Hey guys. I was at the Toronto Sportsman Show today and I saw the new Excals (nice new camo) and the Middleton Crossbow.
I am not impressed by the Middleton bow. I watched the video at their stand and the guy dryfired over and over again. Mean while I looked down and one of their strings were frayed pretty badly. Hmmmm. Now this may sound funny but the Middleton bow doesn't have the gracefull look that the Excal has. They use a narrow laminated limb system which is why they can use a narrower limb. I didn't get the urge to pick the bow up. It may be a good bow but I'll never know.
I saw the video/ranger finder mount and it is very nice. I will be buying one when they become available.
I talked to Peter Belfour the marketing dude from Excal and asked if the new thumbhole stock will be fitted onto the Pheonix platform and he said it might in the future but they were testing the waters with the bigger bows. Of course I gave Peter some strings! LOL! The new camo looks just great!

I got to hold the new bow at the bow shop in Kitchener, very nice! Also handled the new scope, very, very cool!

I am going to that show on Sunday with my fishing buddies, I have some words for that Middleton guy..

Did you leave anything at the show for the rest of us Don? I have my sights fixed on a new Hoyt..

I might be wrong but the appearance seems to have changed a bit to not look as much like an Excal as it first did. The rep did not bad mouth Excal whatsoever. Course, that would be suicide in a place where many Excal fans might be lurking!
What Hoyt are you considering David?

I am thinking Vetrix, it felt nice, but I will shoot a few first..

The Middleton guy, was it the owner? Is there enough people in that company to justify a sales rep?

Don't think he was the owner.

David, you can't have a Vortex if you can't spell it!! Yeah, I know, I know, just couldn't help myself, lol. Have fun at the show!

My friends uncle owns one of the middletons and it shoots just like the excal. He has the 375fps one and it shoots almost as fast as it says it does, and just as accurate as any. I agree with the fact that they dont have the graceful look, but they sure are fast and durable lol.

Mike

Mike, durability has yet to be proven. That may take years to decide. Laminated limbs is a good place for a screw up. They take much less abuse than the extruded ones. How nice is the trigger Mike?

Mike, does your uncle's Middleton have the same skeletonized stock that the I saw at the sportsman show? It looks very delicate.

The stock is fine IMHO, but i could be wrong...hes having problems with the trigger but before the problem happened the trigger shot great.