You don’t buy and Excalibur for speed you buy it for durability and dependable bows. Excalibur needs to go back to 355 fps max and worry about reliability again. Wich is why you buy a recurve. So it’s really not fair to compare a recurve to something with cams.
@@neabowhunters8107I disagree, you can have your cake & eat it too. The Bulldog 440 was awesome, Excalibur should never have discontinued it, they should have updated it, into an Assassin platform. I love all my Excalibur's, I own 7. I still have two wide limb Excalibur's that I will never sell, the Equinox & Exomax. My two favorite Excalibur's I own , are my Bulldog 400 & Matrix 380. Both are amazing xbows. But I wouldn't mind getting a Bulldog 440 or an Assassin 420 TD. If I find a good deal on either, I'm buying my 8th lol.
Rich in order for me to tell you that you are wrong first you would have to be wrong and I just don’t see where you wrong and believe me I have watched this post and you are NOT WRONG !
I love Excalibur also, I own 7 of them, but Kudabow made awesome recurve xbows, that were slightly better built than Excalibur, in my opinion. It's a damn shame, that the Covid lockdowns, forced Kudabow out of business. Hopefully the brand will be revived.
I remember party lines! 😅 So glad to see you back putting out content. Very happy life is going in the right direction for you also!!!! All Hail Bunjie!!!!!
The assassin extreme - I feel - was less about bringing something new and innovative to the market than it was about bringing the $2k TD crossbow into a lower price point by removing some features such as eliminating the adjustable stock, TD feature, using a lower end scope scope etc. With the new version we still get a "zippy" crossbow at a lower price. I like this crossbow actually and glad I don't have to pay more for the TD feature I would barely use. With that perspective in mind, I think it's a good addition to the lineup.
I guess I’m just an Excalibur fanboy, I like them all. Even the flat paint job looks nice to me. Got 2 Excaliburs, a micro 335 and a matrix 355. Always hunt with the 335. The 355 is my backup. I never shoot beyond 30 yards and 90% of the time it’s inside of 20. Speed is never an issue for me. Have no interest in a new one, what I have just works so well!
Funny, 6 months ago I couldn't stand Excalibur crossbows because I was a Ravin fan, then I was a Swat X1 fan. That has all changed. Good bye cables and hello Excalibur. I was given a Matrix 355 and absolutely love it. The Micro 340 will be under the Christmas tree this year from Mikes Archery in the bottom land camo
Took a cow elk , with the GRZ2 200lb 305 speed: Amazon bolt's and knock offs muzzy three blades: Elk went down with in sight....nothing fancy..... Waited 10hrs in a tree stand for a shoot. Your videos running around in my head Thanks Jack
Nice job Rich! So glad to see you back on YT again! I just weighed my new Wicked Ridge M-370, which Ten Point claims to be the lightest crossbow on the market and it comes in at 8.6 pounds! That's with the Accu-Draw system, and my Barnett Raptor FX weighed in at 7.4 pounds!
My budget was low a couple years ago. I’m using a Barnett XP350. I love it. My shots are not more than 25-30 yards either. For $250, it’s working well for me. Next year the plan is a lighter faster quieter harder shooting crossbow. Again Rich, great video and thank you for sharing.
Hey Rich, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!". I'm still hunting with my Barnett Ghost 360. Probably not shooting much past 30 yards and this has done the job for me... Guess I'm getting old where it comes to change LoL 😂
An other great video Rich with some good information on the 2023 line up! I can't wait to see some shooting videos with Bunjie again! Keep the awesome videos!
In my opinion, Excalibur has reached the limit of recurve technology. I own a micro suppressor and I’ve never had any issues with it, it suits my needs, no, it’s not the fastest but at reasonable hunting distances, it’s fine.
Truth. There is only so far you can go and after that it becomes problems. 405 fps is really something and when you get a hunting weight bolt on that its still stupid fast for a recurve at roughly 330-350 fps. There is not much they can do at this point. I do think they need to step back and go with the single trigger unit i see nothing but problems with sliding unit.
Truth. There is only so far you can go and after that it becomes problems. 405 fps is really something and when you get a hunting weight bolt on that its still stupid fast for a recurve at roughly 330-350 fps. There is not much they can do at this point. I do think they need to step back and go with the single trigger unit i see nothing but problems with sliding unit.
Love my mag 340 got it used and had a limb faliure. Excalibur fixed it quickly and painlessly. Hope the bow continues to shoot well and i dont have any more limb failures.
Love my micro mag 340, no problems after three years of use. Speed was never an issue for me and I don’t have to make long distance shots. Maybe I’ve just been lucky enough that everything I’ve killed walked into my comfort zone. Or can it be hunting the wind correctly and stand location? High speed was important to me when I shot competition with my Oneida Eagle, but I didn’t use my high speed compound bow for hunting. You take the same risks shooting high speed crossbows at longer distances as you do with slower crossbows. I have no problems with higher speeds and nothing against those who switched up to high speed crossbows. I just think it sometimes over boosts people’s confidence a little bit. Especially a new comer into the sport. Just one man’s opinion. Happy hunting everyone!
Welcome back Rich! Hope everything is going great on the new job! Lovin’ these reviews of the crossbows btw. I was wondering if you might have time to look at the Wicked Ridge Fury 410 and let me know what you think. Now we just got to get Genevieve back on with you. Bunjie JR was getting to be quite the star…lol!
I added a micro 340 last year after the second limb failure on my micro 360, also thanks to one of your previous videos, i added heavier inserts into the bolts. Excalibur has been really bragging up their "durability" in their advertising, which I find comical. Good to see you again Rich.
I remember when I told the operator what number I wanted. When in second grade we took a field trip to the telephone office. One of my classmates' Mom was working! "Number Please!"😅 Couple years later we went to the 7 number dial system. Still had the party line through high school.
First crossbow was a starter pack Barnett, rail was bent, took it back and got another one, again bent rail… So after cursing the bargain brand then watching your videos years ago I decided i’d prefer recurve instead so got a Matrix Grizzly. Finally bought my dream crossbow this year. It wound up being between a takedown 420 or bulldog 440. I wondered how the TD model would hold up in 10+ years of use. I figured the less things given the option to break or wear out, the better. So upgraded from my Matrix Grizzly to the BD 440 and still smile when I walk in and see it sitting in the corner. Several dozen shots and scope tweaking and she’s dialed in perfect at 100 yards. Shoots about 420 fps with my heavier arrow setup to try to preserve the limbs. Took the first doe with it last week, 70 yard shot, hit exactly where I was aiming and she went 30 yards and crashed. Double lung with excalibur Trailblazer. Excalibur got it done!
Rich. Really enjoyed the review on the Wolverine, because the original is the only crossbow i have ever used. This 40th anniversary model is smaller, faster and alot of other things.
Hey Rich! I agree with you on the color of that Xcal and a lot of the new cars. They look like they stopped after the primer 😂. Little did I know when I was a teenager that my all grey primered Ford 500 was making a fashion statement!😂
I have a late production Mega Matrix 405, it's just a TANK, absolutely bombproof. Same with my 380 Matrix. No trigger or limb issues. Only issue was during a rainy day hunt last fall, scope got wet, fogged up, still worked well enough to take a deer. Have just replaced it with the Overwatch from Wyvern. The Matrix 405 and 380 are probably the best built bows Excalibur has ever produced IMHO. Not too big, nor too small, yet both are powerful enough to hunt anything smaller than a killer whale. I have spare limbs for both, but doubt I will need them anytime soon.
