Beware: Nock issue
11-10-2009 | 05:55 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Fork Horn
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 436
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From: NE Ohio
Beware: Nock issue
I had a crossbow malfunction a few days ago, and just figured it out today. The story is a bit long, but you might want to know of the problem, so you can avoid it. Horton crossbow, Horton arrow.
The malfunction was aggravating enough, but all the more so since I was taking a shot at an 8-10 pt. buck. I was hunting from a natural ground blind. The buck was very close, maybe ten yards out, and I mounted the bow, aimed, and fired. As the bow discharged with a ‘thwack,’ he started, and then began circling the blind. I couldn’t believe I had missed, although I hadn't heard that slap of a broadhead against flesh, and as I turned with him I kept watching for some sign of a hit. Finally I looked down at my bow and the arrow was still on the rail! Now I was confused. The arrow was part way down the rail, and as I let the front of the bow dip while I turned, it simply fell off the front. Meanwhile the buck was still obscured by the blind, but making progress in circling. Even though the chances of getting a shot now were extremely slim, I put the butt of the bow in my chest and ****ed it. I got it back in my hands and was trying to decide which arrow I could reload the fastest, the one on the ground at my feet or one from the quiver, when the buck came clear and looked right at me. I froze as he bobbed his head back and forth, then lifted his nose to try to scent me. I could almost count the whiskers around that glistening nose as it wiggled around, because he was inside of ten yards and maybe closer to five. After another head bob or two and another attempt to scent me, he turned and hopped down the hill.
Back to the bow. I first thought perhaps I was too close to some tree limbs in the blind, and the bow limbs hit them, but I am aware of this potential hazard and distinctly remembered leaning back at the waist as I sighted and shot. Still, I examined the face of the bow limbs for some sign of having struck the tree limbs, but saw none. I noted that the ‘finger’ that holds the arrow on the rail was bent upwards a bit, and was now out of tolerance: an arrow placed on the rail would not be held in place by the finger. I bent it back down as best as possible (the location of the finger to the rail makes bending it back in place difficult). Later, after further thought, I decided that if the bow limbs had struck the tree limbs, the arrow would have still launched, albeit perhaps with less velocity. In examining the arrow, I noted that one of the vanes on the arrow was rippled, as though the arrow remained stationary while the string zipped down its length. This could be consistent with the finger being bent upward. Finally, I looked at the nock. Horton didn’t used to put nocks on arrows, but began doing so some years ago. This was it: the nock was positioned incorrectly, so that if the yellow vane were placed in the rail, the nock would be about 90 degrees off. It appears that the string skipped over or under the nock, pushing the finger up, and rode the length of the arrow. Essentially it was a dry fire, which of course should never be done with a bow. In any case, I’ve fired it several times since then (including bagging a 9 point this morning), and all appears to be functional. It never occurred to me to look at these nocks, but I will from now on.
The malfunction was aggravating enough, but all the more so since I was taking a shot at an 8-10 pt. buck. I was hunting from a natural ground blind. The buck was very close, maybe ten yards out, and I mounted the bow, aimed, and fired. As the bow discharged with a ‘thwack,’ he started, and then began circling the blind. I couldn’t believe I had missed, although I hadn't heard that slap of a broadhead against flesh, and as I turned with him I kept watching for some sign of a hit. Finally I looked down at my bow and the arrow was still on the rail! Now I was confused. The arrow was part way down the rail, and as I let the front of the bow dip while I turned, it simply fell off the front. Meanwhile the buck was still obscured by the blind, but making progress in circling. Even though the chances of getting a shot now were extremely slim, I put the butt of the bow in my chest and ****ed it. I got it back in my hands and was trying to decide which arrow I could reload the fastest, the one on the ground at my feet or one from the quiver, when the buck came clear and looked right at me. I froze as he bobbed his head back and forth, then lifted his nose to try to scent me. I could almost count the whiskers around that glistening nose as it wiggled around, because he was inside of ten yards and maybe closer to five. After another head bob or two and another attempt to scent me, he turned and hopped down the hill.
Back to the bow. I first thought perhaps I was too close to some tree limbs in the blind, and the bow limbs hit them, but I am aware of this potential hazard and distinctly remembered leaning back at the waist as I sighted and shot. Still, I examined the face of the bow limbs for some sign of having struck the tree limbs, but saw none. I noted that the ‘finger’ that holds the arrow on the rail was bent upwards a bit, and was now out of tolerance: an arrow placed on the rail would not be held in place by the finger. I bent it back down as best as possible (the location of the finger to the rail makes bending it back in place difficult). Later, after further thought, I decided that if the bow limbs had struck the tree limbs, the arrow would have still launched, albeit perhaps with less velocity. In examining the arrow, I noted that one of the vanes on the arrow was rippled, as though the arrow remained stationary while the string zipped down its length. This could be consistent with the finger being bent upward. Finally, I looked at the nock. Horton didn’t used to put nocks on arrows, but began doing so some years ago. This was it: the nock was positioned incorrectly, so that if the yellow vane were placed in the rail, the nock would be about 90 degrees off. It appears that the string skipped over or under the nock, pushing the finger up, and rode the length of the arrow. Essentially it was a dry fire, which of course should never be done with a bow. In any case, I’ve fired it several times since then (including bagging a 9 point this morning), and all appears to be functional. It never occurred to me to look at these nocks, but I will from now on.
11-11-2009 | 03:44 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 186
Likes: 0
I had a crossbow malfunction a few days ago, and just figured it out today. The story is a bit long, but you might want to know of the problem, so you can avoid it. Horton crossbow, Horton arrow.
