anti dry-fire system for excalibur crossbows.

[Tom]

I own an excalibur exocet and love it, and also own a older horton hunter and a ten point the later two have these devices on them and I have never seen them malfunction in any way. If you were to do a search on here just on dryfires you would find many many posts from members that it has happend to, now I am not saying excalibur should put these devices on their crossbows but I for one would not be against it

If my memory is correct, Excalibur had the AUTO SAFETY many years ago and they removed it from production. The trouble is that when you put devices like AUTO SAFETY or ANTI-DRY FIRE, shooters will start to depend on them. These devices are a mechanical device and it is not a question as if they will fail, but when they will fail. All Mechanical Devices will FAIL. We just do not know when they will fail.

Shooters need to learn the safety of the bow right from the start. That is when you are shooting, to always concentrate on what you are doing and be aware of what is happening. A Dry-fire will only happen when you are not paying attention to what you are doing ..... SAFETY FIRST ..... Get into the habit of doing everything the same way each and every time SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY (can't say that enough)

[M&M]

So Tom I guess your saying that all those many many folks on this site that have experienced a dry fire are just unsafe and stupid. I don't see a problem with making a bow a little more user friendly and safer to the user and others around the user also. I am a mechanic by trade and yes mechanical devices can and do fail but as far as I know if there have been any of these devices fail it has been very few. I don't see any reason for people to get so defensive over someone wanting a safer bow to hunt and shoot with

[AndreTTOW]

Also a feature like this could be optional. Like an accessory of sorts...

[wabi]

.....all those many many folks on this site that have experienced a dry fire are just unsafe and stupid.....

How about inattentive instead of unsafe and stupid as a description?
I could plea guilty to that description of my mental state for my few dry-fires.

As for mechanical devices failing, I did own a Horton with an automatic safety. It failed with alarming frequency! I'd guess maybe 1% of the time, but that's only my best guess, as I never kept track. I do know that several times over the years I owned & shot that bow it would fail to go on safe when I cocked the bow. It was so frequent that it became a matter of procedure to check the safety after cocking the bow!
Just my opinion, but if these devices can fail and I have to check them before each shot, why even have them, as they just drive up the price and complicate the equipment?

I can depend on the safety on my Excalibur! It has NEVER failed to remain in the OFF position when I cocked my bow! I cock the bow and I KNOW I have to place it in the ON position as part of the routine - the safety is 100% dependable!

Same thing for the anti-dryfire mechanism on my Excalibur. If I pull the trigger with the bow cocked the string is going to be released - EVERY TIME - arrow loaded or not. I can depend on the bow firing, it has never failed, and if no arrow is loaded it's MY fault, I can't blame the bow for failing to operate as designed.

[Tom]

So Tom I guess your saying that all those many many folks on this site that have experienced a dry fire are just unsafe and stupid. I don't see a problem with making a bow a little more user friendly and safer to the user and others around the user also. I am a mechanic by trade and yes mechanical devices can and do fail but as far as I know if there have been any of these devices fail it has been very few. I don't see any reason for people to get so defensive over someone wanting a safer bow to hunt and shoot with

AT NO TIME DID I EVER SAY THAT PEOPLE WERE " STUPID" BECAUSE THEY HAD A DRYFIRE. Do not try and attribute words to me that I did not say or intend to say. Yes if someone is handling a crossbow (cocked and loaded, or thought to be loaded) and they are not fully aware of what is happening around them, then they are operating in an unsafe manner.

There are safeties on a gun, do you test it out by pulling the trigger when it is loaded ...... I sure hope not ...... A mechanical device will fail over time that is why they should never be trusted. And the devices that are quality only get you to trust them more before they fail.

If you follow the safety steps all the time, you will never have a dry fire. You could have partial dry-fire (arrow slipping forward on riser)
, but never a full dry-fire.

• Cock bow
  safety
  load arrow
  shoot

Depending on a mechanical device like the anti-dryfire to stop dry-fires is not neccessary if you stay attentive and follow the above safety list.

[foofoo]

i like the idea. even with my parker with the auto engage i always push the safety with my finger afterwards to check. i would never rely on an auto safety but at least its there. trigger on the parker is nice so making a nice feeling trigger with auto safety can be done. its like when winchester put the crossbolt safety on there lever guns. the oldtimers hate them but me not having used the old style guns could care less. i like the extra safety. i dont like the smith and wesson trigger locks but i guess some will feel they like the way they have an extra safety . i would never ask excalibur to change though.

[Rufus]

It could be nice if it worked 100% of the time, but unlike a rifle safety i always unload and let the string down by hand. I would never give that up as long as i am able.

[roly]

Many of the guys I shoot with have auto safety and a buddys Cyclone has auto safety and anti dry fire
Although they appear to be great features, I don't feel that my Excal is any less inferior
As long as I stick to my, cock, lock and load I feel my bow is just as safe and dependable
as any on the market, maybe more. JMO

[Hi5]

A quick read through posts here suggest that there is some confusion. Some folks seem to think an anti dry fire device is the same thing as an automatic safety engagement when the bow is cocked. They aren't the same thing.

Having the safety engage automatically upon cocking doesn't seem like much of a benefit, at least to me, anyway. If that feature becomes standard equipment on other brands, maybe then it would become necessary. Otherwise Boneheads will assume the safety is engaged and not bother to check. Then there will be an accident. Otherwise, if you should always check to see that the auto-safety did engage (which you should), why the heck not actually engege it manually?

Without some idea of how an anti dryfire device would work, I am doubtfull about how dependable it would actually be, especially in hunting situations with exposure to moisture or grit or frost.

[gad]

My 0.02 cents. I do believe that a system that only engages the existing "lock" on the excaliburs would be good. But that is not a anti-dryfire system, just a better trigger safety system.

Anti dry-fire system, only if it could be made fail proof. And I would be sure to check how those kind of system would be working before buy any gun or xbow with those kind of system.

[Limbs and Sticks]

The best anti- dryfire is to load it, as already said get into a rythm and do the same everytime, the best dryfire mechanism is a STS, if you don't have one get it, this has saved more bows than most know, excal doesn't need anything else in the trigger works, just perfect the way it is

Wes

[sumner4991]

Anybody that dryfires a crossbow had a bout with stupidity . . .I did it twice . . .no one was killed, thank God.

I like the current system . . .it's a good educator.

[Bragdony]

If you want anti dry-fire go to this site
http://www.arcinter.com/en/featured_products/index.html

[maple]

I think that 9 times out of 10, dry-fires occur during target practice, not in actual hunting situations. It's when you're not paying enough attention to what you are doing that it happens. Talking to somebody, coming back from pulling arrows, adjusting the scope, these are all things that cause distractions from your usual loading routine. Thus, mistakes.

While hunting, you are focused on the one impending shot, and I know I seem to check my arrow every 10 minutes to make sure it is there and properly seated. No risk of dry-fire there.

It all comes down to developing a strict loading routine EVERY TIME YOU LOAD. That's what practice is for.

Maple

[M&M]

I like it but a little pricey