I have made my decision on my first crossbow

[lacpercher]

Thanks to help from friends on the forum, I have ordered the Matrix Bulldog 355/360 Bullpup stock Black Shadow. I also ordered the Redfield Revenge.
Now I will be looking for help on the bolts, spare string and other accessories. Fire away.

[XB I GO]

I like the Black Eagle Zombie Slayers best. They were the most accurate and consistent out of a few that I tried. I love my Boo string! Cool color combo, a few more FPS and once it settles it stays put. Welcome and good luck!

[xcaliber]

X2 on Black Eagle Arrows. You will need 1" rings for that scope, medium height.
Enjoy your great bow!

[janesy]

There are many great string makers on this forum. However, in this case time and practice are your friends Shoot the factory string a few hundred times and developed good safe shooting routines. Then consider a new string.

Great choice on the BD360!

[mr meat]

X2 on everything that’s been said

[GrassyKnoll]

Congrats on your choice.

The most important thing you need before you even shoot your bow for the first time is a stringing aid so that you can adjust your string to maintain brace height. Measure from the R.E.D.s about 1/8" to 1/4". Made a mark on the side of your rail with a Sharpie. This mark will represent where you keep your brace height at at all times. Check your string against this line before you shoot your bow as All strings stretch, some less than others but all strech.



The stringing aid:



How to decock your bow with the stringer: video link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78itE_5B6Q0

Good arrows are the key to accuracy. Me personally I only shoot Black Eagle Zombie .001 arrows. You can get them from Jerry at South Shore Archery as he sells them spine indexed as a standard. I beleive in spine indexed arrows, some don't but in my oinion it's one less thing to worry about. The theory is that an arrow that is indexed and orientated the same way will flex and recover the same every time, so lets say that a dozen arrows that have been indexed and fletched accordingly and placed in the rail the same will all fly the same, flex and recover the same and be very consistant and have a very close same impact point.. I do my own indexing and beleive it works for me. I very seldon have to rotate to a different vane down to get an arrow to group with the rest of them..

Regarding your string, as said above shoot the stock string until you are not happy with it. I've had flemish strings from a few makers here and other places and they are all good, but the stock strings are not that bad either, especially since you are starting out. Keep the string strands waxed BUT do not wax the center serving. It will make it soft and cause it to fail sooner.. Again you might have read somewhere to wax the center cerving but I assure you if you do it will not last as lond and will begin to loosen up. I also do not lube my rails either because of the same thing... You might notice when you begin to shoot it there is almost a gun power smell after a few shot, thats ok, it's friction and the smell will stop as the string kind of polishes the rail from shoooting the bow..

Another thing with your string is than when you need to make a brace height adjustment, twist both ends of your bow string eually. For example say you want to put two full twists in the string, put one full twist on each side, and of couse twist to tighten the spiral of the string, this also helps keep your center serving tight, never untwist it. Also keep an eye out on your end loops that go over the limb tips. If they start to look overy stretched out, it's time to replace the string. Since it's an Excalibur all you have to do is install a new string and twist ti your brace height mark.. DONE!!

Everything I've posted above come from shooting these bows for almost 7 years now. Others here are more experienced than me and may guide you better but these things have worked for me.

Sorry to be long winded but since this is your first crossbow I just want you to start off on the right foot..

[hankenhunter]

Congrats on your choice.

The most important thing you need before you even shoot your bow for the first time is a stringing aid so that you can adjust your string to maintain brace height. Measure from the R.E.D.s about 1/8" to 1/4". Made a mark on the side of your rail with a Sharpie. This mark will represent where you keep your brace height at at all times. Check your string against this line before you shoot your bow as All strings stretch, some less than others but all strech.



The stringing aid:



How to decock your bow with the stringer: video link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78itE_5B6Q0

Good arrows are the key to accuracy. Me personally I only shoot Black Eagle Zombie .001 arrows. You can get them from Jerry at South Shore Archery as he sells them spine indexed as a standard. I beleive in spine indexed arrows, some don't but in my oinion it's one less thing to worry about. The theory is that an arrow that is indexed and orientated the same way will flex and recover the same every time, so lets say that a dozen arrows that have been indexed and fletched accordingly and placed in the rail the same will all fly the same, flex and recover the same and be very consistant and have a very close same impact point.. I do my own indexing and beleive it works for me. I very seldon have to rotate to a different vane down to get an arrow to group with the rest of them..

Regarding your string, as said above shoot the stock string until you are not happy with it. I've had flemish strings from a few makers here and other places and they are all good, but the stock strings are not that bad either, especially since you are starting out. Keep the string strands waxed BUT do not wax the center serving. It will make it soft and cause it to fail sooner.. Again you might have read somewhere to wax the center cerving but I assure you if you do it will not last as lond and will begin to loosen up. I also do not lube my rails either because of the same thing... You might notice when you begin to shoot it there is almost a gun power smell after a few shot, thats ok, it's friction and the smell will stop as the string kind of polishes the rail from shoooting the bow..

Another thing with your string is than when you need to make a brace height adjustment, twist both ends of your bow string eually. For example say you want to put two full twists in the string, put one full twist on each side, and of couse twist to tighten the spiral of the string, this also helps keep your center serving tight, never untwist it. Also keep an eye out on your end loops that go over the limb tips. If they start to look overy stretched out, it's time to replace the string. Since it's an Excalibur all you have to do is install a new string and twist ti your brace height mark.. DONE!!

Everything I've posted above come from shooting these bows for almost 7 years now. Others here are more experienced than me and may guide you better but these things have worked for me.

Sorry to be long winded but since this is your first crossbow I just want you to start off on the right foot..

This is great advice. Consistent brace height is the key to Excaliburs accuracy. The very first thing I check when I go to do some shooting is the brace height. Welcome to the forum, and watch out for the triangle of pain.
Hank

[flightattendant100]

X2 on Black Eagle Arrows. You will need 1" rings for that scope, medium height.
Enjoy your great bow!

And for a bargain ring, look at Leupold Rifleman rings. They are very low priced and I have never had a problem with them.

[flightattendant100]

X2 on Black Eagle Arrows. You will need 1" rings for that scope, medium height.
Enjoy your great bow!

And for a bargain ring, look at Leupold Rifleman rings. They are very low priced and I have never had a problem with them.

Agree 100% on the stringing aid. Danny Miller makes one as well as Excaliburs factory model. You might as well call Danny and get to know him. Great guy, good prices and a Guru on all things Excalibur. Phone only ( yep, he is a dinosaur ) 1-740-483-2312. And he WILL not lead you down the wrong path! He may tell you that you don't need something, but he wont try to sell you a bunch of stuff that you don't need.

[Carnivorous]

That is a great Combo! I also use the Redfield Revenge. Great scope for $60.00!