Canadian Airgun Forum

So last Friday, I went and visited a somewhat local fishing/hunting/archery, etc store "Erie Tracker" while I was on a meeting in Port Colborne.

I was looking for an inexpensive crossbow just for some target shooting out in the yard.

At the store I was pleasantly met with the store owner and his son, asking me if I was looking for anything, I said I was after a crossbow just for some yard target shooting and plinking, but I was clear I had about a $200 maximum budget. They ended up recommending a Bear X Desire XL Pistol crossbow, it was only $99, and a pack of extra bolts was $34 (it already came with 3).

It is actually a pretty powerful crossbow for a toy, there's a claimed speed of 1754fps, and 60 lbs draw weight. I originally shot at a piece of a pine log I cut for firewood, and the bolts stuck into them pretty good, and it was a bit of a battle to wiggle them out.

But unfortunately, after just about 10 shots, the limb tip on the right limb shattered. I had to go and look for it, and I only found a piece of it.

So today I went back to Erie Tracker, and the son went to the back and managed to find another limb tip and replaced it for me (for free), he also wrote me out a receipt so I can have proof of purchase if I ever need to make an actual warranty claim. Though he said he has sold a great many, and they don't seem to have issues often, the most common is him having to replace the tab/button that you push down in order to start cocking it, because people sometimes get too violent with it and hit it, or slap it down etc, when that really isn't necessary. Lastly, he said if there's any other issues down the line, to bring it in again and he will fix it if he can.

All in all, I think the Bear X Desire XL crossbow is a good product for what it is, I hope I just got a small plastic piece that wasn't up to usual par or strength.

As for Erie Tracker as a store, it seems to be a very good store itself, and the customer service seems superb.

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"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

1754fps?? I know the bolt is much heavier than a pellet....

How about the cocking effort? Do you need to step on it and cock with the foot?

Sounds is a beast~ [emoji38]. I like it!

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~Target~
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I expect a typo, YepYep. 175/4 fps sounds closer.
Interesting. Seems to me there is something in legislation about pistol crossbows, but I cannot remember what it was.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

It was meant to be 175fps. I guess I didn't catch that typo, the actual speed is 175.

The cocking is rather easy, and you don't need to use your foot at all. In fact, there's a place at the front of it where you grab with your left hand, and then you just pull the butt-stock down to cock it.

But yeah, it is a little beast. It could definitely ethically take small game like squirrels and rabbits for example, and surely injure larger game (but probably not ethically kill), and could be an effective self-defense tool (you would not want to get shot with this).

It's seem the bolts while shorter, are standard diameter, so I assume you could replace the feathers and the tips easily. I know that the tips can be unscrewed and the shafts are threaded.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

One handed, shorter than 500mm are prohibited. The minimum length of this one is 22" so 55.8cm, and is a 2-handed design, thus making it legal. It's sold by many Canadian retailers, including Bass Pro and Cabela's.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

Tks. I wondered if a permanent stock would change things.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

hey twig. seems i remember telling you about these. it,s pretty much the same as mine-- mine is called a seeker. i live in port . i didn,t know erie trackers had these. i got mine from princess auto a long time ago. you can buy the bolts online pretty cheap. i,ve got about 50 of them i think. i bought one of these archery targets from canadian tire --and returned it because the bolts wen,t all the way inside and i could barely get them out. i made one myself out of those rubber jigsaw like mats and threaded rod. works great. heres a pic of the canadian tire target- do not buy. the pic of the one i made is down below in your ballistic dart launcher thread.

Yes I remember that as well. I have also known about a couple low cost crossbows like this for many months prior as well. I always planned on getting one, one day, but other things caught my attention first and my money, but I finally decided to get one now.

I bought an archery target from (I don't remember where) a few years back, and it has largely been laying at the back of my property since then, it has seen many seasonal cycles, snow, rain, hot sun, etc I finally brought it back into use after purchasing the Desire XL, and the bolts go in half way up the shaft, but luckily since it's a soft target, I can safely pull then out without issue. I don't know how many shots the target can take before the bolts start going fully inside the target, but I guess I'll find out. I still much prefer the soft archery target over fighting to get bolts loose from logs of pine.

I'll probably end up looking at ways to make cheap DIY targets (like yours for example) soon, as I know pre-made targets are somewhat expensive, and will only last a certain number of shots before they become essentially useless.

_________________
"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

Hey sorry I'm late to the party, but I own one of these and also bought it from a Canadian store. No issues legally with this thing at all.

It has only been fired a few times and never measured the fps. 175fps you say? It's fun but hitting a barn door with it poses a challenge!!

Can't say it's accurate because we have rules against crossbows and bows in our municipality and I haven't gotten the chance to take it to a range.

