Excalibur marketing dude

[Pydpiper]

I can't figure out what you guys are talking about when you say you want a "higher end" scope. Is it a cost thing? Sleeping better if you spend $700 instead of $100? We are talking about 30 yards! I could build a crossbow scope with a duct tape, a cloths hanger and a toilet paper tube that will put an arrow in the kill zone of a deer at 30 yards.
Is it about reliability? I had a brand new Leupold VX-7 Come out of the box frozen solid, the rings wouldn't turn, both the sales guy and I tried until veins were popping from our foreheads, still wouldn't budge, that was a $1500 scope.
What exactly is "higher end"? If you think that spending big dollars on a big name is going to free you of any future problems then I would think you are mistaken.
We are not talking perfect glass that needs to pick out a target at 750 yards in the magic hour, it is just a bow, and it is just 30 yards.
All companies make scopes that break, all companies make scopes that simply come broken.
The only way to get around that is for the manufacturer to hand test a high end scope under the intended use, then ship it. I bet that scope would exceed 2k. As nice as it would be to own, I would bet there would not be a single consumer with credit card in hand.
A scope that is guaranteed to be flawless out of the box and remain that way is a pipe dream.
For the cost you just can't beat what is already provided for us, I am sure Excalibur could contract Leupold to make a crossbow specific scope, but it too will have issues, and then what? Who takes the heat for the product that doesn't live up to a consumers expectation? From what I am reading there is no "one" scope that will please the masses.
Pretty crappy position this thread has put Excalibur in, come to their own turf to complain about a $100 item, ask for the impossible (trouble free scope) and bring nothing to the table but complaints.
If it were me, I would offer anyone who complains a spanking new Leupold at cost, plus whatever time it took to take that simple step that the consumer decided to skip before complaining, tack on the price of what a crossbow manufacturers time must be worth with less that 30 days left to the archery deer opener and tell them they are on their own. When the scope goes down the crapper they can go complain elsewhere.
A scope that never fails, a car that never breaks, a sink that never leaks.. Some days I wish I could see the world like that too, but I know better.

[evaughan]

At the risk of jacking this thread, I would like to add that there is demand (much of it voiced here on this forum) for a better front sight option. I have 10/20 vision and never wanted to go to a scope but had too. The factory front sight is dissapointing to say the least and after countless hours trying to fab up something custom and working a bit withthe guys from the bow shop I just gave up.

I have seen a modified version of the factory sight on here that another frustrated open-sighter came up with but for me the pins must be able to move indiviually. I modified traditional brass pin bushings to get them closer together but could not get them close enough to do better than 15 & 35 yard sight in in a single track. There are no lighted or glowing pin options for traditional style brass pins anymore, I was stuck using a brass pin with a painted dot. Frankly the two track front bracket on the old exocets with individual pins was a far superior system to what is on them now.

I look at the hundreds of excellent lighted pin sight options for compounds and just scratch my head at why none exist for an excalibur. am I the only person who prefers to make a 15 yard shot with open sights rather than a 2.5x scope? The current front sight is far to bulky and obtrusive in the field of view. I have my peep bored out 2x diameter and still find it aweful.

[agingcrossbower]

I ran mine over with a full size truck last year And I guess I am lucky, but I can still shoot the pecker of a hummingbird at 40 yards

The wife and I feed hummingbirds all the time. They give us enormous enjoyment. Why would you shoot their peckers off. Please explain. Am I missing something. Sorry, make a note. Ajust Drugs.

[ncstan]

I quess I won't be shooting the pecker off of no humming birds or anything else as far as that goes but I must say that the varizone that came with My ibex has functioned properly.I have taken around 400 practice shots with the Ibex with the same serving(waxed every 15 or so shots)and everything is including the varizone is working as good as the day I bought it.I sincerely doubt that some of my $700 rifle scopes would muster up to these standards.As far as I am concerned I got more than My money's worth with My kit purchase. Stan

[spike]

This has been a interesting exchange of views done politely. Nice to see. The concerns of the forum members have been set out clearly and fairly. Bill Ts explanation of the problems with the lumizone goes well beyond what you would ordinarily expect to hear. Similarily his explanation regarding the quality vs expense issue is well set out and goes beyond what you would normally receive from a manufacturer.

So, as purchasers we have the information we need to decide whether or not to purchase one of the scopes. Can't ask for any more than that at the end of the day.

Spike

[OkXbowHunter]

Pyde,

I don't think anyone here is asking for a perfect $100 scope. At least I didn't get the gist of that after reading back through this thread.