Hello Rich. Thought I would chime in if you do not mind. I'm not crossbow expert. Have loved archery all my life. Several years ago walked into a local pawn and picked up a BNITB Center point Tyro and played with it learning how to use it properly. Really enjoyed it. I knew it was slow (245fps) and never really thought about hunting with it. Last year after taking a doe with a traditional ML, decided to give it a try. Killed a big buck with it, big body. Nice rack, but they did not match IMHO. But I was proud of my success and I shared the meat with some friends. Decided to up my game. Watched many of your videos, and others here on YT. Decided to stick to a traditional limb design and decided to go with an Excalibur. I found a really great price on a Matrix G340. I know it's not a micro or a take down, makes a lot of noise, heavy trigger, and discontinued. But for the price new, I could not pass it up. Added on some silencers, that helped a lot. Stayed with the same supplied arrows and went up to 150grain points and swacker BHs. VERY VERY HAPPY! Dead on out to sixty yards. Now.... as far as the 2023 line-up... Why try to re-invent the wheel? Unless they are shooting 500-600 FPS, or they the size of a pistol CB, and shooting over 300 FPS, whats the point??? What they need to do is figure out a way to make a more reasonable priced crossbow that's in the 320-360 FPS range, camouflaged, or even in an OD Green or a Brown color, and with an "ok" trigger. Their line-up now cost more than most really good hunting rifles! For years I shot a Mission compound bow. Great bow, with older Mathews bells and whistles. And less than half the price of the name brand. They should work on doing something like that. A off branch company with a little older tech, that is still great quality! They could call it the Camelot line of budget crossbows. Just my .02. First In... Last Out!
Good to see you back. I will say that I have a TenPoint RS 470 that has the trigger box that moves down the rail to cock and de-cock. I get your hesitation with that, but I must say, I absolutely love it. Works great, no issues with the one season I've had it... now... what will happen years from now? We shall see.. I might not like it so much, but right now... love it. As a second note, I bought a Burris Oracle X after watching your videos, I've always hated trying to range ever time a deer would move. Great, Great optic.. love that thing... so happy I got it. I will say one issue I have with it, is it seems if I leave a battery in it, the next time I go to use it the batter is dead. I need to hit up Burris on that one.
Yeah it seems hit and miss in the reviews on battery life, some people they last forever and others not so much. But I will tell you it is a lot of fun to range the deer constantly when you're looking through that scope haha!
Buy some spray paint in black and brown and make a template out of poster board. Then turn that tan paint job into an ASAT camo paint job. ASAT is an awesome camo that really works.
I do like ASAT camo, I am surprised none of the manufacturers sell prosperous like that, maybe the licensing fee is really high or the demand is just not there but I do like it
What small game heads suggest for small game/targets with a large/wide surface area for a more easier consistent accurate guaranteed shot for Excalibur Recurve Crossbows? - Thank You!
The best bang for your buck right now is the micro 380 because lets face it, times are tough and $1000+ is a lot of money. It is the newest model that brought in the ceasefire, rhino nocks, and high output limbs last year for $1000. I love mine and took down a nice doe last year with spynal tapps and 125gr swhackers. If you dont wanna buy the custom arrows, the dragon claws that you get from wyvern are awesome too and I only lose about 15ish grains of weight compared to spynals the way I built them. You get the dragon claws from Dave at wyvern in his crossbow packages and they too are gonna be heavier even with 100gr heads over the quills or proflites from Excalibur. PLEASE DONT SHOOT THE MINIMUM 350GR OUT OF THESE BOWS UNLESS YOU WANNA BLOW UP LIMBS! My spynal tapps are 430gr total and they run great around 350fps. A small price to pay vs replacing limbs. As a final note, the ceasefire system works via a detent that sticks out under the rail. Standard flat nocks will push the detent and allow the bow to fire. The only advantage to the rhino nocks with the groove is that the detent clicks into that groove and keep the arrow back against the string. It doesnt outweigh the benefit of a lighted nock if you pay attention and seat your arrows properly when loading. Great video!
You and I talked quite a bit in email over my crossbow purchase last year. I have not been disappointed! I should have also said in my first comment that most people could go to walmart, buy a $200-$300 crossbow, take it hunting, and kill a deer with it and be totally happy. The killer instincts that my local walmart stocks in the fall look nice. I spent the money for the Excalibur because I always loved the look and simplicity of recurve, not because you have to drop a grand to get a quality weapon, years before I ever committed to crossbow only. I converted from primarily gun hunting because Ohio only gets 10 days of deer gun season every year. Archery is so much more fun than "BANG!" deer is dead as well...
My grandmother used to listen in on our phone calls I remembered her ring was ring ring and our wa was ring ring ring .lol I have the 1983 Wolverine and I now have the 2023 Wolverine anniversary 2005 Excalibur exomag carved limb tips 2005 Excalibur exocet carved limb tips 2020 mag air 2020 micro mag 240 2016 Hoyt carbon spyder
List of priorities: 1) reliability/robust design 2) customer service/spare parts availability 3) easy to operate 4) claimed speed depends on arrow weight? 5) new fangled fancy features/ Ferrari price tag.
Great video - especially the book intro - WOW! Yes, Malthus was dead wrong (and he's also dead btw). The more freedom the more innovation - especially in the face of limited resources.
On an Excalibur, changing a damaged string in the field is a breeze. This will allow you to continue your hunt. Also, the lack of wheels and cables make the Excaliburs way more reliable than any compound xbow. These are two very important criteria to consider, & add to your list
I got an S23 Ultra specifically for the camera. Gotta love the 4k video too. I think it goes up to 8k, but I've never used it. I probably should've gone with a recurve crossbow for the ease of changing strings, but I went with a Barnett compound crossbow. Think it's 425ft/second, if memory serves me right, but I know a string malfunction will be catastrophic for the time. I also have two breakdown recurve bows though--one at 45#, the other at 55# so that I can hunt anything huntable.
I dont think that excal can go above 420 440 fps with recurve, in the future. But people want always new things, and excal can deliver ONLY repackaging from now on, and improved durability For me 300 fps with 450grains is very ok.
To your list of smaller faster, lighter, cheaper , quieter I would add more reliable and ease of owner maintenance . Excalibur really shines in the fact that you can very simply maintain your string stretch ,serving ware issues and really any issues that come up at home . And the current bows are very reliable especially if you shoot a heavy bolt verses the bare minimum of 350 gr. I like a hunting set up to have 450 grains of arrow weight or more . Ill give up some speed for the better groups and increased penetration. I agree with the conclusions stated in the video not a lot really new in the line up but I am fine with that. I like the solid performers Excalibur offers and at least they are not shoving a bunch of gimmicks at us.