The malfunction was aggravating enough, but all the more so since I was taking a shot at an 8-10 pt. buck. I was hunting from a natural ground blind. The buck was very close, maybe ten yards out, and I mounted the bow, aimed, and fired. As the bow discharged with a ‘thwack,’ he started, and then began circling the blind. I couldn’t believe I had missed, although I hadn't heard that slap of a broadhead against flesh, and as I turned with him I kept watching for some sign of a hit. Finally I looked down at my bow and the arrow was still on the rail! Now I was confused. The arrow was part way down the rail, and as I let the front of the bow dip while I turned, it simply fell off the front. Meanwhile the buck was still obscured by the blind, but making progress in circling. Even though the chances of getting a shot now were extremely slim, I put the butt of the bow in my chest and ****ed it. I got it back in my hands and was trying to decide which arrow I could reload the fastest, the one on the ground at my feet or one from the quiver, when the buck came clear and looked right at me. I froze as he bobbed his head back and forth, then lifted his nose to try to scent me. I could almost count the whiskers around that glistening nose as it wiggled around, because he was inside of ten yards and maybe closer to five. After another head bob or two and another attempt to scent me, he turned and hopped down the hill.
Back to the bow. I first thought perhaps I was too close to some tree limbs in the blind, and the bow limbs hit them, but I am aware of this potential hazard and distinctly remembered leaning back at the waist as I sighted and shot. Still, I examined the face of the bow limbs for some sign of having struck the tree limbs, but saw none. I noted that the ‘finger’ that holds the arrow on the rail was bent upwards a bit, and was now out of tolerance: an arrow placed on the rail would not be held in place by the finger. I bent it back down as best as possible (the location of the finger to the rail makes bending it back in place difficult). Later, after further thought, I decided that if the bow limbs had struck the tree limbs, the arrow would have still launched, albeit perhaps with less velocity. In examining the arrow, I noted that one of the vanes on the arrow was rippled, as though the arrow remained stationary while the string zipped down its length. This could be consistent with the finger being bent upward. Finally, I looked at the nock. Horton didn’t used to put nocks on arrows, but began doing so some years ago. This was it: the nock was positioned incorrectly, so that if the yellow vane were placed in the rail, the nock would be about 90 degrees off. It appears that the string skipped over or under the nock, pushing the finger up, and rode the length of the arrow. Essentially it was a dry fire, which of course should never be done with a bow. In any case, I’ve fired it several times since then (including bagging a 9 point this morning), and all appears to be functional. It never occurred to me to look at these nocks, but I will from now on.
The malfunction was aggravating enough, but all the more so since I was taking a shot at an 8-10 pt. buck. I was hunting from a natural ground blind. The buck was very close, maybe ten yards out, and I mounted the bow, aimed, and fired. As the bow discharged with a ‘thwack,’ he started, and then began circling the blind. I couldn’t believe I had missed, although I hadn't heard that slap of a broadhead against flesh, and as I turned with him I kept watching for some sign of a hit. Finally I looked down at my bow and the arrow was still on the rail! Now I was confused. The arrow was part way down the rail, and as I let the front of the bow dip while I turned, it simply fell off the front. Meanwhile the buck was still obscured by the blind, but making progress in circling. Even though the chances of getting a shot now were extremely slim, I put the butt of the bow in my chest and ****ed it. I got it back in my hands and was trying to decide which arrow I could reload the fastest, the one on the ground at my feet or one from the quiver, when the buck came clear and looked right at me. I froze as he bobbed his head back and forth, then lifted his nose to try to scent me. I could almost count the whiskers around that glistening nose as it wiggled around, because he was inside of ten yards and maybe closer to five. After another head bob or two and another attempt to scent me, he turned and hopped down the hill.
Back to the bow. I first thought perhaps I was too close to some tree limbs in the blind, and the bow limbs hit them, but I am aware of this potential hazard and distinctly remembered leaning back at the waist as I sighted and shot. Still, I examined the face of the bow limbs for some sign of having struck the tree limbs, but saw none. I noted that the ‘finger’ that holds the arrow on the rail was bent upwards a bit, and was now out of tolerance: an arrow placed on the rail would not be held in place by the finger. I bent it back down as best as possible (the location of the finger to the rail makes bending it back in place difficult). Later, after further thought, I decided that if the bow limbs had struck the tree limbs, the arrow would have still launched, albeit perhaps with less velocity. In examining the arrow, I noted that one of the vanes on the arrow was rippled, as though the arrow remained stationary while the string zipped down its length. This could be consistent with the finger being bent upward. Finally, I looked at the nock. Horton didn’t used to put nocks on arrows, but began doing so some years ago. This was it: the nock was positioned incorrectly, so that if the yellow vane were placed in the rail, the nock would be about 90 degrees off. It appears that the string skipped over or under the nock, pushing the finger up, and rode the length of the arrow. Essentially it was a dry fire, which of course should never be done with a bow. In any case, I’ve fired it several times since then (including bagging a 9 point this morning), and all appears to be functional. It never occurred to me to look at these nocks, but I will from now on.
11-11-2009 | 03:07 PM
#4
Thread Starter
Fork Horn
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 436
Likes: 0
From: NE Ohio
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one of those WTF moments where you just gotta step back and regroup...Horton does make some fine x-bows..
Their quality control leaves something to be desired. Three examples: bought my wife a new bow, trigger didn't work. Fortunately I live relatively close to the factory (40 miles). They fixed it. Bought her an EZ winder, so she can load the bow herself. It didn't work. Took it back and got another. A few years back I bought a fiber optic sight pin. The design was so poor, it couldn't be properly mounted and sighted (hard to describe). They've since improved it, but still...
I'm sticking with them, but these issues are/were a bit aggravating.
11-12-2009 | 05:19 PM
#5
Spike
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
