My Partner had presented the Rancher with a new "Beginner" crossbow, had purchased my Exomax, and of course I drug along the new Matrix. So all three of us had toys to try out for the first time!
A couple pictures comparing the Exomax to the Matrix:
The day before I had taken an old (large) grain bag the Rancher had provided, stuffed around 100 pounds of various rags and old clothing (carefully cutting all buttons and zippers off) into it, compressed that well, cut down the bag to size, and sewed it shut. About 2.5 feet thick by 3.5 feet square, it was a bit of a chore to move, but I was hoping it might put the brakes on the arrows launched from these Magnum Bows.
First up was the Rancher, and the bag had no problems stopping the arrows from the 165 lb bow. Nice! In fact, penetration was only about 6 inches at the 20 yard range! Didn't take much tweaking, and that bow was soon shooting bullseyes! You could literally see the confidence and enthusiasm build within the Shooter as the groups grew ever tighter! By the time he had finished at the starting distance, his tail was waggin' so hard his eyeballs were wiggling! Another Serious Convert to The Addiction!
Next up was my Partner with the bow I had tuned and used successfully for hunting last year. Took much less in the way of tweaking, and he too was putting them dead center every time! And... once again the new bag managed to stop the arrows from this 225 lb bow! Reflective of it's increased power, they buried deeper - averaging about 8-9 inches of penetration.
The look of pleasure and satisfaction on my Buddy's mug at his results was worth the price of admission alone!
Then, the new Matrix. Even with the REDDS system and cat whiskers on the custom string, it was a hint louder than the Exomax. Different type of sound though, I'd describe it as being more "Sharp" and of slightly less duration than the Max. I had worked a lot on the latter last year to dampen the sound down, and now will be looking for ways to do the same with the Matrix. It took a little more tinkering to bring the bow to dead center, which wasn't surprising as this was the first time it had been shot since assembly. But within 20 minutes or so, it too was exhibiting the Accuracy that Excalbur is famous for! And, almost to my surprise, the bag did indeed stop the arrows from this 260 pound bow well before the fletchings touched the target! They did dig deeper of course, averaging close to a foot of penetration.
We then moved successively back to 30, 40 and 50 yards. And at each station, with just a little tweaking, each of the bows soon were finding their marks! The lighter bow of course topped out at the 40 yard mark, and we didn't try to push it beyond that. Both the Exomax and the Matrix were shooting 2 inch or less groups at 30, and followed that right through to 50 with no further adjustments. The difference in speed between the two became obvious at the 50 yard mark. Even though Damn Fast, I could catch a glimpse of the arrow in flight from the Exomax. Not so for the Matrix, although arrow coloring and fading light may have contributed to that. The Matrix did though offer a noticeable decrease in flight time to target as we suspected it might.
Would have loved to move back to 60 and perhaps even beyond, but before we knew it, the evening sprung upon us, and as the light finally faded away, we collected up our equipment for the wander home.
Only managed a couple of pictures before the camera battery decided to pack it in (note to self - Check that damn battery BEFORE heading out!). I will try to gather some grouping shots from the Matrix next time out...
Here's what the Exomax did at 30 yards:
And then at 50:
There was a bit of a crosswind, so we'll have to check this one again before considering any adjustments. The Matrix shot good groups with the factory arrows, holding at around 2 inches at fifty yards, ever so slightly larger groupings than the Exomax. But the Max had the advantage of launching Custom Big John arrows specifically tuned for this bow, and as always they Really Shined in the Accuracy department. Methinks the Matrix will most likely do the same, once the exact arrow type & weight and dressing has been determined. Right looking forward to testing towards that goal over the next little while! Big John: if you're reading this, I'll soon be looking to you once again for your sage advise in this department!
All in all a VERY Pleasant way to spend an entire afternoon! The Boys and Their Toys all wandered off with Huge Grins, each noting they were Damn Happy with the results, and each enthusiastically planning for our next get-together! Soon now methinks! The ball has started rolling...
Cheers,
Nog
