It’s not complicated, but if you do something out of order or forget a step-like engaging the safety-you could end up with your hand over the top of a broadhead-tipped arrow in a loaded crossbow. Next, load an arrow in the bottom barrel, followed by the top. The correct procedure goes: cock the top barrel, then the bottom. After you get one barrel cocked, the safety has to remain off to cock the other barrel. That’s pretty standard.īut, again, the TwinStrike is really two crossbows, and they share a safety mechanism. The TwinStrike does have CeaseFire Technology, which is an anti-dry-fire device that prevents the bow from firing unless an arrow is in place, safety off, and the trigger pulled. Also, loading the barrels needs to be done in the correct sequence, for safety reasons. What Are the Downsides of the Excalibur TwinStrike?Īs mentioned, the TwinStrike is a bit on the heavy side. How Well Does the Excalibur TwinStrike Perform? Both barrels of the TwinStrike grouped to 1-inch or less at 30 yards. That done, weight is down to 9 pounds, 10 ounces. You can, of course, shed the quiver, and the cocking device is meant to be removed.
Xcalibur barrel full#
Completely rigged with accessories, including a quiver full of arrows and the Charger EXT cocking device, my test model weighed in at 11 pounds, 12 ounces. While the TwinStrike doesn’t have the bulky profile of the full-sized Assassin series, it is nonetheless a big crossbow. The stock, also like the Micro series, is skeletonized for weight reduction.
Xcalibur barrel series#
The TwinStrike’s limbs are short, narrow, and thick-reminiscent of the company’s compact Micro series of crossbows. It’s the Excalibur’s recurve design that makes this possible. I’m no engineer, but I can’t see how a two-shot compound crossbow could be built within the confines of a practical hunting package. It’s ingenious in a simple, “Why didn’t I think of that?” sort of way. The only parts that the two bows share-that I can see anyway-are the stock, safety, and scope. Each must be cocked and fired individually. There are two sets of limbs, two strings, two barrels, two triggers, and two sears. The TwinStrike is really two compact crossbows built onto a single frame. It’s been called a repeater, but that’s not technically correct. Ironically, it’s that simple design that makes the TwinStrike possible. How Does the Excalibur TwinStrike Work? The Excalibur TwinStrike has two sets of limbs and two barrels, allowing you to take two shots in quick succession. They all shoot lightweight bolts (around 350 grains, finished), making them comparatively anemic on the power front. Because they rely purely on limb flex to generate power, these crossbows are more difficult to cock and are both bulkier and louder. That’s partly because our test is tough on recurves. Up until now, Excalibur’s recurve models have not quite run with the very-top dogs. I’ve watched the competition unfold while conducting flagship crossbow reviews for Field & Stream over the past eight years. This year, Ravin hyped a 500-fps crossbow equipped with an electronic cocking device-though it seems that this model has suffered from production issues that have, to this point, kept the new bow off store shelves. Last year TenPoint debuted a 470-fps crossbow paired with a range-finding Garmin sight that, once programmed, provided automatic aiming solutions out to 200 yards. Since then, a handful of super-high-end models have been in a race to deliver the goods in terms of performance, innovation, and pure wow factor.