Problem seating arrow against string

[Benelliboy]

Hello all....new to the xbow world. Purchased a new bulldog 400. Im having problems seating the arrow against string. Really have to force arrow in....literally takes all my strength and a minute or two to get it there. I could literally use a hammer to tap it into place. Just wondering if this is normal.....and just needs to b broken in?

[amythntr]

.... Absolutely NOT normal.... Your arra should slide fairly easy back along the rail, under the arrow retainer and all the way back to the prongs holding the string!

Anthony

[Arrowflinger]

Did you cock the bow first , then try to insert arrow?

[Benelliboy]

Yes i cocked xbow first....then inserted arrow. Almost seems like scope rail is too low. I am using the excalibur arrows that came with the bow as well

[Normous]

The only part touching your arrow is the arrow holding retainer spring which is very flexible. Perform the arrow loading sequence VERY slow and report back what you see when your arrow slides underneath the arrow holder/retainer.

[acreek]

Did you cock the bow first , then try to insert arrow?

Hilarious. That was good.

If this post is legit ...

Your anti-dry fire should freely move up and down. With the bow uncocked (the string not pulled back but instead perpendicular to the rail at the most forward position), push the anti-dry fire lever at the back of the rail and/or flip the actual anti-dry fire tang and see if it freely moves. If not, then there is your problem.

By the way, tapping the front of a bolt/arrow with a hammer on a cocked crossbow is a good way to get yourself injured. You have to treat these bows like firearms. Never place any obstruction in front of the bolt. Never rely on the safety mechansim. Even if there is no bolt loaded on the rail, you should not be tapping anything on the bow while it is cocked, and you should not have your fingers on or around the rail where they can get sliced by the string if it lets loose.

[Benelliboy]

Absolutely agree with everything u said acreek. I understand that a xbow should be treated as a firearm. If u read my original post a little more carefully u will see that i said "i could literally use a hammer to tap it into place" rather than saying thats what i did. I was just trying to give an example as to how hard it was to seat the bolt. Anyways. Got home this this morning from work and loaded a bolt in it uncocked effortlessly. Slid all the way to the back no problems. I can't see how having it cocked would change anything......making it harder to seat the arrow. Unless i'm missing something......like i said im new to the xbow world.

[xcaliber]

Are you cocking the string all the way back past the ADF latches? Sounds crazy, but I thought I would put it out there. Something does not make sense. Post a pic of where it gets tight, a picture is worth a thousand words.

[ihunt]

Are you cocking the string all the way back past the ADF latches? Sounds crazy, but I thought I would put it out there. Something does not make sense. Post a pic of where it gets tight, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Same here I believe he's not cocking all the way, just stopping at the ADF.

[Carnivorous]

I once had an issue with my trigger claws being offset and the arrow nock was hitting the claw on the way in.

If I were you I would slowly load the arrow and see if it is hitting one of the claws. If it is remove the trigger and RE install.

That's what I did and problem was solved...

[xcaliber]

Need pictures, could you tell about how far you have to push it? Might be a latch that is out of position. Odd condition for sure.

[vixenmaster]

I may have missed it in yer post ? What arrow are you usin ? The dia. maybe too large fer the trigger claws to allow it thru

[Boo]

I once had an issue with my trigger claws being offset and the arrow nock was hitting the claw on the way in.

If I were you I would slowly load the arrow and see if it is hitting one of the claws. If it is remove the trigger and RE install.

That's what I did and problem was solved...

Maybe Jeff. The best thing to do is to remove the stock and look at how the trigger unit is sitting in the rail. Then check if the fasteners are loose or not. If it's lose, you'll get an erratic situation.

[acreek]

Make sure the two vanes not in the rail are smoothly flowing to the outside of the metal scope mount block. Occasionally, the vanes on my practice bolts get bent and curled. This causes one of them to track inside of the scope mount/retention spring/trigger assembly block and eventually jam, stopping them well short of the string. Thinner, flimsier vanes seem to lead to this. Stiff vanes like the blazers don't seem to be as prone.

So when you slide your bolt up just make sure the two visible vanes are not causing the obstruction.

[amythntr]

Hello all....new to the xbow world. Purchased a new bulldog 400. Im having problems seating the arrow against string. Really have to force arrow in....literally takes all my strength and a minute or two to get it there. I could literally use a hammer to tap it into place. Just wondering if this is normal.....and just needs to b broken in?

....BB...if you could email a member who is able to upload some images we might be able to visualize your issue by posting the images to this thread...

.....I would gladly do it for you as would other members...my email, if interested, is: [email protected]

Anthony