First of all you are not pulling all that weight back on a crossbow if you have a handicap that hinders you to pull a compound. You use a cocking aid. There are two types, one has a strap that you put in each hand and reduces the weight by half, the other is a cranking device that fits over the but of the crossbow and hooks onto the string and you crank a hand crank to cock it. So your comment is in error on someone cocking a crossbow by hand if they have a handicap.
Secondly I own a Horton Hawk SL and couldn't be happpier with it. I can pound arrow upon arrow in the bull at twenty and thirty yards which is as far as I shoot.
About being messy, what mess? You use a thin coat of rail lube on the rail and that is it, there is no mess when done right.
They are hardly junk and handle very well. I have the deer to prove it.
There are so many misconceptions about crossbows out there by people who don't shoot them that is almost borders on humorous. They are a tool and in some states legal, and where they are legal they are a great way to hunt for the person who has a handicap and even for the person who doesn't.
Iam not ashamed of being a crossbow shooter and enjoy it very much. Oh and Ihave taken my share of deer with a compound as well.
Horton makes a great crossbow. I also like that it has a manual safety , some others don't.