Buying a crossbow, new or used?

[WestbankRye]

Hey guys I'm hoping I can get some advice from you. I want to purchase a crossbow to hunt with. I'm on a budget though as my wife is at home from work with our baby for a while still. My question is would I be better off to buy a higher quality bow used or a more affordable bow new? Any advice would be great!

[tinhorse]

If you can find a good quality used cross bow that has what you're looking for go for that, Excalibur matrix or something. As long as it has been taken care of and not abused, just like buying a rifle. I've bought new and and used and quality is much more important than "new".

[IronNoggin]

Used will be quite fine as long as the bow was well looked after.
Recognizing I am somewhat biased towards Excalibur products (having owned three different models of their bows) I might suggest going with a recurve for your first. There is much less than can go wrong with them, they are pretty damn tough, and you can easily do the vast majority of any "work" that may required on them yourself (without requiring a bow press that is). Another consideration with Excalibur is that they will generally honor their Warranty for second-hand owners should anything ever go wrong.

Sites to watch I'd suggest the Excalibur Forum Buy & Sell: http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4

And the Crossbow Section of the Archery Talk Forum: http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=362&

If you have any questions related to recurve crossbows, feel free to contact me. I am fairly familiar with them, and may be able to answer any that might come up...

Good Luck in your search!

Cheers,
Nog

[coach]

Any reason you want a crossbow instead of a compound? Not judging as I hunt with both and each have their benefits. Compound is a lot more fun to practice with though..

[HarryToolips]

If you can find a good quality used cross bow that has what you're looking for go for that, Excalibur matrix or something. As long as it has been taken care of and not abused, just like buying a rifle. I've bought new and and used and quality is much more important than "new".

Exactly....

[WestbankRye]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm leaning towards a crossbow because of some injuries that I've had to my shoulder. I find that the drawing back of a bow starts to trigger some pretty sore areas so I'm hoping to avoid that with a crossbow. Initially when I started looking for a crossbow I was initially looking at the Barnett packages simply because of the prices but once I started doing some research I felt like I'd be better off spending the money on something like a used excalibur...

[kilometers]

My bro dropped some cash on a Horton crossbow. It's a nice bow with no issues. He now has found out Horton went under and is no longer making parts or bows.
I see a few for sale. Stay away from a company that no longer exists. No hortons! Or at least wait to see if the company that bought their stuff starts producing parts etc.
pretty disapionting when you spend your hard earned money and then that happens

[IronNoggin]

... once I started doing some research I felt like I'd be better off spending the money on something like a used excalibur...

Smart Thinking IMHO. Start off with a Quality Bow that will Last! :wink:

Cheers,
Nog

[westcoastal]

I have to agree with Nog, buy a good quality (Excalibur) crossbow, either new or used. Recurve crossbows are so much simpler, less to go wrong. He and I, along with several other members on this site own a Matrix, frankly I couldn't ask for anything more. They are a great way to fling arrows at a target, deer, bear, elk, moose....though they are a overkill for grouse, rabbits etc.