Even though it's not a hunter crossbow, a stray arrow frightens me much more than the probability of a stray pellet for the simple reason that pellet guns are accurate and easy to handle, by a responsible trained adult whereas a crossbow, or plain-old bow can be difficult to aim for newbies such as myself.

That being said, I shot a few arrows towards a custom bow target with decent penetration using the "iron sights" (for lack of better term) on the crossbow. .. and then I let my GF take a shot.

Huge mistake. The trigger pull caused her to pull up the bow. The arrow lodged itself in the top of the wooden fence and almost went over. That insanely frightening moment was the last time a bow was shot in the backyard. I was shaking for like an hour after that. Visions of prison, lost job, lost clearance .. etc etc.

We were just testing it out quickly .. never again. We're taking that bad boy to a pit or something next time.

I have another one that shoots arrows and steel 6mm balls. Lots of fun but underpowered. When using just the steel balls, it's perfectly suitable for backyard plinking .. assuming it reaches the target before hitting the lawn. Very underpowered. Some ebay thing about the same size as the bear xl.

Anyways enjoy your bow! Mine is waiting patiently until I can bring it to a safe range. No more backyard 'bow and arrow' activities here.

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Province: Ontario
May all who are afraid of discourse find their rights trampled further.
Cowardice is never rewarded.

In BC for small game, bunnies etc, crossbow must have a draw weight of 120 pounds and shoot a quarrel of a minimum of 250gr.
This pistol/crossbow would be illegal for hunting any 'game' in BC.
Vermin might be another story.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

Mine came decently sighted in anyways, no arrows drastically of target, I'm not talking bullseye but within the range.

It sounds like your friend has little experience with firearms, as using this crossbow is the same as firing a rifle at the end of the day (hold in shoulder, aim, pull trigger), and even a .22LR chambered rifle kicks more than this crossbow.

However I am also fortunate enough to have a large rural property, with room to do such activities safely.

Also, to address Daryl's information about the B.C hunting regulations, I would not suggest people hunt with this anyways regardless of regulations. This is a fun item for "backyard" target shooting and plinking, and is priced accordingly ($99 Canadian across the board), but nothing more.

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"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

If you were referring to my friend with very little experience with firearms .. then yeah. Nobody in the house has experience with firearms or even non-pal airguns.

Anybody that doesn't know how to use this thing and can be thrown off by a heavy trigger pull, should practice at a safe range before attempting this in the "backyard".

Me talking like I know something, is wrong, because I know zilch. The trigger pull was tough but I managed to hit the target box.

"Oh it's just a 60lbs bow" ... that can kill or mame. I took some close range shots to see the destructive power with field tips, and it can go through thin wood, rigid felt, and it would be fun to see in ballistic gel with a specified density. A broadhead on this thing would be gruesome at close range.

The Bear XL is definitely not for hunting for sure unless you're a pro and just flexing. It just doesn't have the power, but at the same time, provides some excellent firearm/bow safety and handling experience.

Best to use a zeroed rifle, rested, or a serious crossbow to take game.

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Province: Ontario
May all who are afraid of discourse find their rights trampled further.
Cowardice is never rewarded.

these little things do pack a punch. i have the seeker which is almost exactly the same as the bear xl. these shots are from 18 feet away--(all i got in my little garage.) and the bolts bury themselves right up to the black end part. and from that 18 feet it was pretty accurate. fun though.

Oh I agree, while not reliable for hunting, (at least ethically), it is not a toy still in the sense that it can do serious damage, and if in the "right place" even kill.

Today, my father took some shots with it, at a field archery target, and all the arrows/bolts went completely inside the target and now there's no way to get them back without opening the bag, and ruining the target, which I am not going to do as the target costs like $50 more than a pack of arrows for it does.

Looks like I will have to copy Pete and make a DIY target out of those square mats.

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"Positive thinking and positive action add up to results." - Anton LaVey

"I went to god just to see, and I was looking at me" - Marilyn Manson, "The Reflecting God" (1996).

The "black things" are called vanes (if made of plastic). If they are made of feathers, they are called fletching(s).
The names for the steering "end" remain the same whether from a crossbow, compound bow, recurve bow of longbow.
The 'shaft' is called, well, the shaft, no matter the bow.
The whole arrow for a crossbow is called a quarrel or bolt.(could be a "Bolt" referred to the solid steel quarrels fired from a castle's crossbow that needed a windlass to cock)
Some of those ran over 1,000 lbs. pull weight.
Medieval quarrels or bolts had either wooden or steel vanes and usually only 2 which rode on the 'bed' along with the string or cable. Shooting long arrows (quarrels) from a modern crossbow is something that was not done, "back in the day". The quarrels were always quite short, with the points barely longer than stock itself.
The arrow for one of the other bows, is called an arrow.

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Best Wishes
Daryl