GunnSmokeer
Senior Member
I'm a firearms guy with only a little experience with archery equipment, and nothing modern. I used a recurve bow as a kid and I've shot my brother's mid 1970s compound bow a few times. No experience with crossbows.
QUESTION to those who are knowledgable or experienced:
What is the practical real-world accuracy of these weapons?
What kind of "group size" would you get shooting a crossbow at 25 yards? Let's say with a low-power crosshair scope, with decent arrows (the best you can get at a big box sporting goods store, but nothing custom-built or ordered from a special website). What if you took a shot from 50 yards? What do you consider the maximum effective range as far as accuracy goes, when shooting for a deer's vitals (forget ballistic performance for now).
Ditto for a compound bow. What kind of group would you consider "good" at 25 yards? 50 yards? I'm not talking about world record groups achieved by the best archers you can find with $5000 customized gear. I'm talking about what the top 10% of the bowhunters out there could achive most of the time, under decent conditions, with a $500 bow and some common hunting arrows from a major manufacturer.
For comparison, I'll tell you what I think firearms are "normally" capable of.
Scoped deer rifles are generally capable of a 5-shot group about 2" diameter at 100 yards. 1.5" is very good and an inch is excellent and remarkable. That's with factory ammo, not carefully developed handloads. In the hands of a pretty good shot, using a steady rest, such rifles can reguarly hit a deer's vital area at 300 yards. 400 is a real stretch but not impossible. 500 is wishing and hoping for all but the best long-range marksmen.
A duty-sized pistol with about a 5" barrel and open sights is normally tested for groups at 25 yards, and 50 yards is generally considered its maximum effective range. At 25 yards from a sandbag rest, held in the hands of a pretty good marksman, a four-inch group is good. Three inches would be very good, remarkably good.
With that in mind, what do y'all think of the accuracy of crossbows and regular compound bows?
QUESTION to those who are knowledgable or experienced:
What is the practical real-world accuracy of these weapons?
What kind of "group size" would you get shooting a crossbow at 25 yards? Let's say with a low-power crosshair scope, with decent arrows (the best you can get at a big box sporting goods store, but nothing custom-built or ordered from a special website). What if you took a shot from 50 yards? What do you consider the maximum effective range as far as accuracy goes, when shooting for a deer's vitals (forget ballistic performance for now).
Ditto for a compound bow. What kind of group would you consider "good" at 25 yards? 50 yards? I'm not talking about world record groups achieved by the best archers you can find with $5000 customized gear. I'm talking about what the top 10% of the bowhunters out there could achive most of the time, under decent conditions, with a $500 bow and some common hunting arrows from a major manufacturer.
For comparison, I'll tell you what I think firearms are "normally" capable of.
Scoped deer rifles are generally capable of a 5-shot group about 2" diameter at 100 yards. 1.5" is very good and an inch is excellent and remarkable. That's with factory ammo, not carefully developed handloads. In the hands of a pretty good shot, using a steady rest, such rifles can reguarly hit a deer's vital area at 300 yards. 400 is a real stretch but not impossible. 500 is wishing and hoping for all but the best long-range marksmen.
A duty-sized pistol with about a 5" barrel and open sights is normally tested for groups at 25 yards, and 50 yards is generally considered its maximum effective range. At 25 yards from a sandbag rest, held in the hands of a pretty good marksman, a four-inch group is good. Three inches would be very good, remarkably good.
With that in mind, what do y'all think of the accuracy of crossbows and regular compound bows?