New purchase - sound dampening?

georgiaexocet · Post by **georgiaexocet** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:02 pm

Making the switch from compound to xbow due to surgery on left arm, exocet came in mail today. Pumped for the season here in Georgia. Haven't fired it yet, but fired one in archery range over the weekend. Was surprised at how loud it was. Anybody have any comments on sound dampening to a newbie? I stuffed packing foam down in the hollow tube before assembling the arm, hoping that might help.

awshucks · Post by **awshucks** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:12 pm

Danny Miller, the Us rep for Excal says the best solution to crossbow noise is to buy a set of earplugs, lol. Bill T. did quite a job addressing this in one of his articles in a back issue of HBM, the quarterly magazine from the ACF. I'm going from memory here, but basically it boiled down to at 30-35 yards, it's very hard for the deer to string jump, as the arrow is going too fast for UNALERT deer to react to. I'm sure others here have more to offer on the topic than me. Btw:" Welcome to the forum!!!

pphoenix · Post by **pphoenix** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:17 pm

The noise doesn't bother me, but awshucks is right and that's what most members will recomend that you buy earplugs.

georgiaexocet · Post by **georgiaexocet** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 8:26 pm

Makes sense. Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to sighting it in.

TNhunterKMC · Post by **TNhunterKMC** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:57 pm

Just shoot it like it is. Anything you do as far as adding cat whiskers or limbsavers will slow it down and will not dampen much if any sound. Believe all the posts you can find on the forum regarding dampening sound - and DO NOT waste your money on these products.

Sierra · Post by **Sierra** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:33 am

I added the limb savers to the limbs of my Exocet. Reduced the sound from from a sharp "thawak" to a soft "thounk". I t think I spelled those correctly. LOL

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:39 am

georgiaexocet the topic of noise of the crossbows has been covered on here many times before and I expect it to be cover many more times in the future.

First of all, to a shooter it sounds more loud than it actually is. Have someone else shoot it and stand to the side, it will be less noticable. It will still be loud, but not as loud as you thought. You see the bone structure in the skull will transfer sound into your ear (tunning forks Dr's use in a hearing test). The stock will rest against your cheek bone and the viberation will be transfered into your inner ear. Some have installed a custom wood stock to help with the viberation.

To deaden your bows sound, then best way is to install the Dissipator Bars if they are not already on your bow. All other means of making your bow quiet will subtract speed from your arrow. The general rule is for everything added to the string or limb will subtract 5 fps on the arrow. Since you can never make a bow quiet to the point that a deer will not hear it (they can hear what we can't), speed is more important than quiet. I would not trade speed for quiet.

THe main reason I would not trade the speed of the arrow, for quietness of the bow is that you will not be making the arrow quiet. I have stood down range (behind a concrete wall of a barn) and the arrow was more noticable in sound then the bow. Some arrows make more noise than others. It will depend on the head and fletching.

As it was stated above, at 30 yards, a deer which is at ease, will not have enough time to react to avoid an arrow travelling 300 fps. Now if the deer is watching you or looking in your dirrection, they will see movement before they hear your bow (this is with any archery equipment) and then have a better chance to avoid the arrow.

In otherwords, just like alot mentioned above, wear ear plugs until you get used to the sound if it bothers you.

georgiaexocet · Post by **georgiaexocet** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:27 pm

Thanks for all the feedback on the noise! Now that noise is behind me, time for sighting it in. Only have standard sights. Any time savers, advice, or recommendations for information/guidance?

crazyfarmer · Post by **crazyfarmer** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:54 pm

get the varizone scope;) you will thank us later LOL..

as far as quieting it and helping getting the bow more stable maybe get some stabilizer's. Those supposedly help with the shock and kill sound a tad bit. They wouldnt slow the bow any since they would mount under it and not right on the limbs

gosthunter · Post by **gosthunter** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:37 pm

i really wounder if its all worth it 'if we take a look at speed versus distance

i may be looking the wrong way

i know us guys like to go overboard on those things

crazyfarmer · Post by **crazyfarmer** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:39 pm

gosthunter wrote:i really wounder if its all worth it 'if we take a look at speed versus distance i may be looking the wrong way i know us guys like to go overboard on those things

