Advice on sighting in a crossbow.

Hello all,

Been a hell of a few weeks between the deer hunt, working overnights and getting back on my regular schedule.

Now I have a question, might be stupid but it is what it is.

Want to go bow hunting in a bit but my dads crossbow is so off its insane.

Tried sighting it in but we can never get the arrow on the bag. Must have screwed with the dials to much now its totally out of wack. Have lost countless bolts etc. Anyone have a good method of putting the sight back on target?

Thanks in advance like usual.

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Check the bolts if all the other parts look right and screws are tight. Use one bolt, mark one side so you use that in the same place, start at a shorter range and see if it hits the same place consistently. Setup some way to hold the crossbow stable and fire that one bolt a few times. If it is all over maybe use a different bolt too to see where they are going. Arrows and bolts can have small issues individually and end up hitting in different spots and over a distance that difference can be a miss instead of a hit. If the bolts are good and consistent, then you can move on

You can also experiment with the sights/scope and get a cat laser (dollar store) or rifle laser or if you need something bigger a pencil size green laser from Staples and use it like sighting a rifle, sight the scope to the red point or just see the position indicated in the scope and laser when the cat pointer is in the track. Check taking it out of the track and putting it back gets you about right (you may have to mark which side is up to get consistency), then, fire a few shots and see if the cat pointer and the cross hairs/sights are still on target or something shifted when shot but looks OK.

What is the crossbow? Some may be very accurate and others.... plinkers (shoot for fun, not accuracy)

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Originally Posted by mosquito

Check the bolts if all the other parts look right and screws are tight. Use one bolt, mark one side so you use that in the same place, start at a shorter range and see if it hits the same place consistently. Setup some way to hold the crossbow stable and fire that one bolt a few times. If it is all over maybe use a different bolt too to see where they are going. Arrows and bolts can have small issues individually and end up hitting in different spots and over a distance that difference can be a miss instead of a hit. If the bolts are good and consistent, then you can move on

You can also experiment with the sights/scope and get a cat laser (dollar store) or rifle laser or if you need something bigger a pencil size green laser from Staples and use it like sighting a rifle, sight the scope to the red point or just see the position indicated in the scope and laser when the cat pointer is in the track. Check taking it out of the track and putting it back gets you about right (you may have to mark which side is up to get consistency), then, fire a few shots and see if the cat pointer and the cross hairs/sights are still on target or something shifted when shot but looks OK.

What is the crossbow? Some may be very accurate and others.... plinkers (shoot for fun, not accuracy)

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Its a excalibur crossbow. Older model though, I think the scope is just way off as he use to use it years ago when he use to go with the bow. But I think the scope may have shifted or something like that. I'll try the laser pointer and see if that puts the sights to at least hit the bag.

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Originally Posted by Bowjob

Its a excalibur crossbow. Older model though, I think the scope is just way off as he use to use it years ago when he use to go with the bow. But I think the scope may have shifted or something like that. I'll try the laser pointer and see if that puts the sights to at least hit the bag.

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Go to Excalibur (or Shooters Choice, what i did-they are Reps for Excalibur)and buy a new scope.They will likely give You major discount...happened to me once.The scope was out of adjustment,the adj. screws were loose....they gave me 100% rebate on the old design,and substracted the $ off the new scope price.Done.

They are excellent to deal with.

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Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

Go closer , start with very short distance first ,
If nothing is loose on the crossbow ,
or on the bolts , they are same weight make...
Shoot from 10 ft and see the group
have a good target (Bag ) (to not to damage the bolts )

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That is the correct starting place for sighting in anything.
- Make sure nothing is loose
- Start close

Excaliburs are good, the laser is just to check if the scope is good and staying in place after a few shots and give you a starting place, the scope may need replacing, good idea on trading it, if it is still off or wandering you may need the shop. With a green laser or brighter laser (always be careful with them!) you can aim at longer distances to help spot a difference in aim point, the shots can be up close though and you can see if they are consistent to the same spot too. I coincidentally just got an email from Henry on their new videos, scope mounting on a Long Ranger, levelling is not too relevant at the ranges a crossbow is shot mostly but still something to listen to I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ82dxp1qp4


I was looking for this but it was late last night and I didn't find it. They are using a dedicated laser, but a laser is for a starting point or to check consistency in my opinion and a dedicated one too much money (probably), note the starting distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRx_49zUfOw

X2 on the new scope. You never know what kind of abuse it was subjected to.

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Originally Posted by gbk

Go to Excalibur (or Shooters Choice, what i did-they are Reps for Excalibur)and buy a new scope.They will likely give You major discount...happened to me once.The scope was out of adjustment,the adj. screws were loose....they gave me 100% rebate on the old design,and substracted the $ off the new scope price.Done.

They are excellent to deal with.

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Great to know thanks gbk

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Scope should be covered by warranty give Excalibur a call

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but if you aren't cocking the bow string evenly it will cause erratic flights too.
If you aren't using a string cocking aid, you should because even being very careful, drawing the string by hand is tough to do equally on both sides.
Hope you get it sorted out.
Like others say, start close to the target and work backwards from there.

How old is the string, When I switched to a compund a few years back, my xbow sat. SOn decided to take up hunting so let him use it, we found the same thing, and the string was lose , so put new string on and then did like others had said start at 10 yards, and work back .

With it being an older style you have to make sure you pull back as straight as possible, if you are 1/4" in drawing back, to one side that can make a huge difference at 20 yards, and if string is lose makes it even worse,
Just my limited experience.

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Originally Posted by old outdoorsman

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but if you aren't cocking the bow string evenly it will cause erratic flights too.
If you aren't using a string cocking aid, you should because even being very careful, drawing the string by hand is tough to do equally on both sides.
Hope you get it sorted out.
Like others say, start close to the target and work backwards from there.

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Good point. I mark the string with chalk on either side of the forend when sighting in.
I had a horrible problem with this when I first started using a crossbow.

I don’t own a crossbow but a story was shared with me about a guy who had problems sighting in his crossbow and it turned out that one of his limbs was delaminating. It could of resulted in a serious injury if not caught. Maybe someone else can chyme in on this.

Buy a new scope. I highly recommend the Killer instinct lumix speedring. Not expensive but the reticles are super comfortable to use, great for low-light, and it's a durable scope. I'd choose it any day over the Hawke scopes I have.

Thanks for the suggestions guys will look into it

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Best bang for your buck today and actually available in Canada is the Vortex crossfire ii crossbow scope kit.

Nice clear glass, illuminated reticles and the VIP warranty can't be beat!

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Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter

Best bang for your buck today and actually available in Canada is the Vortex crossfire ii crossbow scope kit.

Nice clear glass, illuminated reticles and the VIP warranty can't be beat!

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looks awesome I just cant get over that busy reticle...dont you find it a bit much at the moment of truth when youre trying to aim at a big buck?

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Originally Posted by kokes

looks awesome I just cant get over that busy reticle...dont you find it a bit much at the moment of truth when youre trying to aim at a big buck?

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Actually not too busy of a reticle. I have shot a bear and a deer with it with no issues.

You just have to remember the top aim point is 20 yards and you zero the scope at 40 yards... :)

My dad actually found some laser tips for the arrows.

Hopefully that puts him on the board and we can move on from there. Should come in in about a week

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