Dry firing....

TPM · Post by **TPM** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:02 am

There seem to be a lot of threads on this board about people who accidentally dry fire their Excals. So far I've been lucky and I haven't done it myself but I was wondering, does anyone know why Excal hasn't incorporarted an anti dry fire feature in their bows? I know other companies have this. Seems like a great idea to me and it can't be that difficult to design. Am I missing something here?

gad · Post by **gad** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:33 am

bstout wrote:I believe the idea is to keep the equipment as simple as possible. Dry firing isn't an equipment problem, it's a people problem.

I would hate to miss a nice buck because my anti-dryfire mechanism failed and prevented me from launching an arrow. I believe the theory is the same for the manual safety versus an automatic safety.

Reliability of the manual safety is much greater on the condition the person is regimented enough to use it.

I agree. I have made my own anti-dryfire mechanism on my two excaliburs, but not to be against my own fault, but to avoid the xbow to
be accidentally fired with the remote possibility of the trigger being pulled by the bush or clothing. I have put an o-ring around the stock to lock the manual safety on the "on" position. Thats all. And it is working fine.

gad · Post by **gad** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:11 am

bstout wrote:Gustavo: Great idea! You've had many good ideas over the years.

Maybe it's the ham in you! 73

73 to you too!

I just wanna to have more time to use the ham radio more.
Best regards,
Gus.

TPM · Post by **TPM** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:41 am

I believe the idea is to keep the equipment as simple as possible. Dry firing isn't an equipment problem, it's a people problem.

I'm a firm beleiver in simplicity and I agree it's a people problem but part of "good design" is making things idiot proof.

I would hate to miss a nice buck because my anti-dryfire mechanism failed and prevented me from launching an arrow.

While I admittedly have never examined an Excal trigger I do have a fair bit of experience in repairing and modifying rifle and shotgun triggers. A basic trigger block mechanism would be all that is needed. They are usually rather simple and not much can go wrong. Again, I'm no expert (yet!) on Excal triggers so hopefully some one who is more familiar with their actual design and function could tell me if there would be a major design obsticle I'm missing here or if it's just somehting that hasn't been done yet.

Bill T · Post by **Bill T** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:32 am

We stay away from antidryfire devices because it is possible to cock the crossbow and latch onto the antidryfire device by mistake, thereby making the bow unfirable until it is cocked properly, plus they make manually uncocking the bow somewhere between difficult and impossible so you have to fire an arrow to uncock. On top of this they increase the price you would have to pay for the bow. If you dryfire using the dacron string that comes with the bow they are virtually bulletproof anyway, however with the FFF string it will occasionally damage a limb with the bigger bows we produce.

TPM · Post by **TPM** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:57 am

plus they make manually uncocking the bow somewhere between difficult and impossible so you have to fire an arrow to uncock.

Very good point. Hadn't thought of that one. Thanks for the response. It's one of those questions I always had in my head but was afraid to ask.

Cossack · Post by **Cossack** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:13 pm

Quote:" so you have to fire an arrow to uncock."
I shoot both an Excal and a bow that has an auto safety. The auto safety failed me just once: the first time I cocked the bow and didn't pull back far enough. Recocking cured the problem. Actually that bow can be released without shooting. I carry a piece of broken bolt just long enough to depress the anti fire device and be held in place by the bolt holder ( about 6" long) , then release it with the cocking rope as described im my Excal booklet.
With the Excal I follow of strick regimen and set the safety EVERY TIME after cocking before I do anything else. They both work for me, it's just a matter of paying attention while operating a potentially deadly device. (Just like checking the chamber when picking up ANY gun.)
PS Actually, since my 250 lb draw weight (d/w) Excal has some 100 lbs more d/w than the other bow, I'm glad it doesn't have a auto safety. With my two gimpy wings, I'm pretty much maxing out my ability to pull by the time it's cocked with a draw rope, so when I hear the click I and don't need to worry if the safety set of the bow actually cocked.

VixChix · Post by **VixChix** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:14 pm

Like gad, I keep a rubber band around the stock and loop it over the safety to keep it in the ON position - gives me extra peace of mind when walking through brush.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:03 pm

I think I have dryfired every Excalibur I have owned at least one time.

I use a dacron string and have never had any damage (except to my ego). Never even changed the point of impact when I re-strung! I have always replaced the string and thrown away the dry-fired string just in case it weakened the string.