Exocet or Phoenix or Axiom ?

[sbox]

Like I mention in all of my posts, I’m a bow hunter but a real newby in the xbow world. I’ve been surfing this and several other crossbow forums for several weeks now and have even posted on a few of these sites and have had many reply to my questions. And I’ve pretty much made up my mind that I am going to buy an Excalibur. One amazing thing that I’ve found is that unhappy Excalibur customers are real few and far between. Matter of fact I can’t think of one post that I’ve read where anyone found fault with their Excalibur. They all love their xbows, because of the simplicity, the fact that they’re pretty much maintenance free other than changing a string, which it looks like you can do yourself in literally 10-15 seconds. And last but certainly not least, everyone loves their accuracy.

So now the more I look the more I get confused on which Excalibur to buy. I’d love to shoot a 330 – 380 fps bow but I’m staying away from the heavy weights for two reasons. The first is, I want my wife to be able to cock it and shoot it with out my help, which may eliminate the Exocet from my list unless I spend the $$ and buy the crank. And then I need to weigh out if the extra 25 fps is worth the extra cost for bow and the crank, plus the inconvenience of her needing to use the crank for every shot.

And the second reason is the cost of the xbow. I’m still looking for preferably one that is slightly used and I’m still looking and negotiating on a few right now but will buy new if I haven’t found one in the next 2-3 days. I’m getting a bit anxious.

The Phoenix (Aluminum Main Frame) and the Axiom (Synthetic Main Frame) are primarily the same bows as far as their pull weight, arrow speed and stock style). But the open sites Phoenix bow-only, cost the same as the Axiom Kit that comes with the scope, mounts, quiver, bolts, and cocking aid. Why? I know aluminum is up in price but I wouldn’t think the Aluminum rail would raise the price to be equivalent to the same cost of the scope, mounts, bolts, quiver and cocking aid you get with the Axiom kits.

I like the looks of the Phoenix’s rail better than the Axioms Synthetic rail…. but to spend $175 - $200 more to get it set up the same as the Axiom Kit I’m not sure.

Are there advantages of the Phoenix over the Axiom in accuracy, speed or ??? that I’m not seeing?

Thank you in advance because I know I’m going to get great info from you all as usual.

Either send me a PM, reply to this post or send me an email. [email protected]

[mr meat]

My thoughts on this are, if you want your wife to be able to cock it without the cranking aid then the two of you need to go to the archery shop and see which ones she can cock and make your decision based on that! All of the excals are top notch! it boils down to which you like better

[vixenmaster]

Of those you listed the Phoenix would be my personal choice. 175 pounders of which yer wife may or maynot be able to cock wid a rope cocker

[sbox]

I wish there were archery shops here with a good selection of Xbows where we could go try them out, but since its illegal to hunt with them in Utah not a lot of places carry them.

[mr meat]

I wish there were archery shops here with a good selection of Xbows where we could go try them out, but since its illegal to hunt with them in Utah not a lot of places carry them.

Well so much for my suggestion!

[taz3]

I prefer the aluminum rail of the my Phoenix and I'm very happy the wife chose it! The SMF rail compared to the aluminum is significantly easier to produce, the machine work, is where the cost is, plus it requires to be finished (anodized). With the SMF there is minimal finish work as most of it is done during the molding process and is pretty much good to go. It is nice to see they have passed the savings directly to the consumer.

I also agree, that my Phoenix is easily cock with my hands and no rope needed, the rope cocker is a convenience more then a must.

[strum]

the axiom was made to be a low cost entry level bow but make no mistake it is every bit as good as the others..i have yet to see a negative report from an axiom owner..the question about price was addressed and to add to what was said ..the scope may be a little cheaper on the axiom..its not varable speed such as the varizon..still reports say it has decent optics and works well ..
another thing about the axiom .is ..it may be just a tad faster than the pheonix due to the rail being about 1/4" longer..
both are fine bows and you wont go wrong with either..

[wabi]

I own a Phoenix, but if I were buying new today I'd probably pick the Axiom.

I've discussed the Axiom with the expert (Dan Miller) and he told me Excal had one small problem with the first models produced (very small failure rate) and that problem had been eliminated in current production. I'll take Dan's word that it's as good as any other Excalibur!

[rayman]

I was in your shoes two years ago when xbows became legal for bow season in Florida. There are no shops around here at which to shop for xbows. Ordered an Axiom package and all expecations were surpassed. Still shoot a full factory set up as there is no time to experiment. Results on deer - 7 of 8. Only thing I would do different would be to see if I could have upgraded the scope, but the one that came with it works fine.