, the human bowman, enjoyed the mechanical advantage of the cams and pulleys. I think back in the early 1980s when his bow was made, the "let off" was something like 40% or 50% of the full draw weight. (Now it's more like 80% for modern bows).

So if he had set his bow for maximum hunting power, with 70 lbs draw weight, he would only experience half that pressure on his draw. So he'd be pulling 35 lbs. I think that's how it worked.

Today he keeps that bow set down to 50 lbs on the limb draw weight, so his kids can shoot it in the back yard for target practice with only 25 lbs. of actual pressure required.
It still buries the arrows in pine straw bales much deeper than my 25-lb recurve does, though. His bow has mechanical advantage, and mine's just a curved stick.