Draw you own Conclusions...

[tdickens58]

Last Saturday afternoon I went out in the deer woods with a friend. We both were using crossbows. We didn't see any deer. My friends crossbow is a Barnett Quad 400. We were out for about two hours. When we left the woods, my friend decided not to discharge his crossbow until he got home.
Right before he went to shoot his xbow at home, one of the Limbs broke from the stress.

Today a guy at work told me his Barnett xbow's limb(s) cracked this week.

Could have been a coincidence, but I'm glad I own a Parker.

[snoodslapper]

I am not AT ALL familiar with crossbows, so excuse this question as it may seem pretty stupid. Is there no other way to "let down" a crossbow safely other than actually firing it?

[tdickens58]

Not That I'm aware.

[horizontalhunter]

Sept 26, 2008 20:52:45 GMT -5 snoodslapper said:

I am not AT ALL familiar with crossbows, so excuse this question as it may seem pretty stupid. Is there no other way to "let down" a crossbow safely other than actually firing it?

If the crossbow does not have a dry fire inhibitor (DFI) you can let it down with the rope cocker. The method is shown in the "Rope cocker Video" at the link below:

excaliburcrossbow.com/demo/listings.php?category_id=47

This comes in handy for me as one of the states that I hunt in legal shooting hours end at sunset. In that state a cocked crossbow is considered a "loaded weapon" (arrow on the rail or not) and if you are in the woods with a loaded weapon you are considered to be hunting. I hunt until sunset, uncock the xbow, and walk out. A friend of mine has a Barnett and you can uncock it with a rope cocker as well.

And to state the obvious, take the arrow off the rail before you go to uncock the xbow. I have a friend who forgot and was reminded when the broad head was pressing against the top of his boot.

Others will say that the only safe way to uncock an xbow is to fire it. I do this all the time when I am hunting. This beats having to carry an extra arrow and target to fire the xbow.

IMO putting a cocked xbow in a car is a recipe for disaster and is illegal in many states as it is often considered a loaded weapon.

Bob

[Raven]

I have a tenpoint and the only way to uncock it is to fire a target arrow which is a down fall tht they have i hate ruining an arrow ::)by shooting it into the grond i have yet found another way to do this..

[tdickens58]

"IMO putting a cocked xbow in a car is a recipe for disaster and is illegal in many states as it is often considered a loaded weapon."

That's an interesting point you make about the legality of having a cocked crossbow in the car. I normally fire my crossbow onto a soft mound of dirt with a field point, before leaving the woods, but not always. I'll have to see what Virginia's definition of "loaded crossbow is.

On the issue of letting down the string manually with a rope cocker, I know it's done, but personally that makes me nervous.

[BT]

Perhaps...maybe you could carry a blank bolt in the quiver or in the vehicle for firing off the bow before exiting the property?.
I would imagine that any solid rod would do the trick to reduce shock and such.
Even an old bolt that has been poured solid with fiberglass resin....so that one bolt could withstand many shots into a blunt area such as dirt?.

[tdickens58]

I normally keep one "blank" in the quiver just for that reason.

[awshucks]

On the issue of letting down the string manually with a rope cocker, I know it's done, but personally that makes me nervous.

Should of seen how nervous I was the first time I did it w/ an Excal Emax!! One would think w/ as much effort as it takes to pull the strings back w/ both hands on the handles, it would be harder than it is to uncock w/ rope cocker. I have nothing but rocks where I live and am glad I tried it the 1st time.

If you have dry fire devices, you can defeat them enough to uncock w/ a pencil or piece of arrow shaft. That forearm safety on some of the 10 pts might be more of a challenge, lol.

[Cossack]

Re Barnetts, you get what you pay for it.

Re un cocking. I uncock both my recurves and my compound by hand.
Recurves are easy, check the Excalibur site for video demo how.

Un cocking the compound (or recurve with anti dryfire device) is a bit more complicated. First you'll need a short piece of dowel the diameter of an arrow, or a piece of arrow itself, just long enough to extend from the string to under the arrow retention spring. It's purpose is to deactivate the anti dryfire device. Now, remove the arrow from the bow and insert the above mentioned piece. For right handed folks like me, using a rope cocker attach the right side hook and pull the rope through the hook so the handle on that side is against the hook. Run the rope around the back of the bow, attach the left hook and pull the rope through the left hook. The left handle and rope should be out past the left hook. Now, grasping the left handle VERY TIGHTLY pull until the rope is TIGHT and the hooks remain attached to the string. Hang on tight!. Reach down with the right hand, deactivate the safety and pull the trigger. Control the decent of the string with the left hand.
I must emphasize the need to keep the cocker rope tight and to hang on to the handle.
Been doing all my bows this way when shooting is not an option. No problems. Only bow that may be a problem is Ten Point with double safeties..need three hands.