As much as this manual is for people doing this for the first time, I will be touching on everything you need to know from picking out the perfect crossbow to down to shooting it and also how to sight in the scope.

So, here’s the important criteria to weigh in before choosing the right crossbow.

The hundreds of crossbows out there make it difficult for one to be able to choose from. So how can you determine the perfect one? The first and foremost thing you should consider when selecting a crossbow is what you plan to do with it.

Do you just need it for target shooting? Do you need something for hunting? If that’s the case, exactly what size of the animals will you be planning to hunt and at what feasible ranges?

A lot of advance crossbows have been designed to taking down a deer out to ranges higher than 60 yards, but that is also going to demand a considerable amount of time and hard work on your part to become skilled enough with your crossbow to make shots at that range.

Also, the feasible ranges are generally 30 to 40 yards, so have that noted when checking out your options in hunting. So now, we’ll be looking at the major aspects you should keep in mind when picking a crossbow and how it would affect your shooting.

At times, you might want to choose between a recurve crossbow and a compound crossbow. You might also be concerned what the advantage and/or disadvantage of each is and you might be stuck on which to choose from. Both are very useful in the target and even the hunting world possessed by a devoted cadre of shooters.

Often known and chosen for its reliability and simplicity, the recurve crossbow remains the purest of all other crossbows. Having existed for over a decade, the recurve is selected by most archers and its known to have a higher draw weight with less overall speed than its compound counterpart.

For the recurve crossbow, it is basically an easy bow and string, and there is no pulley or cable to adjust or bother about whether it would fail at a particular point. Typically, the trade-off for this simplicity is that a recurve crossbow would be quite a bit wider from axle to axle (ATA). This symbolizes the measurement across the widest part of the bow section.

Commonly known for their lower draw weights with higher arrow speeds, the compound crossbows are the most widely used crossbows.

This is as a result of the fact that the use of the cables and pulleys for a compound crossbow means that it can enjoy a narrower ATA. Hence, making it more mobile and more straightforward to shoot even a deer, from a constrained area, blind.

The pulleys and cables also serve as extra moving parts ultimately resulting in extras possibilities of failure. This does not mean the advanced compound crossbows are likely to fail easily but the risk and probability involved are higher, and likely won’t happen at the most projected moment.

Often times, many people ask “What is the fastest crossbow?” and they are curious to know about the speed of a crossbow.

Any really fast crossbows you find would have speed abilities greater than 400fps. However, one major question to consider would be why you need so much speed. Except you’re hunting a T-Rex in Jurassic Park, you won’t be needing crossbows close to that range; but the ones for deer hunting or simple target shooting.

Too much speed can be dangerous to one’s shooting. This is a simple fact yet to be understood by a lot of shooters. A sudden arrow is excellent when it comes to hitting harder and shooting flatter (a flatter shooting projectile implies that there is a drop in the projectile over a specific distance. So, getting familiar with the exact range is not as critical as with a slower projectile).

The disadvantage is that the crossbow’s tolerance rate is decreased when the speed of the arrow is increased. An arrow that is quick is going to react more to a perfect draw as well as being less appreciating for any imperfections in the arrow or vanes.

Another crucial thing to consider is that you know what weight arrows are useful and how to calculate the stated speed of a crossbow using the total weight projectile (arrows and points).

More often than not, a heavier arrow would be a good pick for longer ranges; though it may slow your speed, it will carry more force to the target. Keep in mind that you want an arrow that is fast enough to complete the task, but not rapid enough that the overkill makes your shots more challenging.

For someone who is trying out archery for the first time, he or she should primarily be concerned about the safety precautions of a crossbow because for one who is just starting there are numerous lessons to learn and the integrated safety devices will help keep one from danger to one’s self or damage to your new crossbow. The essential safety features are discussed below:

A “dry fire” for a crossbow is a point where the crossbow is fired with no arrow in position. This is one of the single most robust actions you can take to a crossbow as it puts the enormous stress of its limbs.

It is the arrow that provides an amount of resistance to the limbs when shot allowing them to release their energy in a regulated manner, the limbs. Therefore are released more quickly than they were created to do when firing without an arrow.

Modern technology has made crossbows have features that will not permit the string to be released except an arrow is in place. This is commonly called an “anti-dry-fire device” or a “dry fire inhibitor” and is really worth considering when picking out your own crossbow.

All the crossbows available in the market today will feature a mechanical safety that keeps the trigger from releasing the string when set. The function of this is similar to the safety on a rifle and can be of  0different designs.

An auto-engaging safety is set automatically especially during the act of drawing the bowstring. This is an excellent feature for a beginner shooter as it is something you will not have to remember to set yourself. Unfortunately, it will keep the crossbow safe until you are ready to pull the trigger.

The forward grip is one of the features of the crossbow, and it is located below.  Typically, in rifle designs, the grip is a piece of plastic or wood which helps you to hold the rifle when shooting.

There is less concern for the safety of that hand as you can find the bullets inside the barrel. On a crossbow, while the arrow can be found somewhere within the rail, the bow string is not.

It slides rapidly down the track whenever the crossbow is fired. Once a finger or thumb from the hand shooting forward is a bit too high and moves straight into that string, that hand will also suffer from a significant injury.

To help reduce the possibility of this injury, you should get a crossbow that has the forward grip feature with wings that projects out towards the side and run through the length of the grip. These wings will help your fingers maintain the string path. This is one of the things to help you focus when learning the act of shooting.

Finding the best crossbow for the money is often a daunting task. If you’re an experienced archer, walking your way through models is easier, but still exhausting. If you’re a novice, perhaps you don’t even know what to look for. Regardless of your level of expertise, you at least now know which are some of your best options. Happy crossbow hunting or target shooting.