As I stated in my first post:
" After taking it out twice, I found a few negatives to it.
The first negative was that it was hard to cock for me. After a few bolts, I found it difficult, with a draw weight of 270lbs, to cock. But, being truthful, I do have a damaged back and enough broken bones, over the years, to give my Doc nightmares. LOL. Maybe I should look at a Cocking device for it.
The second negative is the sound at release. I'll admit that I don't have any real experience with crossbows, but it does sound fairly loud. I'll be looking at, hopefully, reducing it after some research. "
To help correct the two issues I had/have, I started researching on ways to correct them. This process took a while as I was doing some major renos to the house.
doors & windows, new patio new flooring. LOLI spent quite some time researching, chatting with crossbow owners, reading and watching videos. You might want to overlook the fact that I am slightly overzealous when I research something.
My Better Half usually says I'm obsessed. LOLIn the end though, after stumbling on a Youtube video, I FOUND what I was looking for.
It was a video about the 4x4 Cocker from Gaston at DrStirrup. I was highly interested as it looked like a perfect solution, affordability wise, to make it easier for me to cock my crossbow.
I then went to his site and, Lo and Behold!, I found it contained a solution to not only cocking the crossbow, but also to lessen the sound.! WOW! I was like a kid being in a Candy store. LOL
Being what I am, I started researching his Products anywhere I could find reviews, videos and comments. It took a bit of time, but what I found was pretty good. There were barely NO negative and Mostly all Positive reviews and comments.
After looking at his products, I fell in love with the DrStirrup stirrup replacement. It looked like a perfect replacement for the stirrup on my Micro Axe. I really have nothing negative to say about it, but being able to use both feet while cocking would be a great help me. Much more stable and easy to cock.
Since I wasn't sure whether his Micro DrStirrup would work on my crossbow, I contacted him and asked. He replied to me saying that the DrStirrup would not fit my Micro Axe, as the Bolt pattern was different. Bummer...
After a few weeks of thinking it over, I decided to get the 4x4 Kocker and DBKiller Limb Silencers. After placing the order and starting to eagerly await it, something startling happened. I got a call from Gaston at DrStirrup. WOW!!!!!!!! He thanked me for the order, then asked me if I was the one who asked about the stirrup replacement for the Micro Axe 340! Again WOW!!!!!! When I confirmed I was indeed the one, he wanted to know if I wanted to test out the Prototype of the stirrup replacement when he had it ready. Needless to say, I said YES!!!!
He told me that he would ship me my complete order when he had the prototype ready. What could I say, but Thanks You. To say I was on Pins & Needles would be redundant. I was!
I received my order about 1 1/2 months later, this was due to Gaston finishing the protoype. When I opened it, I found the 4x4 Kocker, DBKiller Limb Silencers and the prototype Stirrup. I also found the DBKiller Bumpers that Gaston threw in Free of Charge. Cool. He included them, in his words, " for my patience in waiting"
As I was looking at the stirrop replacement, I was impressed. It's all Black, looks agressive and very light. I could'nt wait to add them to my crossbow.
Unfortunately, that was delyaed as I was in the middle of the renovations I mentioned in my earlier post and had to finish them... sigh ...
I finally finished the Renos and was able to start the mods to the crossbow.
Over a weekend, I installed the new equipment. Here is what happened.
DrStirrp stirrup replacement.
The Stirrup went on fairly easy, once I figured the the Allen Key that came with the crossbow was too small. Good thing I have lots of tools.
As I mentioned before, the new Stirrup looks very aggressive, I like. While it adds some overall length. the added length makes it possible for me to use 20 inch Bolts. The broadhead Guard makes it much safer when I am using my razor sharp points. And I can actually use it to stand the crossbow up After I installed it, and had time to really look at it, I noticed what looked like the stirrup being crooked. That being the gap between the crossbow limb and the stirrup limb was somewhat wider on one side that the other. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. A few days later, I emailed Gaston, at DrStirrup, with an outline of what I thought to the problem. I also sent a few pics showing it. He emailed me right away, agreeing that there was an offset on one side. Since it was the prototype, he could fix the problem in the production model. He then said that he would send me another stirrup, free of charge...WOW!...
A few weeks later, I received the new stirrup and installed it right away.
Maybe I should have waited till the next day, but I figured midnight was not that late. DBKiller Bumpers
The new Bumpers also went on very easy. My only problem was that I forgot to buy a Excalibur Stringer! LOL... a quick trip to Cabelas and I was all set.
With the original Bumpers, I did notice a, somewhat, substantial vibration when fired. After installation of the DBKiller Bumpers, the vibrations were cut by at least half, if not more. I'll be testing more as I practice.
4x4 Kocker
The 4x4 Kocker is a godsend to me, I found it somewhat hard to cock the crossbow, after a few shots, with the supplied rope cocker. Once I had the 4x4 Kocker set up, I was completely impressed with how much easier it has made it for me to cock the crossbow. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I broke a few bones in my back, shoulder and arms over the years and don't have the strength I used to.
DBKiller Limb Silencers
I actually had to contact Gaston and ask him how do I fit something that small onto the limbs! The limbs, where they need to go is almost 3x the height of the limb silencers. He replied, almost immediately, the the limb silencers can stretch three(3) time it's orginal size. After slapping myself in the head... HARD
... I unstrung the crossbow and, after a bit of work, they slid on pretty well. I followed the procedure shown on the video on DrStirrup.com and, hopefully, had them in to right place. I'll have to find someone with a Chrono and see what the speed is. I'll fine tune the silencers then. But as it is, I'm fairly certain I have them, mostly in the right place. After installing the Stirrup, Limb Silencers and Bumpers , I took out the crossbow and ran 15 arrows through it. I have to say I am impresssed overall. I did have to re-sight the scope, but the ease of use and lack of strain cocking (4x4 Kocker), the safety and usability to use longer arrows (Stirrup) and the reduction in vibrations (Bumpers) are making it a joy to use.
I borrowed a Decibel Meter from a friend and ran 5 bolts, before and after the mods to check whether or not the sound actually decreased. To my ears alone, there was a decrease in sound, but since I'm somewhat hard of hearing
, using the Meter was a better choice. I an't remember the actual number anymore, but the sound decreased on average 35%. That's cool. It is now a lot more quiet. Now whether that's translates to better hunting, I'll have to determine that when I go hunting next year.Overall, I love my Micro Axe 340 and the DrStirrup mods so far. I'll be taking out again in the next little while to sight in the scope and am hoping to do some extensive target practice. If you are looking for modding your Excalibur crossbow, I HIGHLY recommend checking out DrStirrup. You can't go wrong. Gaston is a good man, easy to deal with and has wicked mods. If any think I'm being a tich ebullient in my praise, it's just I believe in giving Kudos where Kudos are due.
Next Year, Hunting!
Yours
Andre Tremblay
Excalibur Micro Axe 340 with DrStirrup Mods.