I have been hunting with the same bow for some years now,and have been saying when they get to 350 fps I would get a new one.having hand surgery not long ago,i have been looking at crossbows.i sure like the looks of the excaliber matrix 380.does any body shoot shoot one
be sure to get the crank cocker for your hand surgery. it will kill you to cock it without it.:) ghost 410 shoots 410 fps and you are not paying for the over priced name of excalibur, Barnett has been making crossbow for over 50 years they come with a lifetime warranty and are very fast/strong/ great bowsnone of them are quit, but shoot a heavy arrow, it wll load up the limbs better making them quuitter i have the Barnnett Jackal and i love it. 315fps for 150pounds, $299 .00 at cabelas:) their customer service is awesome if you need them contact jesse he is very knowleage able of crossbow and gets back to you quickly.you can go to a different forum called crssbow nations they are very helpful people with a lot of experience there.
Last edited by Blackhawk; 08/04/1307:46 AM. Reason: update
Mike crenshaw O I F veteran Remington woodsmaster742in 30-06 Knight Disc Extreme 50 cal. Weather by Vanguard 243 Win diamond infinite e7028" the crush 350 Barnett jackal crossbow cx, surge arrows 20"L Rage Hypodermic std 100 grain. slick trix bh
I don't have that model, but I do have an Excalibur. It is scary accurate. Don't shoot at the same dot on the target with more than one bolt. I bought mine last year after having neck surgery and keep going back and forth on whether to sell it or not. I bought the Axiom then spent about $150 extra on it to put the shock absorber things and the string stops on it and to get a good flemish string. The string stops and shock absorber things in front of the limbs really quieten it down.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
Re: crossbow shopping
[Re: FurFlyin]
#640379 08/04/1307:48 AM08/04/1307:48 AM
my jackal is too accurate in that i have shot groups and messed up a lot of arrows so i quit shooting groups.i like a regular scope my three dot scope lacks for light near dark. hard to see the deer.
Mike crenshaw O I F veteran Remington woodsmaster742in 30-06 Knight Disc Extreme 50 cal. Weather by Vanguard 243 Win diamond infinite e7028" the crush 350 Barnett jackal crossbow cx, surge arrows 20"L Rage Hypodermic std 100 grain. slick trix bh
I don't have that model, but I do have an Excalibur. It is scary accurate. Don't shoot at the same dot on the target with more than one bolt. I bought mine last year after having neck surgery and keep going back and forth on whether to sell it or not. I bought the Axiom then spent about $150 extra on it to put the shock absorber things and the string stops on it and to get a good flemish string. The string stops and shock absorber things in front of the limbs really quieten it down.
Been looking at the Axiom lately. If you ever decide to sell, let me know. Never owned a crossbow before, but my old shoulders have been aching lately.
Life is a journey. Make sure and bring plenty of Beer.
My luck has been so bad lately, it could be raining pussies and I'd catch one with a dick broke off in it.
Re: crossbow shopping
[Re: mudman]
#643026 08/07/1305:30 AM08/07/1305:30 AM
I have a Barnett quad 400, have had it for several years. So far it has been problem free. I use it to bow hunt edges of foodplots or thinned pines, where I stick out to much to draw a bow with 10 sets of eyes scanning around. I've probably killed 10-15 deer with it, clean pass thru on all but one. Had my bolt break on the exit side of the deer when it hit the shoulder blade (215lb buck still only ran 150ydsą) can't blame that on the crossbow. I put a leupold scope on mine last year, huge step up from the red dot.
shoot a heavier arras to quite them down like me changing up from a 20" to a 22" arrows makes them quitter. i shoot 150 grain broad heads, the bolt cutters . u have to load them limbs up to make em quitter. you can't make them as quite as a compound. go to crossbow nations to learn a lot about crossbow.:) enjoy it:)
Last edited by Blackhawk; 08/07/1306:31 PM.
Mike crenshaw O I F veteran Remington woodsmaster742in 30-06 Knight Disc Extreme 50 cal. Weather by Vanguard 243 Win diamond infinite e7028" the crush 350 Barnett jackal crossbow cx, surge arrows 20"L Rage Hypodermic std 100 grain. slick trix bh
Re: crossbow shopping
[Re: mudman]
#643898 08/08/1302:56 AM08/08/1302:56 AM
Blackhawk, Where are you seeing this lifetime warranty on Barnett cross bows? I'm showing that some have a 5 year and some have a 1 year. The 410 Ghost shows to have a 5 year warranty. The Barnett crossbows are ok but the Ghost 400 seemed to have had many problems. I read about many exploding. The new 410 may be a good crossbow and 410fps is definitely fast but fast isn't everything. Personally I would go with a different brand.
The Excalibur crossbows are top notch. They're good quality, user friendly, and have a lifetime warranty. The bad is they're kind of big. They're going to be wider than most compound crossbows. This of course helps with the accuracy, and they are accurate but something to conisder especially if you're in a tree stand a lot. You will find very few bad reviews on them.
