Originally Posted by BGfisher

I haven't kept up with the crossbow world and my last dealings with them was in 2006 when I sold and serviced them. IMO if you are looking for something with decent quality (considering your age) I would only choose two manufacturers' crossbows. That would be Ten Point or Excaliber.

I just did too many repairs and limb replacements on Barnett with Horton being somewhat better.

Some things to look for would be machined metal parts such as where sights or scopes mount. You don't want plastic in these areas. Another thing would be a quality trigger assembly. Again, avoid plastic here. A trigger assembly similar to a rifle is something I'd suggest. Crisp and clean with little trigger travel and a fairly light pull; say 3# to 4#.

What few problems I had with Ten Points were dealt with in a very timely manner so I'd add a plus for their customer service.

If you need a crank then the obvious choice would be Ten Point. They have a crank that mounts right on the stock so you don't have to tote it around separately. Also it only takes about 3# to 4# of pressure to crank up a 200# bow.

I honestly have no experience with Excaliber, but I've never heard of any problems with them either. The only complaint being the width of the limbs on most models. Being as they don't have a "compound" system they are more simple in design and maintenance. They are also a lot lighter than the "compound" versions.

None of the good ones are cheap so you have to do some intensive comparison shopping and suit your own pocket book. Were it me I would lean more toward the Excaliber and one of the first things I would do is have a good gunsmith work over the trigger to smooth it out.

I hope you get other opinions and/or suggestions. These are just mine.