Product failure report

[NorthernRaider]

I bought this bow only a year or so ago from Crossbows4you in Harrowgate, its a carbine version of the Armex Tomcat pistol crossbow but comes with what was originally advertised as a 100lb draw compound limb set up. After a while i revisited the same online shop and noted they had downgraded the bows advertised rating to 80 pound draw, followed a month or so later I saw they had down graded it to a useless 60 pound draw.

So after this revelation sank home I removed the compound limb and gave it away, I replaced it with a recurve 80 pound rated limb from a Tomcat.

This bow has only fired around 30 bolts in the time I owned it, but during this weekends RV at Castle NR when my son was test firing it the trigger release mechanism failed ( after only 30 shots) after disassembly today i can report the trigger mechanism though very simple in construction it was made of such poor materials that it was terminally worn and binding badly. The trigger release spring is the smallest thinnest spring I have ever seen used on a trigger and the metal so soft and malleable it would be classed as junk metal if used in anything else.

Compared to the bows marketed under brand names like ARMEX this product which is only available from crossbows4you is junk.

I will not replace it like for like or even with a Tomcat, I will replace it with a small compound bow instead like the PSE mini or micro burner.

[Tartar Horde]

Can you post the link to the piece NR so I can have a look please.

[NorthernRaider]

What link??? Not quite with you?

---

Is this what you meant?
http://www.crossbows4u.co.uk/#/taipan/4538108485

[Tartar Horde]

Yeah mate thanks, just having look now.

---

Trigger failure is the last thing you want when your child is holding a weapon, just plain bad engineering. If the trigger failed after only 30 or so shots with an 80lb recurve limb, how long would it have lasted if the compound limbs were 100lb as advertised?
you're well shut of it mate.

[Timelord]

This is why I modded my one the other year. I junked all the "junk" aspects of the bow, included the unnecessary cocking mechanism. It is amazing how many posts here are proclaiming the virtues of these bows and urging other readers to get one. You are the first person I know who has come across these faults and posted about it. Do the other bows out there get used enough for these faults to develop? For a prepper scenario what is needed is a quality reliable constructed item. much of what I see for sale is sub standard and not made to last. This is a real concern. Regards, TL.

[Mortblanc]

These little crossbow jobs cost $30 u.s. Most people spend more than that on coffee and sodas for a week.

You plan on replacing it with a compound bow that costs $200 u.s.

?????

For $200 u.s. you can buy a fairly good crossbow, or an excellent second hand compound..

[Talon]

The build quality is the number 1 thing that makes me worry about buying a cheap crossbow/ spring air rifle. Specifically the quality of the trigger mechanism.
There's an extremely high amount of force being held back on that vital component. Ill fitting badly machined/poorly heat treated trigger components would be a major worry for me.

Firearms /pneumatics are less of a worry as the trigger has to hold back the weight of a firing pin or a relatively light valve hammer.
Crossbows and spring guns are holding back a tremendous amount of force,this means that (and this is only my opinion)you require either a high quality complex trigger mechanism to enable a light safe let off (i'm thinking the Rekord trigger /Air Arms CD trigger for air rifles) and the Excalibur mechanism or similar high quality for crossbows.

Or you can sacrifice a lighter trigger release for a simpler well machined release mechanism and put up with a higher let off weight.
Now I've never owned one of the cheaper crossbows so I've no first hand knowledge of possible wear with extended use,but if I owned one I would strip the trigger components down and inspect them for hardness/fit,then take a photo of them, reassemble the bow then fire off a few hundred shots. I would then strip them down again and inspect them for signs of wear.
The last thing i'd want is my trigger either locking up or going off unexpectedly.

[Barneyboy]

thats a shame NR looks like a nice bit of kit

[bigpaul]

should've gone with the Armex one instead! I am so well pleased with that I have ordered a second one for the OH, I've removed the rear sight and fitted a red dot laser sight instead.

[NorthernRaider]

(19 May 2013, 00:46)Timelord Wrote: This is why I modded my one the other year. I junked all the "junk" aspects of the bow, included the unnecessary cocking mechanism. It is amazing how many posts here are proclaiming the virtues of these bows and urging other readers to get one. You are the first person I know who has come across these faults and posted about it. Do the other bows out there get used enough for these faults to develop? For a prepper scenario what is needed is a quality reliable constructed item. much of what I see for sale is sub standard and not made to last. This is a real concern. Regards, TL.

The Cobras and Wildcats are fine they have fired hundreds of bolts each without trouble, its only the much lower quality of the Taipan than fails.

---

(19 May 2013, 05:56)Mortblanc Wrote: These little crossbow jobs cost $30 u.s. Most people spend more than that on coffee and sodas for a week.

You plan on replacing it with a compound bow that costs $200 u.s.

?????

For $200 u.s. you can buy a fairly good crossbow, or an excellent second hand compound..

Would you replace a 9mm sig with an AR15 for close quarters work?, no I thought not the Pistol bows and carbines are tasked with close quarters stuff so a rifle bow is not suitable.

---

My Compound bows cost $80 I bulk buy and use and throw them when they go wrong, so far they have not gone wrong and they get a lot of use.