Me personally just wanted to see what the peak fps I could get was. 320 is my peak.. I didnt bother messign with the sites either for the lighter bolts since ill use the heavy bolts for deer. As for distance.. same thing here. I just wanted to see what it would do at 50-60 yards for fun. I have no intent of shooting a deer over 35 yards anyway but its cool to shoot 60 and watch it smack the center

im sure everyone else is the same... but in real life, 290-300fps and 10-30 yards is my range for hunting

lynnbo · Post by **lynnbo** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 9:22 pm

Go Outside in an open pasture with some judo points on your bolts ,,, rove and practice at different yardages ,, shoot at leaves and sticks and grass clumps at different distances ,,, sit and stand and shoot laying down too ,, Ideal grass height is about 4 inches , this absorbs all the arrow energy and the arrow does not skip ,,, Of course they skip a little somtimes so have plenty of space to shoot in the backround ,,,By October You will be able to snap shoot a dixie cup under 20 yards with one hand tied behind your back !!

Somtimes during your practice hold your bow out with one hand and fire it ,, " never dry fire " you will be amazed at how little noise the bow is really making ,, It just seems really loud against your cheek ,, you will soon get used to it ..A deer never ducked my exocet 165 with no DB bars at under 25 yards " 270 foot second 2216s" ,, I assure you that there is very little chance of any critter known to Man ducking a 320 foot second laser 11 out of our exocet 200s!!! Excaliburs are truly one bad spamming sob

buckbuster · Post by **buckbuster** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:12 pm

The exocet has plenty of speed, out to about 25-30 yards the deer want have time to react. It is almost impossible to get rid of the noise so i wouldnt worry about it.

Oh yeh, my brother played in the little league world series in Mississipi!

Buckbuster

Crossbolt · Post by **Crossbolt** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 9:27 am

I just posted this text in response to another OLD message, so maybe I should also post it here just in case it won't be seen since so many keep asking about what to quiet their bows with:

Here is what I've found from "noise" tests with my Exocet 200...

I've done a bunch of tests with my Exocet 200 including little rubber bumpers on the string stop shelf of the riser, Leeches, whiskers, limb dampeners, etc. They all produce a noise reduction, but only the SVL that I glued to the riser stop shelf actually stayed on the bow for more than 20 shots.

The plastic stock also resonates and the string buzzes on the hollow aluminum rail in addition to the fact that the trigger lock although bullet-proof is not built to be silent either...so your string is not all that makes the rattling noise during shots in other words!

I built an STS type system of my own using 8mm SS bolts, cut down shelving hangers, and a pair of old SIMS SVL split limb dampeners and can send anyone a picture of that system if they would like to see it...it works better than the actual $60 STS that I am just now testing so far.

A set of the round SIMS dampeners (or the STS) installed in the resting position so that there is just barely a little string deflection will be equivalent in sound and vibration reduction to having four Leeches and a set of SVL limb dampeners installed but without any of the speed loss or extra junk on the bow.

The STS will also stay on the bow shot after shot without getting damaged.

My personal opinon is that it should be OEM on every Excalibur...although Bucks n Ducks should make the attachment bolt on the left side STS dampener with a left-handed thread so that it self-tightens the base against the riser in the same way that the right side does...but once you get it tight it is OK as is.

I recommend a set of nylon washers under the bolts to keep from damaging the finish when they are torqued down also.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 10:09 am

Crossbolt, yes you can dampen the sound coming from your crossbow, but there is a TRADE OFF. Anything and everything you add to the limbs or string to help reduce the viberation makes the bimbs work harder. Your pulling more weight with the limbs.

Prime example is shoot your bow with a regualr weighted arrow and then use a much heavier arrow, it will be quieter but you will loose arrow speed. In My Opinion, arrow speed is more important then noise reduction of the bow becasue you WILL NOT BE MAKING THE ARROW QUIET therefore there will still be noise that the deer can react too. Arrows are unbelievably loud.

This is why most crossbow shooters put up with the noise and accept it for what it is.

Excalibur Crossbow Forum

New purchase - sound dampening?

New purchase - sound dampening?

noise

Noise down, next up - sighting in for first time.