Hi All:
Well, considering it is snowing like heck and I have a few limitations the I ran into to I was not able to put as many arrows thru the new StrykeForce as I would like but here are my continuing impressions and finding:
Bowtech, in their rush to get these out, did not include a rope aid (they are included by the way)and I am out of theirs and since this is a customers bow and the Excal rope makes marks in the top of the stock I did not want to damage the bow so I cocked the bow by hand. This can be done, but any more than a few shots and your lower back starts screaming!!(one of the limitations I ran into). Anyway, after I straightend myself back up and worked out the kinks I was able to sight in and get a few arrows off which allowed me to concentrate on diferant aspects of the bow compared to the DS. Physicaly, it is a DS...same size, shape, weight, balance, etc... The pistolgrip I find pretty cool once I slid it back to a usable position. I am tossed on which I prefer...the DS stock or the pistol grip. I myself would have liked it to be a folding grip so you could lay it flat and use it like a standard forestock. I think the fixed one is going to be a "I love it" or "I hate it" with each individual. I have the DS forestocks being dipped to match so we can offer them as an option, (ballpark $40ish). It does stink to have to remove it to put it into a case and you have to make sure you keep track of the lock bolt for it. I have to work on this one a bit more because I can see a few issues with it myself since getting a case is a pain as it is and having to dissasemble your bow to use it bites.
The trigger, as I first noted, is much better than the DS one. Now it may be just this one bow, but I was told they did something to this model so I think they are on the right track. Noise is less than the DS. It is noticably quieter, but not dramaticaly so (a couple of DB's) Side by side, you notice it. With the extra power and speed though, I would have been happy to have it the same...to have it quieter is great. The snubbers do a great job of cutting down the vibration and noise. Yes, I am checking to see if I can get them seperately to retrofit onto DS's
Accuracy is pretty much the same...dont shoot at the same spot more than once. I did not expect much there...kinda hard to improve on same hole accuracy. Speed with the factory arrow clocked at 386fps. 1fps higher than the advertized speed. Nice to see. One major problem I ran into is the same issue I have with the full size Stryker....the factory arrows do not use enough/good enough glue and I now have a stack of arrows I need to put inserts into. I am using a densly packed bag target that stops my DS no problem and this thing buried arrows into it flush with the nock and out the otherside and the insert and tip kept going. Entertaining, but a pain if you have anything behind your target that may not respond well to a 210gr projectile hitting it. I tried a Rinhart 18-1 and it stops them fine, but about half way up the shaft. As with the fullsize Stryker, targets are gonna be a pain with this bow...it is stinking fast!! Overall, except for the possible issue with the forgrip and the additional investment of a target that will handel it, there are definitely some improvements over the DS on this model. The Camo is a big improvement, it is faster(not nessicary, but kinda neet), quieter, and has a better trigger, and the limbs are visually re-enforced which gives a nice feeling of confidence in their durability (time I am sure will tell) I am still very surprized they did not change the retail pricing, but hey, that is great for the consumer. OH, dealer pricing however, did go up so that may cause some individual dealers to play with the pricing.
All for now..
Wyvern