How do you shoot this thingy?

Question

For the first time in my life I am the proud owner of one of them stick throwers.

I have managed to procure a very nice compound crossbow. I have been shooting projectile weapons since I was 4, but have never fired a crossbow.

I am aware of the basics of safety and sanity. Unfortunately, I am not aware ofthe following:

- How to determine the proper bolt length?
- What type of bolts should I purchase - Practice and Hunting?
- What type of broadheads and how will each impact the flight or speed?
- It has a basic peep site. What should I look into as an upgrade?

Thanks guys.

**All ANTI GUNNING AND ANTI HUNTING responses will either be deleted or reported based on the response. I don't give a damnn about your opinion.

You know......A smart person might have added a few more details, thanks JD. The bow was a "gift" from my brother. It is a Horton Legend SL, I have a link describing some thoughts on it.
http://www.clcweb.net/Crossbows/crossbows.html

It does not have a quiver (mounts only), but otherwise is in perfect shape.

FRIKKIN WOW!!!!

For the first time I have asked a question without a horde of ecowhacks and bunny strokers trying to hone in and promote their agenda!

Thanks for the input guys! I will keep it open a bit longer to see whatever else can be dug up.

Answer 1

Ven...Congratulations...on your recent new addition (Crossbow)....lol
Horton makes incredible Compound Crossbow's that are very flat shooting and FAST!!! You will need an above average HD backstop to stop from losing your "bolts".It will shoot clean thru most foam archery targets, and bales of hay or straw in a heartbeat. It wouldn't be a bad idea to practice with a friend standing by because the bolts fly so fast they are VERY hard to track towards your target,especially if you are alone. I would also reccomend a cocking device for your Horton. They take 90% of the work out of re-cocking your crossbow. I would also reccomend you find some raw fiberglass arrow shafts to make your own bolts from. The aluminum bolts that are available bend easily after a few shots and become useless and they are not cheap either. Use any broadhead that weighs around 100 grains for a 16" bolt, or as suggested earlier buy some Punchcutter broadheads that open on impact. I use them myself very successfully. Whatever weight broadhead you use, it's very important to practice with the same broadheads you will hunt with. The broadheads all fly different out of a Crossbow. If your bolts are unbalanced they will fish-tail like nobody's business. Experiment to find the ones that fly stable for you and stick with them. The quiver is nice to have but I think the Horton Crossbow quiver gets in the way. You don't really need one. Get a leather "pocket quiver" and you'll be fine.
The Horton peep sight is OK but you might want to invest in one of Hortons Crossbow scopes that have multiple horizontal crosshairs for fixed range shooting and hold-over shots. I've tried Red Dot sights but can't ever get the dot adjusted to match the crossbow bolt hit. Be prepared to lose some bolts....lol Good Luck Bud!

Answer 2

Never owned a crossbow myself, so I can't help with the bolt/broadhead questions, but I've shot my brother's crossbow equipped with a 40mm red-dot, and was quite impressed with the idea of a low-light electronic sight on a hunting crossbow. Easy to use. Great visibility. So many times a good shot presents itself in the opening minutes or closing minutes of the legal hours for hunting....when iron sights are really difficult to see. A bright red dot is always easy to see. Particularly as you get older and the old eyeballs don't work quite like they used to....

By the way, I loved your no-antigun no-antihunting qualifier.
Way to go brother!

Answer 3

Regardless of what you buy you want to shoot each and every broad head before you hunt with them. I was shooting a recurve on a special hunt when I saw a nice 3 point (western count) buck. When I released the broad-head caused the arrow to plane and I missed the animal by at least 10 yards. The arrow went high and right. The animal didn't wait for me to try again.

I love the last paragraph and that alone is worth a star. I really hope you can get some good information here. BTW, Good Luck on your next hunt.

Answer 4

I think the bolts are supposed to sit just off the tip, but it'd be better to go into an archery store with it and get them sized instead of guessing.
I'd get pratice bolts to practice with and make sure they're the same weight as the hunting bolts you were going to use... its usually easier to find the hunting bolt you like then pick up the practice tips.
I've always liked the ones that expand... can't remember the name off hand, but they have a rubber band around em, kinda like a hollow point for an arrow though.
a red-dot sight, these are called reflex sights and they're awesome...but if you must have zoom, I wouldn't advise anything over 1.5.

Answer 5

I bought one of those compound crossbows some time ago. I will be watching the answers to your question as I have them, too. I did discover that the arrow loss rate was very high with those things, they go so fast and far I never find them. They are truly a magnum version of a bow.

Answer 6

The Wii Zapper is best! It also comes with a game: Links Crossbow training which is really fun!

Answer 7

you could always bring it with you when you go to buy the arrows the archery shop would ne more that happy to help you out

Answer 8

well it should come with a guide saying what size crossbow bolds id look into a scope and please dont use it unless you cant use a compound