Rich ? What did you do with the money? Jack? Yes Rich? What money? The money that your parents gave you for SINGING LESSONS! 😂❤ OOHHH ! Okay so that was not funny however this post is fantastic!! 😊
Excalibur is capped out on what they can do. A recurve is a recurve not much else you can do with it. You don’t buy a recurve for speed you buy it for dependability and reliability.
The 380 has always been a big deal for excalibur, each generation of Limbs, in my opinion, sees the 380 being the flagship crossbow or one of the top crossbows. I have not shot the micro 380 but I would expect it to be a good one!
Watchin this video makes me feel like im talking to some hunting buddies after a long hunt not much better! But i love the flat dark earth micro extreme personally.
i love my excalibur grizzly but it was time to upgrade, so i went with the tenpoint viper 430, i really wanted another excalibur but nothing they have excited me, beside's i don't want to go any smaller than an 18" arrow, viper 400 felt lighter and more comfy than the viper 430 which is an inch longer but it is a fanatastic crossbow, if you want we could meet so you can do a review on the viper 430 as i live in pennsyvania to. lol as long as i get it back before hunting season.
I'm sorry Rich I believe you are wrong. Excalibur has remained in business for 40 years by producing quality products with outstanding customer service. Your standard of 400 fps with a 400 grain arrow is misleading to the viewer. You need approximately 40 fp of kinetic energy to kill a whitetail deer. My newest Excalibur Wolverine bow delivers a 400 grain arrow at roughly 340 fps delivering 93 fp of kinetic energy at 50 yards. That is double the kinetic energy needed to kill that animal. Excalibur crossbows are not speed bows but live on the reputation of being reliable and accurate. Your argument that increase speed eliminates deer dropping and altering the point of impact is not totally correct. The fastest crossbow on the market is 515 fps. The speed of sound is 1100 fps. The sound of the bow will always get to the deer prior to the bolt with the potential for the deer reacting to the sound. In reality the deer is reacting to the sound and dropping down to load their hooves to spring out of the danger zone. I have tracked many high should hit deer from crossbow hunters with my tracking dog. In order to eliminate the possibility of deer dropping to escape the area, you will need to shoot a projectile equal to the speed of sound. So in conclusion, I have been down the speed bow rabbit hole and have lucky returned to my Excalibur roots several thousand dollars light. Excalibur manufactures many fine crossbows that will get the job done and also meet your standard. I started watching your videos years ago and I hope someday you also return to your crossbow roots, Excalibur. Hail to the one and only Bungie!!!
I appreciate that. However, it takes more than the sound to reach the deer for them to duck. I did a great video on this, and you should watch that. They have to process it, and then they can only drop at the speed of gravity. So it's not just the speed of sound. If it was, there would be no way to kill an animal with any archery equipment. For the record I have had zero High shoulder hits since I started using a 400 ft per second crossbow. I had about 50% such shots when I'm shooting at 300 and below. It makes all the difference in the world. Just look at the deer I shot this year, one doe ducking the string at 22 yards and 263 ft per second and a buck at 30 yards who didn't move at close to 400 ft per second. As for this video, it was just pointing out that excalibur's offerings last year weren't anything new other than the same crossbows with different paint jobs. This year, there is at least one encouraging release from Excalibur and I'll take a look at that in a future video. There's hope! Lol. Thanks again and I do appreciate it.
I have the same opinion of the Micro Extreme color. I am not a fan. I don't own an Excalibur. If I owned a recent model, there is nothing that would inspire me to buy a new one this year. I agree with you on that. If anything, they are offering less "take down" models this year. Which makes me wonder if there's an issue with those? If I were buying an Excalibur this year, I would pick last year's Micro 380 over the two new 360 models. Compound bows peaked in speed over 10 years ago. I think crossbows are going to reach a similar fate, and they may already be there with last year's Ten Point NItro 505. TP's new models this year were all under that one in speed.
You make a great point about not offering takedowns, they do seem to be phasing those out! They also dropped the 440, so their fastest crossbow is now 420. Maybe had problems with the 440 also? We'll never know answers to these questions I'm afraid, but I do love Excalibur and I wish them the best.
I think the lineup was a cleanup of tech from the years before, that somehow failed the one or other way. The gen2 limbs tend to fail at speeds above 340fps and i suspect even the HO limbs are better not stressed on a „400fps“-frame over the seasons. Also i suspect, they had high numbers of failures of the td-mechanism…getting loose over time. So they put the HO limbs on more models and combined it with reasonable speeds for recurve-circumstances… and they kicked out td at almost all models…i guess what looked like stagnation, was in fact a reasonable step in direction of reliability…so yes somehow i guess your are partially wrong about Excalibur not delivering that year. I do share your standpoint on the „flat dark earth-primer“…and i also think it was not helpful naming the models „extreme“ and claiming to be the fastest…they should have claimed to have made them more solid…but it would have ment admitting the problems with prior tech. You have your own record with those issues…
I bought a mag 340 a couple years back. It shoots 320 over a chrono with the recommended bolt and recommended FP of 150 grains. While I like it a lot and have no issue with the speed, the heavy DW and cocking is not for the faint of heart. You need the cocking aid which now is $279.00. I saw a new lite version that is $100 less but that is still pretty hefty and I have not tried one. I don't use the aid for hunting but for any sighting in or repetitive target shooting you will need this unless you are crossfit athlete. Packaged illuminated scope was great so no complaints there. I had a limb failure that was taken care of immediately so great service was a plus. Would I buy another? I'm really not sure.
The high output limbs get an additional 25 fps for the same power stroke. Definitely give performance improvement. And those HO limbs @ 360 fps are the same limbs used for the 400TD models. So they are way understessed compared to what the limbs were designed to handle... i.e. Reliability is going to be incredible using these limbs with a shortened power stroke. Kinda like the OB with it's shorter rail compared to what those limbs did on an Exomax with a 2" longer power stroke than an Axiom. Also, the Wolverine has about the same power stroke as a Micro 335, and rope cocks with about the same felt effort, from guys that have compared (check out The Horizontal Zone, Mike Lobus) review on both the Wolverine and Micro 380. The way the limbs are pre-loaded gets them the additional speed with the same power stroke as the standard micro limbs. Draw weight is up just a tad at the back, but it's the earlier portion of the power stroke that it gains the extra velocity from having more limb preload at the first portion of the power stroke. So I'll come out and say it.... Yep you're wrong on this one. They are getting the same performance as before, without stressing the limbs as much on these particular models, which low stress and increased reliability is what a lot of old-time excalibur fans want. And if you want the extra performance these limbs offer, get a 400TD or Micro 380. Those limbs really are a game-changer for what a recurve design can do. Just gotta understand the details behind them.
Interesting, but...game changer? Draw weights are still high and speeds are low compared to the rest of the pack...and they got rid of the 440...I DO hope to see a game changer but I'm not seeing it here. If the result is fewer breakages because less stress, that's great...but limbs aren't supposed to break in the first place.
