Ace Martial Arts Supply Self Cocking Tactical Crossbow, 80-Pound

I have to admit I didn’t have much hope for this item. I knew I was buying a toy and that likely it would behave as a toy.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. While the materials and the general feel of the item is a bit toy-like, this is not a toy. This is a powerful weapon that should be treated as such.
I found the presence of a default “safety” refreshing and useful. The level action to load it is fairly smooth and once one gets the hang of it quite quick.

The darts are cheaply made. I purchased several more of them separately and that was an excellent idea because the rear part (fletching I guess it is called, where the little wings are) tends to break or jump out when hitting anything too solid or entering the target at an angle.
I intend to either modify them myself or buy better quality ones (or keep buying the cheap ones and just toss them when I am done since they are cheaply made but also very cheap costwise).

The Crossbow itself is also made with cheap materials, but it is pretty solid. It may break with more use but I think I would have to abuse it and misuse it a lot for that to happen. We will see in that regard. So far I shot about a 100 bolts with the Crossbow no worse for wear.

I mentioned this thing is a weapon. Indeed it is. I don’t know if it is powerful enough to kill, but at close range I would not want to be the one to test it. It is also amazingly accurate once it has been sighted properly. When I first got it it shot about 1ft high at 8 to 10 years away. Since I sighted it I have been putting 90% of my bolts in a 5″ circle.
As soon as the dead rise again, I should be able to do kill headshots without too many problems at shorter distances (I would want a bit heavier bolt however, even though the ones it comes with have surprising penetration).

I don’t hunt or like even the idea of shooting animals. I would make an exception in the presence of a clearly rabid critter in need of being put down. I am purely a target shooter and for that purpose this Crossbow is a lot of fun. Even my wife is enjoying it. And unlike my Bow and Arrows, I can shot it inside after making sure to prepare an area without precious china around.

My eventual goal is to try shooting it at moving targets and try to increase my rate of fire.

The bottom line is this: unless you expect to get a professional crossbow, and unless yours is defective, this is a very nice, affordable Pistol Crossbow. It is more precise that it has any right to be for the price and if you buy enough bolts you will have a lot of fun target shooting with it. It has certainly impressed my archery friends with its power and accuracy.

It’s a pain to put together but so worth it! The velocity was surprising given the size. Both strings snapped after a few shits which is a bummer but otherwise we love it!

When I say cheap, I mean both in terms of cost and quality. So it basically evens out. It’s not something a serious enthusiast would find useful (except as a curiosity or novelty piece in a bigger collection), but for anyone looking for a low bar to entry, it’s not a bad choice. Most of the moving parts have a lot of play in them and aren’t too solid, but if you want something with higher manufacturing tolerances, you’ll have to pay for it. The bolts, which I consider basically a bonus anyway (and you get a lot of them), are very cheap; the first one fired broke and four total broke in the first few dozen fired. I know I’m talking a lot about how cheap this is, but that’s not to say it has no merits. At the end of the day, you’re getting a functioning crossbow that shoots well and is easy to use for less than $100 even if you get it with extra accessories. Speaking of which, I didn’t buy the version with the red-dot sight, but mine came with it anyway, but that’s probably not a typical case. And despite what I’ve heard from others, I was able to get the string on by myself fairly easily, though it wasn’t effortless by any means; it takes technique and more than a little muscle (but technique does most of the work). I’ve only had one occasion to shoot it so far, but it was a pretty fun time. While it is cheap, I don’t imagine it’s going to fall apart on me anytime soon other than normal wear and tear.