What I am seeing is some people suggesting that they would prefer a more reliable option and most of those people are willing to pay more for a scope.

Let's face it, there are generally 2 kinds of hunters. Those who will only shoot their crossbows (or guns) a few times per year and then throw them back into the corner of the closet until next year. For them, a less expensive scope is just fine.

The other type of hunter is one who shoots their xbow regularly, year round. They know their equipment well and expect it to perform as well as they do. I'm one of those type of hunters. When I'm in the field, I want to know my equipment is going to come through for me. I don't want to be guessing whether or not my scope will shoot where it's suppose to any more than I want to have my knife go dull on me halfway through field dressing an animal or have my treestand squeak at the moment a buck walks up.

Over 30+ years of hunting, I have went through a lot of equipment. I have inexpensive scopes that I've had for decades as well as expensive scopes. I understand cheap ones are cheap for a reason. Some are cheap, unreliable pieces of junk, others are just good quality inexpensive scopes that have been performing for me for a long time. Just because a scope is inexpensive, doesn't mean it has to have problems.

I also understand that high dollar scopes don't translate directly into high quality.

Speaking just for myself, when one says they want a "higher end scope", they're meaning they want a reliable scope that they can count on every time they pull the trigger. They don't want a scope that shifts POI on a whim. As I said above, for some people, it's no biggie sending equipment back and getting it replaced. For others, especially around hunting season, it's a big inconvenience that they can do without!

I'll accept Bill T's explanations about the Ex Cal scopes. For me, that's good enough and I'll probably end up putting a Lumi zone on my Axiom. It's what I wanted the first time until I started reading all the negative reviews on the Internet. If he says they're fixed, then I'll try one and see.

As for a "high end scope", I think that Nikon would be the natural choice to offer a Crossbow specific scope since they've done so well with their BDC scopes. I wouldn't mind plopping down $250 for one if they would make it. Plus, their scopes are clear, some are much clearer than my Leupolds, but none are as clear as my $400 Zeiss!!

[Pydpiper]

Good post OkXbowHunter, I am a daily shooter as well.
As a hunter I couldn't begin to say how many times I have belly crawled though corn stock stubble for an hour or two with my crossbow in tow to get where I needed to be, only to get there and spend another half hour picking stones, corn stocks, chaff and various other debris out of my scope and mounts before taking a serious look through it, never did it occur to me that I had misaligned it.
Water? Nope, they don't like that..
One moment sits at the top of my memory when I think about this scope.. I was standing in the garage cocking my bow with the rope, yakking with the wife. She was holding her bow and we were on our way out to our backyard range. She said something that took my mind off my bow, as she spoke I watched my bow pivot under my foot from the stirrup, it slammed down on the scope while my foot was still engaged. We both laughed, a bit shocked but funny none the less. She quickly came out with "wanna shoot to see who does dishes?", I picked the gravel out that had embedded it's self in to the aluminum of the scope, which took the whole brunt of the fall.
My scope did not change after that, it wasn't off in the least bit. That was the day I knew that I could rely on my $100 scope for durability the same way I rely on my $1000+ scopes.
Out of the box? That is anybody's guess, on any companies scope.

[Bill T]

Don't go changing that Axiom scope out without giving it a chance. Those scopes are made to shoot perfectly at all range marks up to 50 yards with a firebolt and a boltcutter broadhead combination. They don't have the adjustability for speed tike the VZ, but they have less glass in them because of it which means lighter weight and better light gathering. If you WANT the lighted reticle go ahead and buy a LZ, but don't assume that it's an inferior scope!

[Philzleads]

The Varizone on this Vortex I bought in 2009 works fine. Sounds like this gentleman got a bum unit. It happens. Sadly, Congress voted to give tax breaks to companies if they shipped all their factories overseas. So almost everything is made in Communist China now. Fortunately Excalibur crossbows are not.

I shot it for the first time this season after I put a new string on it. Shots were 1" low at thirty yards. I adjusted the FPS dial and poof, they all then hit center. I can't complain. I would not want a Swaro or a Zeiss on here.

[Cwelkman]

I own a few highend scopes. A nightforce 8-32 x 56 NXS
on my 338 EDGE and a older leupold varix III on sendero 7mm ultra mag and I will not put anything but a varizone on my excalibur. It is a great scope at a rock bottom price.

[Pydpiper]

A nightforce 8-32 x 56 NXS on my 338 EDGE

Um, outstanding.