crossbwo ownership

SIRGALANT

SIRGALANT

BANNED
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
2,294
recently bought myself a 150LB crossbow , i was wondering if anyone else owns a crossbow? would you inlcude it as a survival item in your gear , instead of , say , a rifle? i can`t own a rifle (no gun license , don`t want one) . do you think it would be useful for hunting? i`m gonna use it primarily for target shooting. are there any good crossbow forums i could join? i`m just a beginner to crossbows / archery in general. i`ve organised a surefire with pressure switch for it (1 months time) and i`m gonna get a dot scope put on it . i currently own 10 bolts for it . (i`ve got 10 shafts , 10 standard point , and 3 broadhead points)
 
You should do OK with it , I like crossbows myself , but then I bow hunt anyway , I know folk who hunt only with hi powered rifle and they hate crossbows , useless junk cant get close enough to a critter to use them ...

for practise , it may help if you get oversized BRIGHTLY colored bolts , helps to find them when they dont feel like hitting the target :)
 
If you've never hunt with one, please make sure that you have enough clearing for the arms when you shoot as you don't want them hitting branches and stuff because it's dangerous.

Last spring I saw some guys with one hunting turkey, so I guess they can be used for anything.

As far as a survial equipment goes, I think that there are too much stuff to carry and upkeep. I would just get a simple recurve bow.
 
http://www.barnettcrossbows-uk.com/deltastorm.htm
SIRGALANT, I had bought a Delta Storm many tears ago and love it, I have yet to hunt with it but it shot bolts (arrows) through 2- 1/4 4x8 sheets of plywood at close range. I bought it to put in my pack and carry as a just in case but it is heavy and with arrows it still takes up lots of room. I think it has definite potential to put a cross bow in your kit, I just could never find strong enough arrows that I could rely on. Now this has been over 10 years ago and technology has improved. I took it out about 8 months ago and was surprised the string was still in great shape with no dry rot or anything. I think there is potential there, I just haven't truly field tested it by hunting with it. I will definitely kill something.
deltastorm.gif

deltastormbig.gif
 
I never tried, I played with it awhile but never messed with the sites. I was thinking about a cheep red dot scope one day but to be honest I don't know. I'll have to dig it back out and take a look.
 
The linear bow (crossbow) is adequate, but less than optimal. The preferred weapon of choice for poachers, so it must have something going for it, but if your shot is off and you only wound the animal, you won't have a chance for a second shot, due to the cocking and loading methods. Whereas, a recurve/longbow is a second away from a second shot.

Don't confuse it with archery, because it isn't an archers tool. But then, I don't consider a compound to be archery equipment either. Not intended to offend here, it's just that when it became a machine, with pullies, cams, non flexing limbs, etc., it ceased to be a bow in my opinion.
 
Unfortuantely they are illegal to hunt with in some states (like NY). I always kind of wanted one. They might be easier for a rookie to get a hit with than a bow, but I've only fired one a few times.
I'd want a collapsible one if I was going to lug it around.
 
SIRGALANT said:
recently bought myself a 150LB crossbow , i was wondering if anyone else owns a crossbow? would you inlcude it as a survival item in your gear , instead of , say , a rifle? i can`t own a rifle (no gun license , don`t want one) . do you think it would be useful for hunting? i`m gonna use it primarily for target shooting. are there any good crossbow forums i could join? i`m just a beginner to crossbows / archery in general. i`ve organised a surefire with pressure switch for it (1 months time) and i`m gonna get a dot scope put on it . i currently own 10 bolts for it . (i`ve got 10 shafts , 10 standard point , and 3 broadhead points)
Click to expand...

I have a crossbow and they work great if you're hunting vampires:thumbup: The only downside is that you need silver bolts. Go for a gun. And on the contrary sir, you CAN own a gun. Guns are not evil or scary and you do not need a liscence to own one. They are more accutate, more reliable, and will serve you WAY better than a crossbow will.

If you simply cannot bring yourself to get a gun, I'd go for a compound bow. Being the owner of both a crossbow and a compound bow, I can say that I love my compound bow much more than my crossbow.
 
