Rail Lube

[vidsoutmike]

What is the best rail lube for my xcal Matrix 330?

[flightattendant100]

Just wax your string lightly and it will lube your rail. No need for separate rail lube.

[awshucks]

X 2.........

[bubba]

X-3................But some would differ, I some times wipe my rail down with a little Excalibur rail lube on a soft cloth to keep it smooth as a baby's bottom... Just don't over do the oil......

[vidsoutmike]

Thanks guys.

[NEPAbowhunter]

I used rail lube on my Excalibur when I first got it on the recommendation from a guy from an archery shop ( rail snot ) and my serving seperated after a few shots once I applied it. Needless to say I do not lube the rail, a light coat of wax on the serving after a round of 3D will keep your string happy.

[paulaboutform]

Do NOT lube your rail....and just be aware, a LITTLE wax on your serving (something like Dalton's) is okay but most people overdo it and don't work it into the string and serving enough. When you apply wax work it in with your fingers then rub it in vigorously with a microfiber cloth. That's all your rail will need. When the rail is looking soiled or dirty, I spray a tiny amount of silicone spray onto a microfiber cloth and wipe the rail until it's clean. I then wipe it off with a clean part of the cloth. This method was described to me by an absolute xcal guru and it works perfectly. I tried different rail lubes and also ended up with premature serving separation.

Paul

[ehntr]

Can someone explain how rail lube could cause serving separation? At one time I had an Exomax where the previous owner claimed it was teflon coated. I never doubted it but by appearance nothing was obvious to the eyes. I have never purchased rail lube for any of my other crossbows.........I just clean the rail with a cloth with some WD40/jig-a-loo on it when I see wax/dirt accumulating on it and buff it with a soft cloth. Leaving any kind of lube residue on the rail would just attract dirt and soak into the serving. Is there where serving separation is happening?

[paulaboutform]

Can someone explain how rail lube could cause serving separation? At one time I had an Exomax where the previous owner claimed it was teflon coated. I never doubted it but by appearance nothing was obvious to the eyes. I have never purchased rail lube for any of my other crossbows.........I just clean the rail with a cloth with some WD40/jig-a-loo on it when I see wax/dirt accumulating on it and buff it with a soft cloth. Leaving any kind of lube residue on the rail would just attract dirt and soak into the serving. Is there where serving separation is happening?

Perhaps Boo or one of the string builders can chime in here. I use the silicone spray on the cloth to clean the rail as I described but also clean it off so there's no residue. The silicone doesn't attract dust and dirt. I'm assuming it's the residue from the rail lube getting into the serving and causing separation.

[Deaf jeff]

16 years ago when I first got into crossbows I had a ten point and I used their rail lube which was an oily lube, my serving separated from using to much of the lube(is what I was told). I also learned real quick that the oily stuff attracted dirt so I ended up stopping its use and now use jigaloo with my excals. some say no lube is needed others have said to use some lube. I have also read on this forum to not use wax. I'm not qualified to say to use or not to use something but to me jigaloo seems to make the rail more slippery so I do not see that as a bad thing. it dries almost immediately so there is no oily residue to attract dirt and also cleans the rail. I spray on a rag before wiping the rail. I have never had an issue of serving separating since I stopped using the oily stuff....just my own experience with lubes

[racking up points]

No guru here, but from what I understand is it lubricates the area between the serving and the string, which causes the serving to "slide" apart. This effect is exaggerated the more acute that the string angle is.

Re: wax, there is a school of thought that it's not needed for the string, I've never heard anyone say don't wax the serving though...maybe it's for fear of having it build up in the trigger mech? But as long as it's worked into the serving, I can't see wax building up in there.

[Bones]

!!! Wrong thread Sorry

[colouredchameleon]

Too me this one of those subjects like whether to remove your string or not prior to storing your crossbow.
Some DO and Some Don't.
I Use the Excalibur Rail Lube. Re-applied at the same time as each time I reapply a fresh coating of string wax. But like alot of other things in life the application of both the wax and lube more is not always better.
When I apply the lube I first work a small amount between my thumb and first finger until a very light film is evenly present on the surface of my finger tips.
I then wipe the light lube residue present on the finger tips evenly on both sides of the rail track ensuring a light even barely noticeable sheen . Which in my experince has never collected dirt whatsoever. If it does then clearly in my opinion too much lube has been applied.

As to serving separation I have not experience any to date using my Excalibur rail lube application method with a the stock and both a Boo and Danny Miller Custom Flemish String.
The dirt build argument in my opinion has a greater possibility of occuring and causing damage to be an issue more so related to improper application of the string wax then a fine film / sheen of lube on the rail.

When it comes to WD40 and jig-a- loo use on the rail I see very little difference as to their use and using of the Excalibur Rail Lube as I do. The result is the same in that they all leave a very fine film on the rail surface reducing friction .
The only real difference is one is the Excalibur's Rail Lube Brand.
I would also doubt that Excalibur would sell a product that is conctraindicated as to its use on their crossbows. Without a clear warning statement .

[galamb]

I'm in the "I lube the rail, camp".

Have about half a dozen tubes of Horton rail lube and put it on the rail about every 50 shots (owned two Horton's before my Excal - so left-overs).

I shoot a lot and can't say that it have noted any damage from using the lube.

Just swapped strings because Vixenmaster made me some really cool coloured strings - the string that was replaced (Excal factory flemish) had (conservatively) somewhere between 2000 and 3000 shots on it and was barely showing signs of serving wear - could have easily got another few hundred shots (maybe another 1000) unless it went "flooey" all of a sudden.

So right or wrong "MY" first hand experience has been - have never experienced what I would consider "pre-mature" failure of a string or string serving from using rail lube.

The one thing I do notice, after lubing in the cold weather, is a distinct "sulfur smell" the first few times I pull the trigger ????

[racking up points]

I'm in the "I lube the rail, camp".

Have about half a dozen tubes of Horton rail lube and put it on the rail about every 50 shots (owned two Horton's before my Excal - so left-overs).

I shoot a lot and can't say that it have noted any damage from using the lube.

Just swapped strings because Vixenmaster made me some really cool coloured strings - the string that was replaced (Excal factory flemish) had (conservatively) somewhere between 2000 and 3000 shots on it and was barely showing signs of serving wear - could have easily got another few hundred shots (maybe another 1000) unless it went "flooey" all of a sudden.

So right or wrong "MY" first hand experience has been - have never experienced what I would consider "pre-mature" failure of a string or string serving from using rail lube.

The one thing I do notice, after lubing in the cold weather, is a distinct "sulfur smell" the first few times I pull the trigger ????

To be fair though, you're shooting the Exaclibur bow with the least acute string angle and the lightest possible draw weight, so it's not really surprising that you're getting superb serving wear; I certainly doubt it's because you lube the rail. Someone shooting a 405 or even a micro with their acute string angles and heavy draw weights won't have the same performance.

From experience with a reverse-draw bow, over-doing the string lube will lead to serving separation. It's this experience that led me away from the practice, especially once I learned that most don't Excal shooters don't use it, but to each his own.