Crossbows

Guide to choose your crossbow

To choose the best crossbow according to your use, you must take into account 3 criteria.

Types of crossbows

Crossbows come in several categories, each responding to specific needs. The hunting crossbow is distinguished by its robustness and precision adapted to shooting in natural environments, often with an effective range of about 50 to 60 meters. On the other hand, the compound or pulley crossbow uses a pulley system that allows for better projectile speed and a reduction in tension effort, thus improving the range up to 100m and offering better precision thanks to sophisticated sighting systems such as reticle scopes.

The automatic crossbows, with their rapid cocking mechanism, can achieve a firing rate of almost 1 bolt per second for the most recent models such as the REVO7 from EK Archery, with magazines ranging from 5 to 18 bolts, they are suitable for close combat or defense scenarios.

Finally, pistol crossbows, compact and lightweight, are effective at shorter distances, typically up to 3m, ideal for recreational shooting or emergency situations. Don't hesitate to consult our guides to learn more.

The power and speed of crossbows

the power of the bow is expressed in pounds (lbs), but that's not all! To shoot accurately and at a specific distance, the speed and weight of your crossbow also play an important role:

• For recreational target shooting up to 15-20 meters, we will opt for a pistol crossbow, it's light and easy to use.
• For accurate shots at short distance (up to 40-50m), a crossbow with a power between 120 and 175 pounds may be sufficient, the bolt speed will oscillate between about 250 and 370 FPS.
• For long-distance shots, that is to say up to 100 meters, we will look for high-speed models, like those that are over 400 FPS, and thanks to the scope provided you will be able to train to group your shots up to 100 meters.

The most represented crossbow brands

Among the brands present on Hattila, we can mention a few, known for being equipped with the latest technologies and especially among our recommended selection:

• Excalibur: the boss's favorite brand! It's the only brand in the world to offer LIFETIME guaranteed crossbows that are also powerful while being recurve, this gives precise crossbows up to 100 meters without any problem!
• Barnett: surely the most famous brand in the world, holder of very many patents, it's a brand that innovates every year, its current most incredible model is the Hyper Raptor, its name says a lot about the machine.
• TenPoint: The very high-end brand that offers the fastest compound crossbows in the world (with the TRX 515 fps) they are also very compact and equipped with the best technologies in the world. They also have the most expensive crossbows in the world when equipped with Garmin scopes with laser rangefinder and automatic sight adjustment... ah, it's no joke at TenPoint.
• EK Archery: The inventors of the Cobra R9 with its cocking lever, they distinguished themselves with the RX Adder which takes up the lever and is equipped with a 5-bolt magazine. They offer many models with an incredible quality-price ratio, Hattila does everything possible to have them in stock all the time because the brand is so appreciated.
• Hori-Zone: a Taiwanese brand of very good quality, renowned for its robustness and the power of the most evolved models.
• ManKung: a brand not very well known but worth knowing because they are manufacturers in Taiwan for several other brands, they are also renowned for the robustness and power of their crossbows but with prices that are often more interesting than others.
• CenterPoint: Manufactured by ManKung (which explains some big similarities) it's an American brand that develops very powerful and accurate models, highly appreciated in the USA.
• Ravin: High-end and ultra-compact crossbows that stand out for the absence of a bolt support rail, which reduces wear and increases speed. Their Heli-Coil technology allows the cable to be wound on the cam axis, saving space. They were the first to create an electric cocking crossbow, and they didn't do it halfway since it's the R500 that's equipped with it!

What accessories for my crossbow?

To shoot with a crossbow there are essential accessories, some are already delivered with the crossbow but others must be ordered additionally:

Arrows or bolts: they can also be called "crossbow quarrels", they exist in plastic for pistol crossbows, otherwise they will be in aluminum, carbon or carbon fiber.
Aluminum is suitable for moderate speed crossbows, because when a crossbow becomes very powerful, we prefer to use carbon bolts to better absorb the impact.
Make sure to stick to the same model as the bolts supplied with the crossbow and NEVER take lighter ones than the original!

Hunting tips: While we prefer 2-blade hunting tips on bows, we will prefer 3 or 4-blade tips for crossbows, their higher weight will be compensated by the bolt speed. The more blades the model has, the more significant wound it causes.

Quiver and strap: The quiver and strap are essential accessories if you plan to hunt for example, this allows you to carry the crossbow on your back and have the bolts on board.

Cocking rope or Cocking device: On powerful enough models (like crossbows above 150 lbs) it becomes essential to use a cocking rope, it reduces the power needed for cocking and will spare you finger injuries from hand cocking.
And if you don't want to or can't use a rope then you can opt for the crank cocking device, it's a bit longer to use but it allows you to cock a crossbow with the strength of one hand!

Silicone grease, wax and lubricant: There are waxes for the rail and others for the string but generally you can use your wax to do both, the goal is to wax regularly to avoid heating your string against the rail, which reduces its lifespan.

Targets: To train for hunting or simply practice target shooting, it is essential to invest in a quality target that will effectively stop the bolts without damaging them.

• For pistol crossbows, a foam target will be more than enough since they are not very powerful and therefore have a low penetration coefficient.
• For recurve and compound crossbows, we recommend targets filled with fabric and suitable for the most powerful crossbows, such as the Hurricane target or A&F targets
• There are targets designed for short bolt crossbows, such as the StrongHold target which has the ability to stop the bolts of the RX Adder for example which are very fast but very short, so they must not penetrate too much at the risk of tearing off the fletching.

Sight: Most crossbows are already delivered with a red dot (often for not too powerful models as they don't shoot very far so no need for a scope) or a scope for crossbows with a long shooting range.
Some scope models are equipped with a rangefinding reticle, which allows you to have different distances directly integrated into the reticle and therefore to switch from one distance to another without having to touch the settings... practical for hunting!

Crossbow legislation

In France, the crossbow has not been classified as a weapon since July 2013, we would tend to continue treating them like the old category 6 products, which became category D, which is free to purchase for people holding an ID, but this is not the case! However, in order to avoid any problems during transport or storage, we will continue to act as if they were category D weapons, so you will have to disassemble it or install a trigger lock to transport it and when you store it (it's preferable to avoid domestic accidents)

The crossbow can therefore be used for sport shooting or recreational shooting, but not for hunting. Indeed, hunting with a crossbow is strictly forbidden in France and in several European countries, however, you can hunt with a crossbow in Spain since it is then considered a firearm whose serial number will be registered to proceed with its approval.

Hattila offers you a very fast customer service to respond 7 days a week as much as possible so if you have a question don't hesitate to contact us directly by email!