S. Brown said:
And on the contrary sir, you CAN own a gun. Guns are not evil or scary and you do not need a liscence to own one. They are more accutate, more reliable, and will serve you WAY better than a crossbow will.
Click to expand...

Not so sure about that- he lives in Australia.
 
Yep, Australians had to give up their weapons several years ago.

Not so sure how long we'll have them after the killings at Virginia Tech.
 
for someone that dont own a crossbow and realy didnt shoot as much with a bow i got a Q. Dont cross bow bolts have to be much more robust then a reguler bow??? Does a cross bow has a better kill potential at a closer distance??? There was a show on discovery where they talked about the crossbows saying that the Pope outlawed the crossbow cause of how dangeros it was. How would you compare the crossbow to a bow at 25y 50y and 100y. I dont think the crossbow would be anygood at longer distance... then what do i know so here im asking...

Sasha
 
Cross bows are legal in some states and illegal in othersto hunt with. In Connecticut you can hunt with one during bow season ONLY if you have a doctors letter to get a permit for an exception. Other states my have the same. They are very useful for handicap hunters to enjoy an "archery" type season. If you have bad shoulders, torn rotator cuff etc, They can be a viable option.

They are not illegal to own per se, just illegal to hunt most game with. Being a "bow" they are only as useful as any bow which is to say accurate and retaining enough energy out to 40-50 yards maximum. Some people say they are "cheating" because they are like a gun but to be honest I have owned and shot both extensively and they are no more or less lethal than a recurve or compound bow, save for the aiming ability. Some of the crossbows I have shot have horrendous triggers and that affects accuracy greatly. ExCaliber is an excellent cross bow and there are some others. They are expensive but you get what you pay for.

you can put pep sights, scopes, red dot sights etc., On them, as they have rails for scope/sight mounting.

Oh Yeah, Cross bows require a BOLT, not an Arrow. they have a much stiffer and of course shorter spine. If you shoot any arrow that is lighter in spine/thickness than required, you run the risk of serious injury to the shooter and by standers. The only one safe will be what you are shooting at!

Good Luck

Tom

CEFS Hunter safety instructor--NRA Cerified Rifle Pistol Instructor.
 
Sasha

It goes like this; Crossbow is most deadly at any range. Next comes the compound and finally recurve and longbow. I shoot traditional equiptment Recurve and longbow), just my flavour. I've seen them all shot at the range I goto.

TS
 
Modern compound bows shoot arrows at higher velocities than even modern 150 lb compound crossbows shoot bolts at. The crossbow is more dangerous in the hands of a neophyte, but the bow (in any incarnation) IMHO is much more dangerous in the hands of a skilled archer. The reason the pope didn't like crossbows way back when is exactly that. You can take a guy and give him five minutes of instruction and he is dangerous with a crossbow whereas it takes many years to make a true archer (especially with the primitive equipment available back then).
 
Having done a little research to update my knowledge, I have found that the absolute latest 160 lb long stroke compound crossbows will match the velocity of the latest 70lb compounds and exceed some of the older ones.
 
Hey Guys...

I'll first start out by saying that I'm an Avid and hardcore crossbow shooter/hunter...

There are Alot of misconceptions with the crossbow.The banning of the crossbow by the Pope still reverberates to today...

A law that prohibits the use of a crossbow is nonsense and antiquated...
There is absolutely No reason what so ever that a crossbow should be prohibited when a compound bow is perfectly legal.

There is very little difference between power and accuracy between the two. What a crossbow can do any modern compound bow can do, the crossbow being slightly more accurate, and a little less skill is needed.

I shoot an Excalibur crossbow, which BTW is the finest crossbow money can buy Bar None, because it is Very accurate, and I simply can't pull a compound bow any more with my arm.

I shoot recurve limbs, because the are fast, traditional, and are easily repaired in the field without having a bow technician standing beside me.
due to a damaged limb tip my hunting partner and I did a complete limb change over, and had it resighted in with 4 bolts.

Just for the record I shoot a traditional recurve limbed scoped Excalibur Exocet with 185lb draw weight.


So back to your original question..

Yes I think a quality recurve crossbow could be a very valuable piece of survival gear... I know for a fact,, that I would be packing mine with me when that time comes.

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top