Strykeforce has arrived.

[sw]

:)My new x-bow came in today. It is slightly smaller than the Parker Saf Mag. The width is impressively narrow. It looks and feels great! Tonight, I mounted a 42 MM Sitetron 2 MD 3X12 scope, that is just like the set-up on the Parker. I haven't shot it yet. Pictures and velocity measurements will come very shortly. I will compare it with the Parker accuracy/velocity wise and report. It is more compact than I thought it would be. I thought the Parker was relatively small, but this one is much narrower. I kind of think of it as my 40 cal, sabotless x-bow.

[broomebuck]

nice good luck time will tell if i need one if i do no better place to look at real world performance than here

[sw]

I shot the Strykeforce 5 times this evening. With a 440g bolt the velocity was 383'/sec(advertized is 385/425g). The only tgt that would begin to stop the bolt was an Eternity bag tgt with a Yellowjacket tgt behind it. This is with a field pt. Still went to the fletching.
I put on a Sightron 2 3X12 MD scope, did no sighting or adjusting, and as luck would have it, it hit 2" rt of aimpoint at 40 yds using the main x-hair. I will end up with 2 MDs hi being either 30 or 40 yds depending on the trajectory 0-30 and 0-40 yds.
The cocking takes a little more time than some other x-bows. It has a lot of let-off the last few inches of pull. It may have 70-80% let-off. The cam is radical. It has a string and a string cable. The bearings are life-time lubricated ball bearings. The cocking is so smooth as is the shooting. It has virtually no hand shock - almost like shooting a 17 Mach2 or 17 HMR. Even though it is very fast, it is extremely quiet. 2 large rubber fingers catch the string and the string very lightly touches the teflon rail by design. The forward hand hold helps with holding the x-bow steady and keeping the hand away from the cable travel. It feels light and compact, which it is. The scope gets much less shock than on the relatively smooth Parker. The only x-bow narrower than this that I've seen is the tiny, and noisy, Swiss x-bow. It is very quiet to cock. I might leave it uncocked if I ever take it bear hunting which often involves an all day stand hunt. I normally take my recurve since the shots are rarely >30 yds. More later, as well as pictures.

[jims]

An impressive sounding bow. Keep us updated.

[edge]

Sounds great, can't wait for pictures

edge.

[sw]

This is to compare sizes of the Parker and the Strykeforce. Both have Sightron 2 42MM 3X12 MD scopes.

[jims]

Impressive bow and numbers.

[dougedwards]

That is so cool!

[edge]

SW, a long time ago I made a target using a grain sack.

I filled it with the left over bags from the grocery store. I filled it compressing it as I went, and when it was overflowing I took another grain sack and filled it about 1/3 of the way up.
I then took the less full one and brought it over the open end of the very full on and used that for my compound bow.

It stopped regular arrows better than any bag that I tried.

Fast forward to the stryker bow. One shot told me that the bag was a no-go

So I took 2 ratcheting straps and compressed the heck out of the bag. I compress it enough that I was able to remove the second bag and fold over the top of the single bag and tape it shut.
IMO, it feels like the consistency of a boxing " heavy bag" and it stops the Stryker bolt at about 1/2 way from 20 yards.

I did just buy the American Whitetail crossbow King target for broadheads but have not shot into it yet.

edge.

[dougedwards]

Apr 10, 2009 7:11:55 GMT -5 edge said:

I did just buy the American Whitetail crossbow King target for broadheads but have not shot into it yet.

edge.

I just received mine also and will be shooting into it this weekend if it doesn't rain. Will report.

I still can't get over how cool that Strykeforce looks. SW......are you trying to tempt me into buying yet another toy to play with???

Doug

[sw]

Apr 10, 2009 8:27:32 GMT -5 dougedwards said:

Apr 10, 2009 7:11:55 GMT -5 edge said:

I did just buy the American Whitetail crossbow King target for broadheads but have not shot into it yet.

edge.

I just received mine also and will be shooting into it this weekend if it doesn't rain. Will report.

I still can't get over how cool that Strykeforce looks. SW......are you trying to tempt me into buying yet another toy to play with???

Doug

Doug/Edge,
I am interested in your evaluations of the American King x-bow Target. Edge - what kind of grocery sacks?
Doug, I have for 20+ years worked on people's x-bows and have owned PSE Foxfire/variants,Barnet Wildcat , 2 Parkers , shot a Devastator extensively and worked on many Hortons . , and 10-pts/Hunters . The Stryker/Strykeforce are in a totally different league. There is no comparison. The precision of construction, the feel, the quietness, the lack of hand-shock, the grip of the Strykeforce, and speed are not equaled from any of the others, IMO. I have yet to do serious accuracy work with the SF, pending adequate backstop. This speed, quietness, and likely extreme accuracy will certainly extend maximum tgt and hunting ranges. Lazer rangefinder is manditory, of course, for any extended range shooting with any bow/x-bow except for instinctive shooters. Don't handle/shoot any of the Bowteck x-bows unless you plan to get one or don't have a problem with coveting.

[edge]

Apr 10, 2009 9:25:41 GMT -5 sw said:

SNIP
Edge - what kind of grocery sacks?

Just the thin plastic bags that most grocery stores use for packing your stuff in to take home. They are very thin.

edge.

[raf]

I've made several of my own targets. Also bought some burlap targets that you have to fill yourself. For those I used shrink wrap. You know the stuff that goes around a pallet and the boxes on them when it's shipped. Most businesses that get a lot of product shipped to them throw the stuff away after they've cut it off the pallet. I've only used it with my compound and don't know how it would work with a X-bow.

[dougedwards]

I feel so silly. I received and opened my King Crossbow target from Sportsmansguide.com and realized that I already had one. I had bought one from ebay but didn't know what it was called. So I guess I am in a position to evaluate it.

It has been a pretty good target and performed well when it is new. I have no idea as to how many shots it has taken, probably about 100 or so but I can't shoot into it now without a backup target behind it. Heavy arrows with broadheads zipping into it at near 350 fps does it's damage.

I can certainly say that this target is not heads and shoulders above other crossbow targets that I have ( I don't know the name of them either) but is a good one. Maybe if I wrap it with shrink wrap it may survive about 50 more shots. ;D ;D

Doug

[Dave W]

The best target I made used old clothes as the stopping material. I never shot broadheads into it but field points were stopped with no problem. Stopped an 82 lb. bow pushing ACC arrows close to 300fps with no problem, two finger removal. Downside to it if you consider it that way is you can't shoot at the same spot without risking arrow damage.

I framed up a box on legs approx. 30" high X 42" wide X 36" deep, wanted it about the same height as a deer. Coal mine belt on the back of the target in case something blew through, chicken wire over 3/4 of the front to hold the clothes in still allows you to add more clothes if needed. Cardboard stapled to the front of the frame to hold the spots or paper deer targets. Finished it off with a set of doors, lasted several years before I gave it to my buddy after I stopped shooting 3-D. I think it would stop broadheads but removal might be a problem and the chicken wire would be hard on blades.