I have a Parker and a Strykezone 350. Both are good bows and have a lifetime warranty but for the money the Strykezone is hard to beat. It comes in 350 and 380 which is the fps rating. It is a good compact crossbow and great in the stand. For a crossbow its fairly quiet and while probably not as accurate as the wider Excaliburs its still plenty accurate.
Re: crossbow shopping
[Re: mudman]
#652319 08/18/1301:53 AM08/18/1301:53 AM
thank you all for the info,i have been talking to allen conners up at his store for some reason I cant remember the name of his arcery shop,he has been showing me the parker f4.i like how small it is and I think he said it had a lifetime warrinty
Blackhawk, Where are you seeing this lifetime warranty on Barnett cross bows? I'm showing that some have a 5 year and some have a 1 year. The 410 Ghost shows to have a 5 year warranty. The Barnett crossbows are ok but the Ghost 400 seemed to have had many problems. I read about many exploding. The new 410 may be a good crossbow and 410fps is definitely fast but fast isn't everything. Personally I would go with a different brand.
The Excalibur crossbows are top notch. They're good quality, user friendly, and have a lifetime warranty. The bad is they're kind of big. They're going to be wider than most compound crossbows. This of course helps with the accuracy, and they are accurate but something to conisder especially if you're in a tree stand a lot. You will find very few bad reviews on them.
I have a Parker and a Strykezone 350. Both are good bows and have a lifetime warranty but for the money the Strykezone is hard to beat. It comes in 350 and 380 which is the fps rating. It is a good compact crossbow and great in the stand. For a crossbow its fairly quiet and while probably not as accurate as the wider Excaliburs its still plenty accurate.
My two choices would be Wicked ridge and an excalibur. I had the wicked ridge, it shots great, I just wasn't wild about crossbow hunting so I sold it. My other choices would be a Excalibur, the only down size to them is there size, but I believe it may have an edge on most bows as far as simplicity and accuracy.
Re: crossbow shopping
[Re: Klow53]
#706071 10/10/1311:05 AM10/10/1311:05 AM
I just bought a one year old used Barnett Penetrator. I got a good deal on it and man it flat out shoots. I have had a Horton for several years and this one puts my Horton to shame. I've read all the reviews of them exploding and hope this never happens but it's a great bow for the money.
you gonna get a ton of suggestions from different people but it really comes down to your needs and budget.I can tell you stay away from Horton.There out of business and Ten Point is not fixing anything or warranty anything that was built by horton so cross them out.I personally wanted a light and fast bow but keep in mind the faster the bow the more problems its likely to have with excessive wear on parts.Not to mention finding arrows that will shoot over 400 fps as accurate as anything under.the faster they are the more finicky the arrows.I owned a excaliber and to me they are to loud and awkward.Impossible to cock in the stand because it seems like the fronts almost 4 feet wide.they are bulky and very loud on the shot.Mine was not as accurate as people claim they are but i might have had a bad one.tried several different arrows.I sold it after bow season ended and was happy it was gone. I went thru this this year and had it narrowed down to the Bowtech strykezone 380 or scorpyd ventilater.A huge price difference in both.1600 vs 700.I went out and put my hands on as many crossbows as i could.Most felt huge and real front heavy.i wanted something light and well balanced.The strykezone felt the best to me.I done a ton of research on them and everyone that owns one loves them.Its still a front draw bow though. I ordered a horton fury and loved the way it felt over all i put in my hands.It was very accurate but the bow was prone to string failure.After 2 blows blew up i sent it back and RIP Horton.I bought the Scorpyd Ventilater from Mainstreet crossbows.George is a cool dude to deal with and built me 6 custom arrows to go with the package.I got the Hawke XB1 with illuminated crosshairs. The Bow is a straight up bad ass bow.will hit the same hole from 2 to 50 yards.I can drop 140 dollars on Spynal Tapps or BEES and get 1 inch groups to 70 yards.Jerry at South Shore is the best arrow builder in the business.He will Spine match or spine index arrows designed to fly as 1 in the bunch.im shooting 22 inch executioners with the aerovanes and its scary accurate. I would take a hard look at the Strykeforce 380 if you dont want to spend 1600 dollars and have jerry build you some spine indexed executioners for it.my bow weighs 6.5 lbs and is easy to carry with a climber.not to mention a 20 inch draw and is quiet at 400 fps.Also the scorpyds will handle Q nocks with will clip onto the string like a compound arrow does.Here is a video of the Scorpyd. George had a guy go to him to get his new 10 point Vapor sighted in and after he shot the scorpyd he bought 2 of them. Also when u call Scorpyd you talk to Jim Kemph the man who invented RDT bows.He will address any issue or answer any question you have.His bows are Lifetime warranty bows.Heres a video of a vent shooting Spynal Tapps.The bow can shoot better than this guy i assure u. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9aBHqM6THE
everything but turkey wich does not make any sense to me.I shot a compound for a while but my left shoulder is bad so i cant hold it out anymore and did not want to learn to shoot left handed.