Excalibur Crossbows

[DBuck 256]

The other day while shooting my bow I heard a pop and a sharp pain shot down my arm, now I'm having trouble drawing my bow. As much as I don't want to do it, I might have to go to the dark side and buy a crossbow. I was talking to a buddy of mine he shoots and older Excalibur recurve crossbow. I would be interested in this type if I have to buy one. Anyone have experience with them? 

[Mountain Goat 171]

I have an Excalibur Vortex and I love it.  Several of my buddies have one as well and no complaints.

[archer36 1,325]

Plenty of Excalibur fans. The  attraction to them is their simplicity. If you used a compound bow,  you should have no reservations about a compound crossbow. The downsides to Excaliburs are the huge draw weight to achieve speed VS compounds. Also, they are not compact like many new compound crossbows. That makes a difference in ground blinds and stalking around in the brush. I have owned three reverse draw crossbows and like their design and power relative to draw weight. I have never has any issues with them but never kept one over three years. My current Horton Storm is three years old and am just now needing strings and cables. That's it. So buy whatever you think has what's important to you. 

Edited October 8, 2018 by archer36

[toxo 490]

I shoot a Excalibur Micro 335. Its a sweet,narrow bow.280# but you only pull 1/2 of that and you only pull it 13 inches. The older models are wider but I never had problems in a blind or treestand. You can buy a C2 crank if you need one but most people don't.

Strings stretch and you can unstring a recurve crossbow,twist the string and get it to the right brace height or change it without going to a shop. Every now and then you will hear of a limb splitting but all crossbows will have a problem every once in awhile. They have a lifetime guarantee and Excalibur's customer service is great! There are a bunch of upgrades that you can buy to make a cheaper model that much better.I can't say enough about Excalibur Crossbows!

Edited October 8, 2018 by toxo

[BowhunterNJ 4,164]

I have an Excalibur.  Very simple to tune and keep in tune.  No moving cams, etc.  Can also let it down at the end of a hunt instead of having to fire it into a discharge target.  The only negatives are they are a little harder to pull back since there are no cams, and they're a bit wider than compound versions...but neither has posed any issue for me while hunting.

[Nomad 2,369]

Have a Bulldog Matrix 400. Love it. 

[archer36 1,325]

59 minutes ago, archer36 said:

Plenty of Excalibur fans. The  attraction to them is their simplicity. If you used a compound bow,  you should have no reservations about a compound crossbow. The downsides to Excaliburs are the huge draw weight to achieve speed VS compounds. Also, they are not compact like many new compound crossbows. That makes a difference in ground blinds and stalking around in the brush. I have owned three reverse draw crossbows and like their design and power relative to draw weight. I have never has any issues with them but never kept one over three years. My current Horton Storm is three years old and am just now needing strings and cables. That's it. So buy whatever you think has what's important to you. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that I bought a Horton Vision 175, 5 years ago after the owner owned it for a year. I sold it to a guy in Louisiana last year and he still is using it and loves it. Only thing needed after about 7 years has been string and cable changes. The right compound crossbow can be very reliable also. The problems with crossbows in general is limb issues. Nothing to do with the cams. All crossbows have had their share of these. 

[DBuck 256]

21 minutes ago, toxo said:

I shoot a Excalibur Micro 335. Its a sweet,narrow bow.280# but you only pull 1/2 of that and you only pull it 13 inches. The older models are wider but I never had problems in a blind or treestand. You can buy a C2 crank if you need one but most people don't.

Strings stretch and you can unstring a recurve crossbow,twist the string and get it to the right brace height or change it without going to a shop. Every now and then you will hear of a limb splitting but all crossbows will have a problem every once in awhile. They have a lifetime guarantee and Excalibur's customer service is great! There are a bunch of upgrades that you can buy to make a cheaper model that much better.I can't say enough about Excalibur Crossbows!

I'm actually looking at this one, there's a few on amazon for around $780.  I see that the majority  of these bows come with 150 gr field points, is it ok to use 100 or 125 gr, I have  broadheads in those weights and really don't want to buy new ones.

[Lonewolf76 280]

My wife shoots one can hit a ping pong ball at 40 yards! She loves it!

[toxo 490]

9 minutes ago, DBuck said:

I'm actually looking at this one, there's a few on amazon for around $780.  I see that the majority  of these bows come with 150 gr field points, is it ok to use 100 or 125 gr, I have  broadheads in those weights and really don't want to buy new ones.

Yes,as long as your arrow total is 350 or over.I shoot 125 grain GrimReaper crossbow heads. Its a nice bow!

[BowhunterNJ 4,164]

9 minutes ago, DBuck said:

I'm actually looking at this one, there's a few on amazon for around $780.  I see that the majority  of these bows come with 150 gr field points, is it ok to use 100 or 125 gr, I have  broadheads in those weights and really don't want to buy new ones.

Yes, no need to shoot 150 grain heads.  I shoot 100 grain Spitfires now.  Worth noting, I did shoot Rages for a bit, but the energy of the xbow opened the heads before they got past the foot stirrup and I had an arrow launch about 3 feet high into a tree when I was practicing and a big ol gouge out of my foot stirrup.  After that I switched to a more secured expandable.  Some guys will wrap dental floss around the rage blades, but I'm not getting into that when I know the Spitfires will perform well too.

[toxo 490]

3 minutes ago, BowhunterNJ said:

Yes, no need to shoot 150 grain heads.  I shoot 100 grain Spitfires now.  Worth noting, I did shoot Rages for a bit, but the energy of the xbow opened the heads before they got past the foot stirrup and I had an arrow launch about 3 feet high into a tree when I was practicing and a big ol gouge out of my foot stirrup.  After that I switched to a more secured expandable.  Some guys will wrap dental floss around the rage blades, but I'm not getting into that when I know the Spitfires will perform well too.

I think Rage has fixed that with stronger collars for the crossbow heads. I shoot 125 GrimReaper crossbow heads.Never had any problems and I do Watch-em -drop!

[Nomad 2,369]

I use the Excalibur Diablo bolts, and 150 grain broadheads.  Started out with the Excalibur Bolt Cutters, but have since moved to the 150 grain Swhackers.

[Cedars 91]

Excalibur Exocet here.  No complaints.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Cedars

[Fireguy079 117]

i have the 335 micro and love it, i am shooting 125 gr fixed and mech broadheads.