@@Deathbybunjie I think we're well past the time recurve crossbows will ever be able to compete with compounds in terms of raw speed. Just ain't gonna happen anymore. So Excalibur will never be a game changer if raw speed is your main criteria for that. But it's also pretty obvious it's not all about speed, and there is still a big market for simple and reliable recurve hunting crossbows, and for good reasons, which you well know. In terms of the HO limbs though... They're the biggest advance Excalibur has made in decades, and it is pretty well flying under the radar. You could put a set of those limbs in Bunjie Jr and gain 25 fps AND have limb reliability go up simultaneously. Literally no other changes except for the limbs (ignoring riser fit specifics). Only way an Excalibur could ever gain speed before was by lengthening the rail, which also pushes the limbs closer to their limits, and decreased reliability. So yeah, using the HO limbs in the Micro 380 in 2022, and Wolverine and Micro Extreme in 2023 was a subtle but big and smart move for Excalibur. It's actually moving them back more towards what built their reputation of accurate crossbows that are being taxed way less than the limbs can handle. Just like the Axiom was. And that's a good thing.
@tythomps that is good to hear and encouraging! Flying under the radar is a good way to put it, I looked this up and really didn't find out a lot about them! Even the forums don't discuss it into much detail. It would make a good video topic. But, in my defense, this video was really about improvements they made in 2023. Those limbs came out a couple of years ago from what I was able to find out and they've been gradually putting them in different models. So, not necessarily new for 2023. BUT I agree that's encouraging! I am going to give them another look! This, from a guy who loves his Excalibur crossbow, as you 100% know, and is sad that his daughter is scared to cock her Excalibur crossbow. It shouldn't be that way!
You are not wrong but i do think the HO limbs will help performance. Depending on term of performance. Speed no but extra durability and maybe get away from the breaking limbs performance aspect i think it could help with that. Sometimes newer is just improving what always worked. And lets be fair too. 400, 350, 405. Are all pretty fast crossbows even today when you look at recurve limb technology. I do not know of faster recurve crossbows that are legal everywhere and go that fast or that light weight and compact. I would hope a compound will exceed a recurve in speed and other performance aspects. But i do agree with a lot of your assessment the older ones had lots of nice flair. Camo everything or beautiful carbon fibre finished paint job or whatever. These colours you mention make me feel like i have to do my own paint job and i am not about to take apart a crossbow that has moving sliding trigger mechanisms. That is absolutely a stupid design.
@@Deathbybunjie you were certainly missed hope to see more of your videos as well as Genevieve’s taxidermy stuff too. She is absolutely awesome with that.
Did you wait in line for 3 1/2 hours at Walmart for a doe tag only to find out the machine was bogged down and wouldn't be back up until tomorrow? I ended up going to my local hardware store later and scoring, but PA and the game commission's new system... ugh! I hope you guys had better luck than me.
I wish they would ditch the speed and small bow ideas and go back to what they were good at and that was making Goliath sized bows that were accurate, bulletproof, and quiet.
@@Deathbybunjie no it is all about speed and narrow bows these days and thats the reason we see so many failures from all brands. The bows of the past are still in service with all original hardware at least most of them lol.
Your wrong... now what are we talking about? 😉😊😇 I am starting to take a real interest in crossbows. Mainly recurves but always interested in learning about options.
Excalibur should resurrect bowtech platform the 350 and 380 were cheap accurate and fast and 15-18 years ago ahead of everyone , I still have a 350, and 380 Stryker 135 lb - 350 fps, 155 lb -380 fps , never a issue 1000's of shots , I hunt with a original Orion from 2015 ish lol shoots 392 , 150 lbs draw of course a scorpyd , all were ordered from Dave @ wyvern creations , he's a great guy ,best prices , best customer service you will ever find ! He makes a damn nice arrow also .
Honestly I feel like Excalibur crossbows are cheap and poorly made. I've got 3 friends that have/had them and they all broke within 2 years. Either limbs snapping, cables breaking or simply not shooting nearly as fast as they're rated. I'm glad you enjoy them though!
Funny, they've always been made in canada, but now their website says Made in the USA and canada, I think it's because they are owned by a USA company now and probably manufacturing some parts here who knows
Great video Rich and I have to agree with you. They are great bows but nothing new/innovative to the market this year.
You don’t buy and Excalibur for speed you buy it for durability and dependable bows. Excalibur needs to go back to 355 fps max and worry about reliability again. Wich is why you buy a recurve. So it’s really not fair to compare a recurve to something with cams.
@@neabowhunters8107I disagree, you can have your cake & eat it too. The Bulldog 440 was awesome, Excalibur should never have discontinued it, they should have updated it, into an Assassin platform. I love all my Excalibur's, I own 7. I still have two wide limb Excalibur's that I will never sell, the Equinox & Exomax. My two favorite Excalibur's I own , are my Bulldog 400 & Matrix 380. Both are amazing xbows. But I wouldn't mind getting a Bulldog 440 or an Assassin 420 TD. If I find a good deal on either, I'm buying my 8th lol.
Rich is back! My world just got better! 😜
Rich in order for me to tell you that you are wrong first you would have to be wrong and I just don’t see where you wrong and believe me I have watched this post and you are NOT WRONG !
😁 lol this was great thanks for watching
Someday I’ll have an Excalibur micro. I love recurve crossbows, and Excalibur makes the best ones ever imo
I love Excalibur also, I own 7 of them, but Kudabow made awesome recurve xbows, that were slightly better built than Excalibur, in my opinion. It's a damn shame, that the Covid lockdowns, forced Kudabow out of business. Hopefully the brand will be revived.
@@johnmajka5404 I second that. Kudabow was awesome! Too bad someone didn't purchase the company and kept it going?
there Junk
I remember party lines! 😅 So glad to see you back putting out content. Very happy life is going in the right direction for you also!!!! All Hail Bunjie!!!!!
The assassin extreme - I feel - was less about bringing something new and innovative to the market than it was about bringing the $2k TD crossbow into a lower price point by removing some features such as eliminating the adjustable stock, TD feature, using a lower end scope scope etc. With the new version we still get a "zippy" crossbow at a lower price. I like this crossbow actually and glad I don't have to pay more for the TD feature I would barely use. With that perspective in mind, I think it's a good addition to the lineup.
The camo pattern is called “bottomland” 🤣🤣🤣
Good to see you back. Thanks for the product review.
so glad you re back!!
I guess I’m just an Excalibur fanboy, I like them all. Even the flat paint job looks nice to me. Got 2 Excaliburs, a micro 335 and a matrix 355. Always hunt with the 335. The 355 is my backup. I never shoot beyond 30 yards and 90% of the time it’s inside of 20. Speed is never an issue for me. Have no interest in a new one, what I have just works so well!
Funny, 6 months ago I couldn't stand Excalibur crossbows because I was a Ravin fan, then I was a Swat X1 fan. That has all changed. Good bye cables and hello Excalibur. I was given a Matrix 355 and absolutely love it. The Micro 340 will be under the Christmas tree this year from Mikes Archery in the bottom land camo
That's what I'm talking about.@@kurtglo
Took a cow elk , with the GRZ2 200lb 305 speed: Amazon bolt's and knock offs muzzy three blades: Elk went down with in sight....nothing fancy.....
Waited 10hrs in a tree stand for a shoot.
Your videos running around in my head
Thanks
Jack
That's awesome, congratulations!
Nice job Rich! So glad to see you back on YT again! I just weighed my new Wicked Ridge M-370, which Ten Point claims to be the lightest crossbow on the market and it comes in at 8.6 pounds! That's with the Accu-Draw system, and my Barnett Raptor FX weighed in at 7.4 pounds!
