When purchasing a new crossbow what features do you look for?

fps, accuracy, innovation, etc.

I look to see if it's got the name "EXCALIBUR". FOR ME, they are the best out there, but in all fairness to the other brands, I'm not the average user.
I've got a dinged shoulder, so that light weight of the recurve design is worth the extra width. I also live in the sticks and like to do my own maintaining. I knew of their reputed accuracy prior to getting my first, the E'max. I, like many others felt the need for speed. After I got wised up, I got a Phoenix and that's my bow of choice. I also think they have the best outta the box triggers. This is just my opinion and not meant to knock anyone else's choice, so you wheel guys, don't be offended.

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RebelHog - Does that mean you prefer a different type of crossbow, and if so why?

Reliability, repeatability, enough power, a great trigger and simplicity.

I would have to agree on the Excalibur. The only disadvantage that I could find is the width and that's easy to compensate for when you set up your stand.[/align]

I ain't never liked training wheels! I have an Excal Phoenix, my next Bow will be Excal Vixen! I have an 1899 96 Swedish Mauser #'s matching and #1 bore that has someone else's name on it fer trade fer a deerhide brown Vixen! Ya have heard of bringing home the bacon, well Excal's smoke deer![][:-]

a proven product, I dont want to be the first on the block to have the lateset greatest(claimed) crossbow out there,
for me I have both a TenPoint ProElite and an Excalibur Exocet, both are great crossbows, I prefer shooting the ProElite, I think it is a smother , quieter , Shooter, that just my thoughts,
what to look for varies from person to person, one may look for simplicity, another may look for what looks good , another may look for features.. another may look for good customer service,
mythought is reserch them, the different brands , go to the different forums and ask questions about the onesyou are interested in, find a proshop that carries the ones your interested in and shoulder them, and handle them to see how they feel, and then shoot them, the one that is right for you will let you know..

As htoler said I look for a proven track record as one of the first things. Ohio is going on thirty years of crossbow hunting and Horton has been their to help lead the way as one of the main players in the game. The second thing I need is costomer service!! And I do not mean over the phone and ship it to us sir, if your bow has so few dealers that you have to talk over the phone and mail products to them then that is poor service in my book! I have four horton dealers within twenty min drive of my house and two are in my town. All have anything like strings, arrows, spare wheels[&:]and everything for my bow. If my bow has a problem I amback in bisness that day or the next! Another thing is proven quality! My old hunter mag lasted me twelve years with only one string change, and when I made it my loaner bow I gave it a cable upgrade, which was done at the local shop same day, no mail stuff. That bow still shoots great and my dad now uses it. My new super max is a excellent choice, it has the new light trigers on them and is an awsome bow to shoot! my old horton which is now fourteen and the new one which is having its second year are both nock busters and have always been! Also horton has a wide range of bows for the biggener low budget all the way up to the top of the line. Some CB makes only have a few bank busters and not much for the little or new guy. So when I say proven track record, my bow of choice the horton has it!!

I first bought a horton legend 150, I loved the design and a friend had one. I shot the crap out of it and i knew they were dependable reliable tough bows from experiance. so i bought a horton Hunter 175 i perfer horton just because it's what i shoot and i plan to get an excalibur phoenix just to see what the guys rave about on here. i especially love horton because everyone here fights with me about it