FNG

[Point man]

Hey guys, I just signed up tonight, I've been lurking here for a bit. Picked up my first cross bow over summer in anticipation of my state legalizing there use with only archery permit required and they did. I've been hunting all my life and am a hard core traditional archer, using recurves for the bulk of my hunting. However, I do enjoy launching all forms of projectiles. As far as I'm concerned a cross bow is pretty darn traditional as far as history goes. So upon much research and always knowing that Excalibur was THE BEST I settled on the matrix 380. Since I've always been the guy to tinker with my toys I quickly researched all the mods I could do to this bow. First I honed the trigger sears with a surgical stone and a leather board strop to a mirror finish. That cleaned up the trigger nicely, but I do think I am just going to go trigger tech. Next I polished the string latches with the old 550 cord and honing compound trick, And after beating up my stock string I went with a vapor trail string. I will though be changing over to a Danny or Boo string. One thing I noticed about this string is its pretty much all serving, there is only about 2.5" of exposed string in between servings. Is this a normal way to make strings? Does it affect performance. The string seems extremely rugged. Another thing I picked up on is the twang sound. I thought to my self that alittle mass could settle the twang. I'm familiar with limb savers but don't really think they do to much so I came up with this and I notice quite a sound diffrence, but then again I'm the only one listening. Try this out guys and tell me what you think. It's just camo 3m self adhesive tape wrapped about 1/2-3/4" thick around the limbs right up against the riser only as wide as the tape it's self. I'd assume the thicker the better, all that surface area dissipates vibration and vibration creates noise. I also don't think it affects performance. Let me know

[Point man]

I'm trying to post pic and its telling me file is too big. How do I fix?

[Point man]

Now it's telling me "board attachment quota has been reached" what's going on?

[onebigskittle]

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... ting+photo

Try this and welcome to the forum ...where ya from?

[Boo]

Welcome to the forum.
The Matrix string is pretty short to start with so when you put enough serving to protect the string material from the latches and the REDS you don't get left with much string. Bringing attention to the ends of the string some will over build or compensate for deficiencies by adding more serving at the loops than the factory string. The longer the serving the more difficult it is to shift along the string. Three and a half inches is all you need if the right materials and right tension is used.
Looks like you're having fun!

[taz3]

I'm trying to post pic and its telling me file is too big. How do I fix?

Welcome to the site!
You'll need a host for pics like photobucket.

[bigredopie]

Welcome to the family addiction

I normally use a proxy service like photobucket or Facebook and then you simply past the link into your reply. No matter how small the file seems to be, it always seems to be too big to paste it directly.

I was seduced by the lure of the mighty matrix 380 (along with an incredible price thanks to resident marksman Steve R) and could not be happier. Stock it does not seem to be any louder than previous models, and I would assume some of the same tricks would also work with this beast.

First rule of bow silencing is....you don't talk about bow silencing! No wait a minute that is for fight club...scratch that.

The first rule is ... no matter what you do it will have almost zero impact on your chosen four footed adversary. Anything you do to your bow is more for your personal shooting enjoyment so chose accordingly.

The extra draw weight and speed naturally results in an increase in vibration throughout the bow but some areas seem to focus this energy. One of the first (and easiest) places to tackle is the stirrup. It is basically a tuning fork bolted onto your bow. Rattle a spoon around inside it and the kids will come running home for dinner

I have had some luck using a sim limbsaver tentacle bow wrap (Cabelas $14) is an easy way eliminate the stirrup vibration. I have also seen folks use the stick on a sims product like a drop pad to try to do the same thing but I don't like adhesive getting everywhere. One of the best ideas I saw was when a forum family member wrapped his stirrup with para cord. Not only did it drastically reduce the vibration and noise, but you also always have a good length of para cord in case you need to drag that big buck back to camp, tie up your pants, broken shoe lace, etc. His post was about this time last year and he laid out the best step by step instructions. Well worth the read.