My budget was low a couple years ago.
I’m using a Barnett XP350. I love it. My shots are not more than 25-30 yards either.
For $250, it’s working well for me.
Next year the plan is a lighter faster quieter harder shooting crossbow.
Again Rich, great video and thank you for sharing.
That's great to hear, and I agree, if you can get it done with that crossbow then why upgrade?
Yes they are back finally
Glad to see you back
Hey Rich, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!". I'm still hunting with my Barnett Ghost 360. Probably not shooting much past 30 yards and this has done the job for me... Guess I'm getting old where it comes to change LoL 😂
I'm right there with you!
An other great video Rich with some good information on the 2023 line up! I can't wait to see some shooting videos with Bunjie again! Keep the awesome videos!
I think the rev x has caught my eye with the strape to replace string your self way to go excaliber
My Xcal is 20 years old, and shoots as good as always! I got on one of the forums back then, and added a Boo string, still shooting it!
In my opinion, Excalibur has reached the limit of recurve technology. I own a micro suppressor and I’ve never had any issues with it, it suits my needs, no, it’s not the fastest but at reasonable hunting distances, it’s fine.
Truth. There is only so far you can go and after that it becomes problems. 405 fps is really something and when you get a hunting weight bolt on that its still stupid fast for a recurve at roughly 330-350 fps.
There is not much they can do at this point. I do think they need to step back and go with the single trigger unit i see nothing but problems with sliding unit.
Truth. There is only so far you can go and after that it becomes problems. 405 fps is really something and when you get a hunting weight bolt on that its still stupid fast for a recurve at roughly 330-350 fps.
There is not much they can do at this point. I do think they need to step back and go with the single trigger unit i see nothing but problems with sliding unit.
Love my mag 340 got it used and had a limb faliure. Excalibur fixed it quickly and painlessly. Hope the bow continues to shoot well and i dont have any more limb failures.
Been missing your videos Rich! Glad you're back!
Love my micro mag 340, no problems after three years of use. Speed was never an issue for me and I don’t have to make long distance shots. Maybe I’ve just been lucky enough that everything I’ve killed walked into my comfort zone. Or can it be hunting the wind correctly and stand location? High speed was important to me when I shot competition with my Oneida Eagle, but I didn’t use my high speed compound bow for hunting. You take the same risks shooting high speed crossbows at longer distances as you do with slower crossbows. I have no problems with higher speeds and nothing against those who switched up to high speed crossbows. I just think it sometimes over boosts people’s confidence a little bit. Especially a new comer into the sport. Just one man’s opinion. Happy hunting everyone!
Welcome back Rich! Hope everything is going great on the new job! Lovin’ these reviews of the crossbows btw. I was wondering if you might have time to look at the Wicked Ridge Fury 410 and let me know what you think. Now we just got to get Genevieve back on with you. Bunjie JR was getting to be quite the star…lol!
I added a micro 340 last year after the second limb failure on my micro 360, also thanks to one of your previous videos, i added heavier inserts into the bolts. Excalibur has been really bragging up their "durability" in their advertising, which I find comical. Good to see you again Rich.
I'm right there with you, I do love the Excalibur but struggle with modern versions that's for sure
I remember when I told the operator what number I wanted. When in second grade we took a field trip to the telephone office. One of my classmates' Mom was working! "Number Please!"😅
Couple years later we went to the 7 number dial system. Still had the party line through high school.
That's awesome
I just bought the Excalibur Axe. Stoked.
Party lines! I remember my grandmother getting caught eavesdropping. 😂😂😂😂😂
😅
Excalibur Matrix 380 here ...
... NEW for 2023, the crank cocker !
I am a fan of the built in crank.
Good to see you back on TH-cam. 1st
Yes! OGH in the house! Lol
First crossbow was a starter pack Barnett, rail was bent, took it back and got another one, again bent rail… So after cursing the bargain brand then watching your videos years ago I decided i’d prefer recurve instead so got a Matrix Grizzly.
Finally bought my dream crossbow this year. It wound up being between a takedown 420 or bulldog 440. I wondered how the TD model would hold up in 10+ years of use. I figured the less things given the option to break or wear out, the better. So upgraded from my Matrix Grizzly to the BD 440 and still smile when I walk in and see it sitting in the corner. Several dozen shots and scope tweaking and she’s dialed in perfect at 100 yards. Shoots about 420 fps with my heavier arrow setup to try to preserve the limbs. Took the first doe with it last week, 70 yard shot, hit exactly where I was aiming and she went 30 yards and crashed. Double lung with excalibur Trailblazer. Excalibur got it done!
Keep ‘em coming!👍😎
Great video Rich. I shoot a Ravin R5X and the trigger mechanism works flawlessly.
Watching Rich by my pool while smoking a cigar. Life couldn’t be better
👌
Rich. Really enjoyed the review on the Wolverine, because the original is the only crossbow i have ever used. This 40th anniversary model is smaller, faster and alot of other things.
nice job RICH !
Great video, Rich.
I've been missing this channel.
Let's go brother !!!!!!!!
Hey Rich! I agree with you on the color of that Xcal and a lot of the new cars. They look like they stopped after the primer 😂. Little did I know when I was a teenager that my all grey primered Ford 500 was making a fashion statement!😂
😅
I spraypaint all my stuff.... so I actually don't care about the camo. :D
I have a late production Mega Matrix 405, it's just a TANK, absolutely bombproof. Same with my 380 Matrix. No trigger or limb issues. Only issue was during a rainy day hunt last fall, scope got wet, fogged up, still worked well enough to take a deer. Have just replaced it with the Overwatch from Wyvern.
The Matrix 405 and 380 are probably the best built bows Excalibur has ever produced IMHO. Not too big, nor too small, yet both are powerful enough to hunt anything smaller than a killer whale. I have spare limbs for both, but doubt I will need them anytime soon.
Matrix series is really good stuff
Good good video thank's!!!!
Those wooden wolverines were so light. Quite deadly though
Really? That's interesting, I would have thought that wood was heavier. That's pretty cool.
Hello Rich. Thought I would chime in if you do not mind. I'm not crossbow expert. Have loved archery all my life. Several years ago walked into a local pawn and picked up a BNITB Center point Tyro and played with it learning how to use it properly. Really enjoyed it. I knew it was slow (245fps) and never really thought about hunting with it. Last year after taking a doe with a traditional ML, decided to give it a try. Killed a big buck with it, big body. Nice rack, but they did not match IMHO. But I was proud of my success and I shared the meat with some friends.
Decided to up my game. Watched many of your videos, and others here on YT. Decided to stick to a traditional limb design and decided to go with an Excalibur. I found a really great price on a Matrix G340. I know it's not a micro or a take down, makes a lot of noise, heavy trigger, and discontinued. But for the price new, I could not pass it up. Added on some silencers, that helped a lot. Stayed with the same supplied arrows and went up to 150grain points and swacker BHs. VERY VERY HAPPY! Dead on out to sixty yards.
