Anyone have this limb replacement issue?

[lituani]

Matrix 380 had a significant limb delamination (actually heard crackle in the blind but wasn’t quite sure what that noise was until later). Excalibur provided exact replacement limbs (within 0.010” thickness where it counts), plus the kit to eliminate the air brakes (which I specifically requested since I already removed the rubber pads and didn’t want to have to go to trouble of grinding down the wing). So easy anyone can do it, right??



(1) First hurdle. Hex tools are required to remove the fasteners. The hex screws which hold the limbs to riser are (at least on mine) a ba$tard size. Not 4mm or 5mm. Not 5/32” or 3/16”. Always something in-between. Luckily, I found a (expensive) set containing 4.5mm which worked. 11/64” would have been my next try. Really Excalibur, seriously?!?! At least I can re-attach, but am worried about final torque not rounding-over the hex wrench.



(2) Second hurdle. The four screws which secure the two air brakes to riser are supposed to be 1/8” hex. Again, two were 1/8”, but two were NOT. No amount of “convincing” worked. Got lucky and removed the two oddballs with pliers. But that also make reusing those screws impossible with the new limb (no way to torque them). Dammit.



(3) Third HUGE hurdle. Replacing limbs and securing the bridges with the new screws. BIG PROBLEM!! The new cap screws were perfectly 1/8” hex, but the lego-like spacer is too tall. The limbs have a gap you can literally see through. I might be tempted to ditch the lego spacer, except the two tiny straps/bridges don’t have enough meat to sufficiently secure and compress the limb. There is so much room, you can see daylight! Gap gages are back in U.S.A. but 2-3 business card can fill that gap. What. A. Mess.

Anybody ever have these problems replacing limbs?

Best part…I’m in S.Africa and planning hunts over next 5 weeks. Fortunately I brought two Matrix 380’s, but this needs to get resolved. Second matrix was my “free guide” fee, which will now end up costing me $$.

Guess an overseas call from S.Africa to Canada is in order.

[lituani]

Need help - why aren't images showing? I included link to imgur.

[lituani]

[janesy]

K in order. Sorry it didn't go smooth.

1) excalibur used precision hex heads to install everything from the factory. You should to, so that's a good thing. Soft hardware store or left over ikea tools won't work here. Good tools are made to precise specs. Fasteners however, are not.

2)I have encountered a couple of these 1/8th socket caps that have and overly aggressive amount of finish inside. Making them not 1/8. To quote a member here. "You have to use a good hex key and beat it in there like it owes you money". They have been upgraded years ago to eliminate that problem, which it appears they upgraded you already in your kit.

3) the space is normal, it is now the way they are installed across the board. It allows for more fluid movement of the libs reducing any further chance of damage.

These are all changes that have been made to all models since the M380 has been discontinued.

[janesy]

Matrix 380 had a significant limb delamination (actually heard crackle in the blind but wasn’t quite sure what that noise was until later). Excalibur provided exact replacement limbs (within 0.010” thickness where it counts), plus the kit to eliminate the air brakes (which I specifically requested since I already removed the rubber pads and didn’t want to have to go to trouble of grinding down the wing). So easy anyone can do it, right??



(1) First hurdle. Hex tools are required to remove the fasteners. The hex screws which hold the limbs to riser are (at least on mine) a ba$tard size. Not 4mm or 5mm. Not 5/32” or 3/16”. Always something in-between. Luckily, I found a (expensive) set containing 4.5mm which worked. 11/64” would have been my next try. Really Excalibur, seriously?!?! At least I can re-attach, but am worried about final torque not rounding-over the hex wrench.



(2) Second hurdle. The four screws which secure the two air brakes to riser are supposed to be 1/8” hex. Again, two were 1/8”, but two were NOT. No amount of “convincing” worked. Got lucky and removed the two oddballs with pliers. But that also make reusing those screws impossible with the new limb (no way to torque them). Dammit.



(3) Third HUGE hurdle. Replacing limbs and securing the bridges with the new screws. BIG PROBLEM!! The new cap screws were perfectly 1/8” hex, but the lego-like spacer is too tall. The limbs have a gap you can literally see through. I might be tempted to ditch the lego spacer, except the two tiny straps/bridges don’t have enough meat to sufficiently secure and compress the limb. There is so much room, you can see daylight! Gap gages are back in U.S.A. but 2-3 business card can fill that gap. What. A. Mess.

Anybody ever have these problems replacing limbs?

Best part…I’m in S.Africa and planning hunts over next 5 weeks. Fortunately I brought two Matrix 380’s, but this needs to get resolved. Second matrix was my “free guide” fee, which will now end up costing me $$.

Guess an overseas call from S.Africa to Canada is in order.

Also, when you copy the url from imgur, you need to copy the url with the .jpeg extension. Otherwise your html code is correct. However they are all for the same image in your post, as you've linked directly to your imgur thread. To copy a pic directly, open the image on imgur before selecting the share option. Clear as mud

[Boo]

Well done Chris! It is a fact that any socket type fastener needs to have the bit beaten in. I've been working on cars since 1977 and that has been the case. With a lot of allens we beat the fastener directly with a BFH, just to break the bond between the male and female threads before beating in the driver bit. Danny had constant problems when he was doing warranty. Once I set him up with good fasteners and instructions, he didn't have any stripped fastener sockets and they all came out!
There is only one pitfall. If you are taking the scope base off the trigger unit, remove the scope.