So now that you have a whisper quiet stirrup. You can move onto the arrow retainer spring, the next frequent suspect. I just shrink wrap it, paying special attention to the end so you reduce the wear on your arrow wraps, cushion the slap when the arrow slides out from under the arrow retainer, and finally reduce the trademark bow "twang". If I remember right the shrink wrap size is about 3/4". You can also stick a sims vibration isolator strip on top of it.

So now you have the easy ones done and you should hear a difference when you shoot.

I don't like to add anything to my limbs as they can have a big impact on speed and performance and I see waaaaay to many folks getting hit as these items go flying off of the limb. I would not go the camo tape route either as I am not sure how the adhesive reacts with the fiberglass binder and it will become sticky as the weather heats up, or is used and start to pick up all kinds of dirt, mud, sticks and bugs. Oh natural for me here.

The next most common options to take it to the next level is:
- fill the rail with expanding foam to deaden the metal to metal sound and reduce vibration. Boo has a great set of instructions for you to check out and since you are already there, you can also order you a custom Boo string complete with cat whiskers added. Both of these suggestions will result in a incremental reduction in noise reduction, although the cat whiskers will also slow the bow down a bit.

One last mod that I highly recommend is solid wood stock such as a genuine aging crossbower stock. The denser wood limits some of the vibration from being generated in the first place and also dampens any vibrations that are generated. The side benefit is the bow looks amazing in real wood. Aging crossbower is one of our best wood artists and he treats everyone of his stocks like a child. They truly take a bow to the next level and it become a piece of (very functional) art. You love to shoot it and it loves to hunt, if you dare to take it out in the great out doors.

Sorry for the book.. I will check my babies over and see if I can come up with any other suggestions.

Hope some of these suggestions help you out a bit.

[Point man]

Cool, I will do all of those things. Can anyone post on how to do the cat whiskers and how to make them come out looking like a perfect ball? I did do the stirrup mod, and tonight I'll do the shrink wrap as I have a bunch of it in my work van. One note I must point out though is the 3m tape I used is not sticky. It has no adhesive. It just sticks to its self like the tenticale wrap. I'm not sure if it would affect limb performance as its only on limb right up against riser, but I'll run it over my crony to see with and without. Thanks for all the tips.

[bob watkins]

hi point man i was also hardcore long bow all my life .till 3 years ago. but this is just as much fun . i have the 380 truly a beast nothing has walked away from it.set up with atrigger tech now waiting on a 355 should be here today. good luck with your bow

[Boo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuNdNcfemcI

[Point man]

Thanks boo. Wow, that was easy. Should have been common sense but then again common sense is not a common virtue

[racking up points]

Welcome,

Some good tips above, I've done most of them to my Matrix. Shooting a heavier arrow helps of course.

I use the x-factor limb wrap on my Matrix. Google it, they don't come off. They won't fit the Exo series limbs, but at the widest part of the matrix limb, they stay put. No glue, no need to worry about them flying off. They are moveable, tune able for both speed and vibration. I mark the sweet spot on the limb with a sharpie and occasionally check to make sure they haven't slid. They cost me a measured 10-12fps. But the reduction in vibration and change in the sound of the bow is dramatic enough to warrant the trade-off. I'm getting 347fps with a 396gr total weight arrow, with the stock string, (I'd like to chrony it with my pom-pom less boo string)...and it's the 'best sounding' bow of all my excaliburs. If you really want to do something simple to tame the twang, you're probably best to see Boo's YouTube video on serving kitty whiskers. I'm going to try it myself maybe as a winter project, don't want to mess with a good thing in-season!

[FNARSCOT]

Welcome. Keep us posted on the 3 M tape on the base of the limb mod. w/ crono results.Please! I have a roll I bought to use on my stirrup worked great. A Flemmish string with whiskers is the way to go on the 380 I.M.O. My last two mods will be filling the rail with foam and a tech trigger(did all the others you listed) I will stick with the original stock (for now) The wood is too damn pretty for rough work If I could find a scope set up like the Tact Zone but with better glass I would be all in.

[mr meat]

Welcome to the forum!!

[georgiaboy]

WELCOME!!!