New trigger system

[Hi5]

If your trigger design is such that it can serve on all poundage models, and if a minor alteration would allow it to be used on any brand of crossbow, and if it is patentable, you rally have something there.

As long as you can protect your design, and as long as you didn't get too greedy on licencing, you could possibly have a potential market of thousands of units annually.

Think of how much simpler and cheaper you make it for a manufacturer if they only have to stock ONE trigger that can be adjusted to suit any poundage model that they make. Think of the advertising advantage that a manufacturer could get if it can claim specifics of the superiority of its trigger.... ie adjustment range.

For the sake of argument I am assuming the superiority of your product. That you would need to prove to yourself before investing in patenting expenses. Even if you decide to do your own production and sales you better check that out before you invest a lot more time and effort and money.

Good Luck.

[Doe Master]

Because I do not know your design I can not comment on it . BUT another crossbow company tried this a few years back and it darn near put them in the poor house because of customers adjusting it too far .
In your design it would be a good idea to limit the adjustability .

[Dash]

I won't knock anythingthing until I've tried it, or at least seen how it performs from a trusted source. Until someone has tested the benefits, and safety concerns, we only have our opinions. My opinion may not be popular after what I read in previous posts. I think if this guy has done his homework well, a better trigger would definately have a market in the Competition shooting area, "if it is priced competetively".
I would like to see a full independant review on it, detailing the tests done.
If I was strictly a hunter, I wouldn't race out to upgrade the trigger. I wouldn't consider it so beneficial for the couple of shots of a hunt.
But for competition shooting, a good trigger with the benefits claimed would be very beneficial. "That's not knocking excaliburs triggers" after all, they have made a quality hunting crossbow, and a bloody reliable one. It wasn't designed specifically for competition shooting, so naturally a trigger with benefits desired by competition shooters would have a market. Excaliburs are being increasingly used in competition. Whether there is enough of a market "to make this viable for "New trigger" remains to be seen. If it is a quality product, approaching Bill T may be an option for him as suggested by other members.

[Hoss]

Interesting take. Just so you know a replacement OEM Excalibur trigger is 250$. Also the current cost estimate is base on very low volumes say for a signature series of 100 pcs. The price would come down once the volume is higher. I don't know if 75$ is possible although.

I dont know if its been said already or not for i didnt read evryones post..The OEM excal trigger may be $250 dollars ,however any and all owners would never need to purchase a trigger assembly for thier xbows. The warranty is so good. My trigger is very crisp and lite for a xbow..no need for me...

[Tom]

Judging from the amount of interest and feedback in such a short time it seems I have struck a chord on the subject of Excalibur triggers. I don't know if its because the current trigger is considered the holy grail in the crossbow world and one shouldn't mess with the holy grail?? Anyway after reading all comments I went home and contemplated while I shot 20 arrows with my modified 10 years old Exocet. This coming weekend I am going to confer with a friend who is an avid crossbow hunter and 3D competitor. One of the things I am going to discuss is where and how to setup an open demonstration. I feel that it will be the only way convert what appears to be a very skeptical group.

I do not think that your getting comments of " do not mess with the holy grail " . Remember that most hunters want a dependable, reliable simple piece of hunting equipment. Most people on here believe that they got that with an Excalibur Crossbow. Not only that, but it is reasonably priced, to the point that they could afford it.

In your first post you asked for opinions on what you developed and a given price point. One thing you will find with the internet is that many people are from different backgrounds and express themselves differently. Yes some of the comments were what I would say were BLUNT and to the POINT, but is that not what you were after.

Most hunters in today's world, well actually in anyone's world, take value into major point on a purchase. Yes the trigger would be priced a little lower then a new replacement from the factory, but I can not remember ever hearing that someone needed to replace a factory trigger so there would not be much of a market there. Excalibur's trigger is extreemly good and for the ability to fine tune a hair would not in my opinion be worth over $125 let alone $200.

But for people with Astro Daco Type bows, then a replacement trigger could make the bow a quality bow. BUT (again ) without yourself getting set up with a bow manufacture I do not think that there would be a viable market to make it worth your while. Yes there will be people out there that will want one, but will the sales to them cover all your costs and then some money for you. I believe that a best case setup would be for you to market your bow towards manufactures and license it to them for their bows, but that might be a harder sell then you might think.

Now about safety. For me as a safety conscious hunter, I would want it to be fully tested. What I mean is not only tested for a few weeks to a month, but for an extended period of time. A year of constant use without any failures would help prove the dependability to me.

Good Luck Tom

[Horizontal Hunter]

While I enjoy shooting my Excalibur I use it for hunting. To me it is a rugged hunting tool. When I first got it I spent some time getting used to it and setting up an arrow and broadhead combination for it. From a rest my stock Excalibur, using a stock flemish string, is capable of putting a Slick Trick Magnum tipped arrow in the same hole at 40 yards off of a rest. Though I did add served in cat whiskers to the string (thank you for the tutorial Don). I guess my point is that the stock crossbow shoots better than I can so as a hunter I see no need for improvement of the weapon, just the shooter.

I am glad that you have designed what you feel is a better trigger as an alternative to the factory trigger. It is people like you that continually push technology forward and we all benefit from it. I wish you much luck and success with your new trigger.

Bob

[Bones]

5 Pages and we came back to the begining. Wish you luck with your endeavor.

[Warhammer1]

Hey Newtrigger.

For the hunting crowd most triggers are just fine. The target shooters seem to be a little more discriminating and maybe a better focus group for feedback.

Hi5 and cpa is right, the trigger needs to be OEM to make any money (licencing). You would have to sell a hell of a lotta units to break even on patenting costs and yearly fees.

Head on over to crossbownation dot com and read up on all the other makes, seeing how happy they are with current triggers.

Price factor is real big these days and you have all the North American manufacturers, and then there is the foreign makes (chinese stuff) and chinese made stuff being assembled in the USA.

Since you live in Ontario, why not just drive to EXcal factory and see Bill T?

[Newtrigger]

Hello everyone, sorry to have gone quite for a few days. Have been away in the US for vacation and it gave me some time to think about where I am going from here.

I am definitively continuing with Patenting the trigger system. Once the provisional patent is filed I can then start exploring options of directly going to manufacturers to explore a license deal. I have gotten a lot of feedback that working directly with a manufacturer would be the best course to pursue. I am still exploring ways to sell directly to the crossbow community. One possible avenue would be to make a drop in kit that could be sold via bow shops and other authorized service places. With Excalibur bows it possible to fit my trigger system to the existing housing and reusing the latch which would reduce the cost considerably. Maybe not down to the level of a smoothing job but at least it's a step in the right direction.

I will still arrange for a black box demo in the next few weeks as I would like to get some independent reviews and also some hands on feedback from both hunters and target shooter as to the desired feel of the trigger.

Since I live in the GTA maybe Shooters Choice or Wolfs Den would be a good place to do the demo but I welcome suggestions for a venue.

Again I really appreciate all the feedback

M

[gendoc]

GTA = greater toronto area ???