New to Xbow need some advise

[sHan Tn]

Hello all, i am new to Xbow shooting and dont know the first thing about it "except what ive been reading"

i had mentioned that i wanted a xbow, so lo and behold my wife went and bought me one.. it is a ***an knock off of a barnett. its 150# compound, fiberglass, alum, and composite. it takes 17" bolts,

ok here is my quistion(s)

what type of "target" does it take? my neighbor has a "bow" target thats prety big BUT it now has a 17" bolt inside it all thats showing is the nock... and i shot one shot at a round bail of hay and it too has a bolt somewhere inside it so what do i use???

also my eyesight is not good enough to use the pin sights so i want to use a scope, i notice there is no recoil on the xbow so can i use any scope i want?

thanks in advance.... and sorry about the spelling skool was never my thang,,,LOL

[GrumpyTom]

ORIGINAL: sHan Tn
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also my eyesight is not good enough to use the pin sights so i want to use a scope, i notice there is no recoil on the xbow so can i use any scope i want?

thanks in advance.... and sorry about the spelling skool was never my thang,,,LOL

First of all, welcome to the world of crossbows. I do not know about the bow your talking about but here are a few answers for you. There is a recoil to the crossbow, just not the backward recoil that most are famiular with (as with guns). Even is saying that, any scope will work on a crossbow. I had used a rifle scope for over 20 years before I had a problem. I just do know know if your bow will have the ability to mount a scope.

About targets, there are many different crossbows designed targets on the market. It seems that a regular bow target is designed to stop arrow with the aid of the extra length of the arrow, which crossbows do not have so the arrow gets buried in the target. Plus your shooting an arrow 3 inches shorter then what most use. Bale of hay is no good unless you want to loose all your arrows. Some home made targets can easily be made up (place in front of the regular target you were shooting into). Take a bunch of the plastic shopping bags you get when shopping and stuff them into a larger bag. The tighter you can stuff them, the better. Rags can also work inside a bag. These are not perfect, but should stop your arrow, but still use the other target behind it for added insurance.

IF you can still see the knock of your arrow in the target, I would make sure I pulled it out. Even if it ment that I ruined that arrow, I would get it out to prevent hitting it with another arrow which would ruin both arrows.

Hope this helps.

[sHan Tn]

ORIGINAL: GrumpyTom

Hope this helps.

thanks for the reply.
is there a website to find out if i can use a longer bolt? like size/weight charts. thanks shan