I've never been a fan of compound crossbows but this bow interested me and after talking to Danny Miller I ordered one and I am quite impressed. So I thought you guys would be interested in my review.
I am told that only 1,000 will be made this year and going by the DVD that goes with the bow there is some info lacking. I will first stress that you have to use moon nocks. I confess that I did not view the DVD and shot it with a flat nock and had a partial dry-fire. Very little happened other than the string came off and it really wasn't violent. Luckily I have a bow press so I reinstalled the string and continued shooting after grinding a nock into an arrow.
It uses 22" arrows but there is no info as to what the min or appropriate weight is for an arrow. The arrow shot was a 22" Gold Tip with brass inserts and a 100 gr tip.
I mounted a Varizone on it using high scope rings. Medium rings are too low. The scope has to be mounted fairly forward on this bow.
I sat back and zeroed at 30 yds on a bag target and then after zeroing I took a shot at a golf ball and whacked the ball! Unfortunately the arrow wheeled around still embedded in the ball and snapped the arrow! The golf ball is suspended by a string so it hangs in front of the target. Arrows sometimes require some pulling to remove it from the bag target which doesn't happen with any of my other bows which tells me that this bow casts the arrows pretty well. I have no scale here and have no clue as to how light of an arrow can be used so I did not see any point in chronying arrow speed yet.
Some observations. Bow only is around 9 lbs but weight is well balanced so it feels and holds well.
The rear of the stock pivots for ****ing and is held in shooting position with a strong magnet and takes some getting used to when handling but no big deal, just have to be careful how it is picked up. With the stock folded ****ing in a tree stand is going to be a breeze considering how easy it is to ****.
Because the source of the string is so close together (axle to axle is 22" and stroke is 20" string pinch is severe enough to discount clocking by rope ****er only.
Noise and shock is very low. Limbs travel only about 2 1/4" at the axle and it has a string stopper system. When shot here is very little noise and hardly any shock. All I feel is an impulse back from the arrow being pushed forward as you should expect when there is virtually no shock on the shot.
Dry-fire mechanism is internal so de****ing I suspect will be in the form of shooting into a target. I see no way of de****ing with a rope.
Although it is a bit gritty the trigger is great(light and not much travel) and can feel it smoothen out as I shoot.
The cheek piece is nice and wide and at an appropriate height unlike many bows out there.
Interesting information. The RD100 may not be made in the future. Being the same stroke and a difference of 25 lbs total difference in draw weight few people wanted the 100 lb over the 125 model. For a difference of 25 lbs draw weight and only $40.00 more you get 50 ft/sec.
Reserving of the string will have to be done off the bow because the cables go through an elongated hole in the rail. No big deal for me because I have an Apple press and a Ratchet-Lok portable bow press.
This is a very well made and thought out bow.
Larer chrony tests
The chronograph is an Archery Chrony F1, I made 4 arrows with the intent to clock 3 of them. They were Lazer IIs, aluninum insert and plastic half moon nock. With a 125 gr tip total weight was (1)349, (2)348 and (3)351. I used 2" Fusion vanes and shot about 3.5' from the chrony.
arrow
1) 384, 383, 381, 382
2) 382, 381, 383, 381
3) 384, 382, 384, 381
I also had an arrow from last weekend, a Lazer II with a brass insert, files rear nock and blazers. It weighed in at 440 gr with a 100 gr tip.
Speeds were 344, 343, 345, 343.
I shot from 30 yards off a sand bag and was frankly amazed at wheel bow accuracy. It's a rare occasion for me to shoot off a bench because I use bows to hunt with and not for targets so all my practice is off hand. Today I spent too much time in sun and wasn't going to spend anymore time but may tomorrow if things go well. Below is a picture of my 30 yard shots. I made some adjustments and shot at the golf ball again (don't ask me why) and I broke another friggen #$&@$(*@*&$ arrow. Yep a slow learner.
I like this bow!
http://www.scorpyd.com/
Scorpyd RDT 125