Now.... as far as the 2023 line-up... Why try to re-invent the wheel? Unless they are shooting 500-600 FPS, or they the size of a pistol CB, and shooting over 300 FPS, whats the point??? What they need to do is figure out a way to make a more reasonable priced crossbow that's in the 320-360 FPS range, camouflaged, or even in an OD Green or a Brown color, and with an "ok" trigger. Their line-up now cost more than most really good hunting rifles!
For years I shot a Mission compound bow. Great bow, with older Mathews bells and whistles. And less than half the price of the name brand. They should work on doing something like that. A off branch company with a little older tech, that is still great quality! They could call it the Camelot line of budget crossbows. Just my .02.
First In... Last Out!
Good points, and i agree, CHEAPER is an area any company can move forward in lol
Good to see you back. I will say that I have a TenPoint RS 470 that has the trigger box that moves down the rail to cock and de-cock. I get your hesitation with that, but I must say, I absolutely love it. Works great, no issues with the one season I've had it... now... what will happen years from now? We shall see.. I might not like it so much, but right now... love it.
As a second note, I bought a Burris Oracle X after watching your videos, I've always hated trying to range ever time a deer would move. Great, Great optic.. love that thing... so happy I got it. I will say one issue I have with it, is it seems if I leave a battery in it, the next time I go to use it the batter is dead. I need to hit up Burris on that one.
Yeah it seems hit and miss in the reviews on battery life, some people they last forever and others not so much. But I will tell you it is a lot of fun to range the deer constantly when you're looking through that scope haha!
Faster crossbows tends to be less accurate, my matrix 330 is plenty powerfull. I ll probably upgrade some day, but very happy with it right now.
Those Matrix bows are good stuff, but there's some fast accurate stuff out there these days too
I too have been in the crossbow world 13 years. Georgia made them legal to use for deer in 2010. Red dot scope on a Horton.
Good ol' Horton, that's great!
77 now and can’t wait for September 10 opening bow day. Second year of saddle hunting too🤪
Buy some spray paint in black and brown and make a template out of poster board. Then turn that tan paint job into an ASAT camo paint job. ASAT is an awesome camo that really works.
I do like ASAT camo, I am surprised none of the manufacturers sell prosperous like that, maybe the licensing fee is really high or the demand is just not there but I do like it
I just bought this crossbow and that's exactly what I'm going to do!!
I will say that I do like the trigger group sled thing that is built into crossbows now, my Ravin hasn’t had any problems with that carrier group
Good to hear, I really have not heard people complaining about it it just seems odd to me but that really is good to hear
What small game heads suggest for small game/targets with a large/wide surface area for a more easier consistent accurate guaranteed shot for Excalibur Recurve Crossbows?
- Thank You!
I like G5 Small Game Head
The best bang for your buck right now is the micro 380 because lets face it, times are tough and $1000+ is a lot of money. It is the newest model that brought in the ceasefire, rhino nocks, and high output limbs last year for $1000. I love mine and took down a nice doe last year with spynal tapps and 125gr swhackers. If you dont wanna buy the custom arrows, the dragon claws that you get from wyvern are awesome too and I only lose about 15ish grains of weight compared to spynals the way I built them. You get the dragon claws from Dave at wyvern in his crossbow packages and they too are gonna be heavier even with 100gr heads over the quills or proflites from Excalibur. PLEASE DONT SHOOT THE MINIMUM 350GR OUT OF THESE BOWS UNLESS YOU WANNA BLOW UP LIMBS! My spynal tapps are 430gr total and they run great around 350fps. A small price to pay vs replacing limbs. As a final note, the ceasefire system works via a detent that sticks out under the rail. Standard flat nocks will push the detent and allow the bow to fire. The only advantage to the rhino nocks with the groove is that the detent clicks into that groove and keep the arrow back against the string. It doesnt outweigh the benefit of a lighted nock if you pay attention and seat your arrows properly when loading. Great video!
Great stuff here thanks
You and I talked quite a bit in email over my crossbow purchase last year. I have not been disappointed! I should have also said in my first comment that most people could go to walmart, buy a $200-$300 crossbow, take it hunting, and kill a deer with it and be totally happy. The killer instincts that my local walmart stocks in the fall look nice. I spent the money for the Excalibur because I always loved the look and simplicity of recurve, not because you have to drop a grand to get a quality weapon, years before I ever committed to crossbow only. I converted from primarily gun hunting because Ohio only gets 10 days of deer gun season every year. Archery is so much more fun than "BANG!" deer is dead as well...
Great video
Excal all the way. Trust is hard earned.
My grandmother used to listen in on our phone calls I remembered her ring was ring ring and our wa was ring ring ring .lol
I have the 1983 Wolverine and I now have the 2023 Wolverine anniversary
2005 Excalibur exomag carved limb tips
2005 Excalibur exocet carved limb tips
2020 mag air
2020 micro mag 240
2016 Hoyt carbon spyder
List of priorities:
1) reliability/robust design
2) customer service/spare parts availability
3) easy to operate
4) claimed speed depends on arrow weight?
5) new fangled fancy features/ Ferrari price tag.
I agree that tan color just looks unfinished. I suppose one could do their own camo because it would make a great base color👍🏽
don't forget to stop at dysarts on your next Maine trip !!
Indeed!
Great video - especially the book intro - WOW! Yes, Malthus was dead wrong (and he's also dead btw). The more freedom the more innovation - especially in the face of limited resources.
On an Excalibur, changing a damaged string in the field is a breeze. This will allow you to continue your hunt. Also, the lack of wheels and cables make the Excaliburs way more reliable than any compound xbow.
These are two very important criteria to consider, & add to your list
Point is nothing new here...I love ol' Bunjie, you know that, but no real "new" stuff from Excalibur this year
I got an S23 Ultra specifically for the camera. Gotta love the 4k video too. I think it goes up to 8k, but I've never used it.
I probably should've gone with a recurve crossbow for the ease of changing strings, but I went with a Barnett compound crossbow. Think it's 425ft/second, if memory serves me right, but I know a string malfunction will be catastrophic for the time. I also have two breakdown recurve bows though--one at 45#, the other at 55# so that I can hunt anything huntable.
Barnett's pretty popular for a reason though, been around a long time
Great video! As far as a simple and relatively cheap crossbow, I definitely recommend Barnett! Just buy a better scope!
Wooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!
Speed isn't everything at 360 you're going plenty fast enough in my opinion accuracies my main concern
Yep, accuracy is #1 in crossbow hunting.
I dont think that excal can go above 420 440 fps with recurve, in the future.
But people want always new things, and excal can deliver ONLY repackaging from now on, and improved durability
For me 300 fps with 450grains is very ok.
To your list of smaller faster, lighter, cheaper , quieter I would add more reliable and ease of owner maintenance .
Excalibur really shines in the fact that you can very simply maintain your string stretch ,serving ware issues and really any issues that come up at home .
And the current bows are very reliable especially if you shoot a heavy bolt verses the bare minimum of 350 gr.
I like a hunting set up to have 450 grains of arrow weight or more .
Ill give up some speed for the better groups and increased penetration.
I agree with the conclusions stated in the video not a lot really new in the line up but I am fine with that.
I like the solid performers Excalibur offers and at least they are not shoving a bunch of gimmicks at us.
