Who let that DOGGONE Engineer in?........

[ExcalBeliever]

Yup....I gone done and done it..

Being the Engineer that I am, I had to go "tinker" some more with my Vixen. Well before I get into any details, let me say that she is back togather and shooting as Great as ever, and also QUIETER!!

Lesson #1:

Before attempting the following, it is wiser to remove the trigger group and the stock FIRST!!

I went to our local Lowe's yesterday morning and got some Clear GE Silicone II, I figured I could "help" lower some of the rail's vibrations by "injecting" some silicone into the hollow rail. I had just about emptied the tube of silicone caulking when I noticed some of the silicone was "oozing" from the trigger guard.

PANIC!!! Followed by some QUICK THINKING ensued!!

I took the stock off, removed the bolt that is to the rear of the trigger. Hmmnnn....the trigger group was NOT coming out. I searched a little deeper and discovered that there was another bolt just forward of the trigger...albeit it was covered in silicone!! So I got that bolt out successfully.

Now....upon closer examination I saw that NO silicone had oozed into the trigger group. But, not to take any chances, I took off the scope base, scope, and arrow hold-down bracket. I immediately soaked the entire trigger group in rubbing alcohol. If any silicone had gotten into the trigger group it would have been diluted by the alcohol. After this, I then "washed the entire trigger group in hot water. I then got out my trusty WD-40 with the red extender tube and proceeded to soak and spray every little nook and cranny.

After a thorough soaking of 2 hours, I was satisfied that if any silicone had gotten in there, that it was now gone!!

This picture is where I "injected" the silicone:



Okay that disaster was averted!!

I thought the next thing I should do (I've been meaning to do this one for awhile), was spray paint the limbs (was Deerhide Brown), dissipator bars (was Olive Drab), and riser all the same color. I have some Rust-Oleum "Hammered" texture spray paint in Black, and I figured this would be really nice looking.

Fortunateley, this turned out without any incident!!:





Finally, after some shooting this morning, I noticed that the safety was not staying in the fully downward position, No problem, I got the Dremel out and did a little "relieving" on the wood surfaces right behind the safety.




The last thing I did, was re-tap and move the Cobra Knuckler Adaptor for the Stabilizer towards the rear to allow more room in front of the stirrup.

I hope I'm done for now!!

[GaryL]

And for thoses of us that still use the TRUSTY stock our xbows came with... take the butt cap off and fill with Clear GE Silicone, and you will also be surprised how much that quite's your EXCALIBUR down..

[axis]

Excalbeliever, How much dose it wiegh now? I have a big tube of silicone in my hand its, 11oz. Is that how much you put in it? How much dose your crossbow weigh now with Mark stock on too? Do you like the feel of it now. Do you hear a big difference in the sound? Do you like the stock from Mark? I know this is a lot of question, but I need to know. Thanks.


Axis

[jdalenis]

What about the spray foam, would this quiet and be lighter ?

[ExcalBeliever]

Excalbeliever, How much dose it wiegh now?

This is a rough estimate, on the bathroom scale it's about 9 and 1/2 pounds.

I have a big tube of silicone in my hand its, 11oz. Is that how much you put in it?

Yes, I just used my standard caulking gun.

How much dose your crossbow weigh now with Mark stock on too?

About 9 and 1/2 pounds.

Do you like the feel of it now.

It is definately a lot steadier to hold, even offhand. The thumbhole stock design gets your shooting hand in a much better, more comfortable position.

Do you hear a big difference in the sound?

Absolutely, before it was more of a drawn out metallic kerthuunk...now it's less metallic and more of a quick thuump..

Do you like the stock from Mark?

Without a doubt. I would highly recommend his stocks. And no he doesn't pay me either to say this!!

I just got in from shooting, at 35 yards I was shooting from the seated position. I shot 18 arrows (my practice arrows are 18" XX78 2213's with 3 - 4 " feathers and 100 gr. field points, weight = 328 grains.) for a total of 3 strings of 6 arrows apiece.

Average group size was around 1", I shot one string of 6 arrows, 4 were touching (through my scope I could see 4 holes - back of the arrows). I thought, "...... all right, this is no time to get cute and Robin Hood one...!"

I know some may think 9 and 1/2 pounds is a lot to lug thru the woods, heck I've got a 17 pound treestand on my back. But, I figure once I'm in the tree.....those 9 and 1/2 pounds really won't matter too much!

[ExcalBeliever]

What about the spray foam, would this quiet and be lighter ?

I thought about using the expanding spray foam, in fact, I think someone has tried that. I just figured that cured silicone would tend to absorb the vibration better and help fill the void in the aluminum rail.

[Red Label]

did you have a deerhide brown Vixen with a black rail?

I've never seen one in that combination.

I've seen black rail/black cast riser and black limbs

I've seen a pewter rail/pewter machined riser and deerhide brown limbs

thanks,

Mike

[ExcalBeliever]

Hey Red Label,

I originally had a Vixen with the curved limb tips and single color camo paint job, and the olive dissipator bars.

I just got the deerhide brown magtip limbs and FFF string.

[Red Label]

Thanks.

I sort of figured your brown limbs were an added-on upgrade. My Vixen has the carved tips but it has the two-colour factory camo on it.


Cheers,

Mike

[wabi]

And for thoses of us that still use the TRUSTY stock our xbows came with... take the butt cap off and fill with Clear GE Silicone, and you will also be surprised how much that quite's your EXCALIBUR down..

Gary L.
I'll have to give that a try It wouldn't hurt the balance any as the Exocet is a bit front heavy anyway.

ExcalBeliever,
You've got one really sharp looking Vixen there!
Did the trigger clean & lube job make any change in trigger pull? When I first got my Exocet it was terrible. A good cleaning with WD-40 & compressed air, followed by a good lube with more WD-40 made it feel great!

[ExcalBeliever]

Did the trigger clean & lube job make any change in trigger pull? When I first got my Exocet it was terrible. A good cleaning with WD-40 & compressed air, followed by a good lube with more WD-40 made it feel great![quote]

Yes it did. Initially when I first got my VIxen, I injected some Moly-Fusion into the trigger group. The trigger pull is a clean 3.5# on my RCBS trigger scale. I think Jim C told me that Dan Miller had worked on the trigger previously. One thing I did discover (I'm sure others have as well), you can cock the two claws and test the trigger pull, it is actually something like 8 ounces!! So I rekon, the 150# force that is applied to the two claws when the crossbow is cocked, does add to the overall trigger pull.

I haven't taken the trigger group apart (I have some extensive knowledge of firearm triggers probably done over 50 trigger jobs, but this crossbow trigger is something to marvel at!!). It's amazing that the trigger weight can be at 3.5# with a 150# pulling on it!.

Finally, I am just speculating on the trigger pull weights of the Exocet (175#), Exocet200, ExoMag, and ExoMax. Do their trigger pulls go up in weight just like their draw weights?

[STEELWORKER]

QUESTION......in your pictures what is that round cylinder beneath the deck?-----STEEL

[Boltejector]

I am guessing that is some sort of stabilizer.

[ExcalBeliever]

That is Correct! The stabilizer is a NAP Shockblocker-500.



I am still debating on the effectiveness of the stabilizer, actually it's location in relation to the limbs. Typically on a compound bow, most hunting stabilzers are mounted FORWARD of the limbs. I'm just experimenting, but if anything, the additional weight definately helps.

[Digger]

I have a dual stabilizer on my excal and I seem to have a smoother shot.

Digger