The Twinstrike isn't a gimmick? LOL but yeah I do love the Excaliburs, just not anything new this year.
Excalibur beacon nocks are 10 times better that any other luminok. Ease of use
There's nothing easier than a Lumenok lol, it just slides in and out.
@@Deathbybunjie must be sponsored. Beacons have a switch you can use your finger. Don't need pliers or a knife
Do a review on all of them
@@elcancam no sponsors, geez
Mine shoots 3000 feet persecond haha just kidding I get 380 our of mine that's pretty quick go bunjie
I love Excalibur, but at some point a recurve can bump into its physical limits.
Glad you're back, how's the saddle hunting going
I am no longer pursuing a career as a saddle hunter lol...did a video on that. I've found success on the ground. Nothing more mobile than that!
I’m not bragging but I can do my own camo job to save a 100 bucks. That’s a great idea. Have you see their double barrel bow. Wow that’s innovation
Rich ? What did you do with the money?
Jack? Yes Rich? What money?
The money that your parents gave you for SINGING LESSONS! 😂❤ OOHHH !
Okay so that was not funny however this post is fantastic!! 😊
😅🤣
Yeah. I’ll just keep my bulldog 330. Never let me down.
It's a killer 💯
Excalibur is capped out on what they can do. A recurve is a recurve not much else you can do with it. You don’t buy a recurve for speed you buy it for dependability and reliability.
ill stick with my axiom thank you
I don't know if you knew this, but I also like the Excalibur Axiom haha
whats ur opinion on the ecalibur micro 380
The 380 has always been a big deal for excalibur, each generation of Limbs, in my opinion, sees the 380 being the flagship crossbow or one of the top crossbows. I have not shot the micro 380 but I would expect it to be a good one!
Watchin this video makes me feel like im talking to some hunting buddies after a long hunt not much better! But i love the flat dark earth micro extreme personally.
I don't follow this at all 🙄😆
360 fps is BLAZIN for a compound though 😆
Well, that would matter if we were talking about compounds hahaha
@@Deathbybunjie true 😄 I was just saying lol
i love my excalibur grizzly but it was time to upgrade, so i went with the tenpoint viper 430, i really wanted another excalibur but nothing they have excited me, beside's i don't want to go any smaller than an 18" arrow, viper 400 felt lighter and more comfy than the viper 430 which is an inch longer but it is a fanatastic crossbow, if you want we could meet so you can do a review on the viper 430 as i live in pennsyvania to. lol as long as i get it back before hunting season.
That 430 pretty sweet, also I agree, 16.5" arrows are a tad short for my taste too. Where in PA you at?
@@Deathbybunjie berwick about 30 min south of wilksbarre.
I'm sorry Rich I believe you are wrong. Excalibur has remained in business for 40 years by producing quality products with outstanding customer service. Your standard of 400 fps with a 400 grain arrow is misleading to the viewer. You need approximately 40 fp of kinetic energy to kill a whitetail deer. My newest Excalibur Wolverine bow delivers a 400 grain arrow at roughly 340 fps delivering 93 fp of kinetic energy at 50 yards. That is double the kinetic energy needed to kill that animal. Excalibur crossbows are not speed bows but live on the reputation of being reliable and accurate. Your argument that increase speed eliminates deer dropping and altering the point of impact is not totally correct. The fastest crossbow on the market is 515 fps. The speed of sound is 1100 fps. The sound of the bow will always get to the deer prior to the bolt with the potential for the deer reacting to the sound. In reality the deer is reacting to the sound and dropping down to load their hooves to spring out of the danger zone. I have tracked many high should hit deer from crossbow hunters with my tracking dog. In order to eliminate the possibility of deer dropping to escape the area, you will need to shoot a projectile equal to the speed of sound. So in conclusion, I have been down the speed bow rabbit hole and have lucky returned to my Excalibur roots several thousand dollars light. Excalibur manufactures many fine crossbows that will get the job done and also meet your standard. I started watching your videos years ago and I hope someday you also return to your crossbow roots, Excalibur. Hail to the one and only Bungie!!!
I appreciate that. However, it takes more than the sound to reach the deer for them to duck. I did a great video on this, and you should watch that. They have to process it, and then they can only drop at the speed of gravity. So it's not just the speed of sound. If it was, there would be no way to kill an animal with any archery equipment. For the record I have had zero High shoulder hits since I started using a 400 ft per second crossbow. I had about 50% such shots when I'm shooting at 300 and below. It makes all the difference in the world. Just look at the deer I shot this year, one doe ducking the string at 22 yards and 263 ft per second and a buck at 30 yards who didn't move at close to 400 ft per second. As for this video, it was just pointing out that excalibur's offerings last year weren't anything new other than the same crossbows with different paint jobs. This year, there is at least one encouraging release from Excalibur and I'll take a look at that in a future video. There's hope! Lol. Thanks again and I do appreciate it.
The extreme thing about it is the price ...
Lol maybe!
I have the same opinion of the Micro Extreme color. I am not a fan. I don't own an Excalibur. If I owned a recent model, there is nothing that would inspire me to buy a new one this year. I agree with you on that. If anything, they are offering less "take down" models this year. Which makes me wonder if there's an issue with those? If I were buying an Excalibur this year, I would pick last year's Micro 380 over the two new 360 models.
Compound bows peaked in speed over 10 years ago. I think crossbows are going to reach a similar fate, and they may already be there with last year's Ten Point NItro 505. TP's new models this year were all under that one in speed.
You make a great point about not offering takedowns, they do seem to be phasing those out! They also dropped the 440, so their fastest crossbow is now 420. Maybe had problems with the 440 also? We'll never know answers to these questions I'm afraid, but I do love Excalibur and I wish them the best.
I like the Excalibur crossbows but they are way over priced for the old slow technology.
It is probably one of the fastest, that actually looks like a crossbow😅
Well...yeah, I get that lol
They have a micro 380
I think the lineup was a cleanup of tech from the years before, that somehow failed the one or other way. The gen2 limbs tend to fail at speeds above 340fps and i suspect even the HO limbs are better not stressed on a „400fps“-frame over the seasons. Also i suspect, they had high numbers of failures of the td-mechanism…getting loose over time. So they put the HO limbs on more models and combined it with reasonable speeds for recurve-circumstances… and they kicked out td at almost all models…i guess what looked like stagnation, was in fact a reasonable step in direction of reliability…so yes somehow i guess your are partially wrong about Excalibur not delivering that year. I do share your standpoint on the „flat dark earth-primer“…and i also think it was not helpful naming the models „extreme“ and claiming to be the fastest…they should have claimed to have made them more solid…but it would have ment admitting the problems with prior tech. You have your own record with those issues…
I call that color “old man tan”🤣🤣🤣
😆😅
I bought a mag 340 a couple years back. It shoots 320 over a chrono with the recommended bolt and recommended FP of 150 grains. While I like it a lot and have no issue with the speed, the heavy DW and cocking is not for the faint of heart. You need the cocking aid which now is $279.00. I saw a new lite version that is $100 less but that is still pretty hefty and I have not tried one. I don't use the aid for hunting but for any sighting in or repetitive target shooting you will need this unless you are crossfit athlete. Packaged illuminated scope was great so no complaints there. I had a limb failure that was taken care of immediately so great service was a plus. Would I buy another? I'm really not sure.
I hear you 💯 great points here, and your analysis kinda mirrors my own (and Genevieve's lol)
Used to love Excalibur. I own three of them, but lately, I'm feeling unimpressed... they aren't providing anything new.
Ditto, fingers crossed for the future though
The high output limbs get an additional 25 fps for the same power stroke. Definitely give performance improvement.
And those HO limbs @ 360 fps are the same limbs used for the 400TD models. So they are way understessed compared to what the limbs were designed to handle... i.e. Reliability is going to be incredible using these limbs with a shortened power stroke. Kinda like the OB with it's shorter rail compared to what those limbs did on an Exomax with a 2" longer power stroke than an Axiom.
Also, the Wolverine has about the same power stroke as a Micro 335, and rope cocks with about the same felt effort, from guys that have compared (check out The Horizontal Zone, Mike Lobus) review on both the Wolverine and Micro 380. The way the limbs are pre-loaded gets them the additional speed with the same power stroke as the standard micro limbs. Draw weight is up just a tad at the back, but it's the earlier portion of the power stroke that it gains the extra velocity from having more limb preload at the first portion of the power stroke.
So I'll come out and say it.... Yep you're wrong on this one. They are getting the same performance as before, without stressing the limbs as much on these particular models, which low stress and increased reliability is what a lot of old-time excalibur fans want. And if you want the extra performance these limbs offer, get a 400TD or Micro 380.
Those limbs really are a game-changer for what a recurve design can do. Just gotta understand the details behind them.
Interesting, but...game changer? Draw weights are still high and speeds are low compared to the rest of the pack...and they got rid of the 440...I DO hope to see a game changer but I'm not seeing it here. If the result is fewer breakages because less stress, that's great...but limbs aren't supposed to break in the first place.
@@Deathbybunjie I think we're well past the time recurve crossbows will ever be able to compete with compounds in terms of raw speed. Just ain't gonna happen anymore. So Excalibur will never be a game changer if raw speed is your main criteria for that.
But it's also pretty obvious it's not all about speed, and there is still a big market for simple and reliable recurve hunting crossbows, and for good reasons, which you well know.
In terms of the HO limbs though... They're the biggest advance Excalibur has made in decades, and it is pretty well flying under the radar. You could put a set of those limbs in Bunjie Jr and gain 25 fps AND have limb reliability go up simultaneously. Literally no other changes except for the limbs (ignoring riser fit specifics). Only way an Excalibur could ever gain speed before was by lengthening the rail, which also pushes the limbs closer to their limits, and decreased reliability.
So yeah, using the HO limbs in the Micro 380 in 2022, and Wolverine and Micro Extreme in 2023 was a subtle but big and smart move for Excalibur. It's actually moving them back more towards what built their reputation of accurate crossbows that are being taxed way less than the limbs can handle. Just like the Axiom was. And that's a good thing.
@tythomps that is good to hear and encouraging! Flying under the radar is a good way to put it, I looked this up and really didn't find out a lot about them! Even the forums don't discuss it into much detail. It would make a good video topic. But, in my defense, this video was really about improvements they made in 2023. Those limbs came out a couple of years ago from what I was able to find out and they've been gradually putting them in different models. So, not necessarily new for 2023. BUT I agree that's encouraging! I am going to give them another look! This, from a guy who loves his Excalibur crossbow, as you 100% know, and is sad that his daughter is scared to cock her Excalibur crossbow. It shouldn't be that way!
You are not wrong but i do think the HO limbs will help performance. Depending on term of performance. Speed no but extra durability and maybe get away from the breaking limbs performance aspect i think it could help with that. Sometimes newer is just improving what always worked. And lets be fair too. 400, 350, 405. Are all pretty fast crossbows even today when you look at recurve limb technology.
I do not know of faster recurve crossbows that are legal everywhere and go that fast or that light weight and compact.
I would hope a compound will exceed a recurve in speed and other performance aspects.
But i do agree with a lot of your assessment the older ones had lots of nice flair.
Camo everything or beautiful carbon fibre finished paint job or whatever. These colours you mention make me feel like i have to do my own paint job and i am not about to take apart a crossbow that has moving sliding trigger mechanisms. That is absolutely a stupid design.
Good points, Chris. Glad to hear from you as always, glad to be back.
@@Deathbybunjie you were certainly missed hope to see more of your videos as well as Genevieve’s taxidermy stuff too. She is absolutely awesome with that.
Did you wait in line for 3 1/2 hours at Walmart for a doe tag only to find out the machine was bogged down and wouldn't be back up until tomorrow? I ended up going to my local hardware store later and scoring, but PA and the game commission's new system... ugh! I hope you guys had better luck than me.
I got online the second day with no problems but it was like 5:00 in the morning haha
@@Deathbybunjie I might have to try that. :)
i like standard flat nocks and i can not lie.
Me too
I wish they would ditch the speed and small bow ideas and go back to what they were good at and that was making Goliath sized bows that were accurate, bulletproof, and quiet.
I do love The OB but I'm afraid those just aren't gonna sell these days.
@@Deathbybunjie no it is all about speed and narrow bows these days and thats the reason we see so many failures from all brands. The bows of the past are still in service with all original hardware at least most of them lol.
Your wrong... now what are we talking about? 😉😊😇
I am starting to take a real interest in crossbows. Mainly recurves but always interested in learning about options.
😁🤣 but seriously welcome to crossbows!!
@@Deathbybunjie Thank you. I want to start with a small game bow.
@@mkshffr4936 Micro mag340
Excalibur should resurrect bowtech platform the 350 and 380 were cheap accurate and fast and 15-18 years ago ahead of everyone , I still have a 350, and 380 Stryker 135 lb - 350 fps, 155 lb -380 fps , never a issue 1000's of shots , I hunt with a original Orion from 2015 ish lol shoots 392 , 150 lbs draw of course a scorpyd , all were ordered from Dave @ wyvern creations , he's a great guy ,best prices , best customer service you will ever find ! He makes a damn nice arrow also .
Agree Dave good guy 💯, neat stuff here thanks for the comment!
@@Deathbybunjie look into them ? Obviously on old forums or old adds
@@average_airgunner_Outdoorsman I will do that, pretty neat
the sales people sure forgot to involve the engineers since nothing extreme about the x-bow or the forgot to lookup the meaning of the word "extreme"
Honestly I feel like Excalibur crossbows are cheap and poorly made. I've got 3 friends that have/had them and they all broke within 2 years. Either limbs snapping, cables breaking or simply not shooting nearly as fast as they're rated. I'm glad you enjoy them though!
They sure had their limb problems for sure, hopefully getting better!
Are Excalibur bow's made in the USA?
Canada
Funny, they've always been made in canada, but now their website says Made in the USA and canada, I think it's because they are owned by a USA company now and probably manufacturing some parts here who knows
Excaliber is the best crossbow for when shtf just have sevral strings and survive with out make lots of noisr
Making me wish I had money for a “fast” bow
Walmart sells some pretty fast crossbows cheaper than these. But there's a place for all of them.