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Quietest Crossbow

40K views 33 replies 17 participants last post by  sawyer1964 
G
#1 ·
I am thinking about purchasing a crossbow for my wife, and wondering what is the quiestest crossbow on the market? I don't mind if it is a little on the slow side, or a little on the cumbersome side either. As long as it is fair simple to use, natural to pull up, and QUIET.

Thank you.
 
#2 ·
Low drag what would be an SCM at about 2k or a Scorpyd RDT100 at about 1k. After that the next option would be an Excalibur Vixen II recurve limbed bow with an STS installed and a Viper X or a Boo custom string.
 
#3 ·
i have shot a couple different brands, all 175lbs. and above, and they all sound the same to me. i havent shot one that is quiet yet. they shoot so fast though it doesnt matter. the bolt is there before the animal even reacts. at least that has been my experience so far.
 
#4 ·
Parkers are very silent compared to other Xbows You can add Limb savers as P:beer:arkers dont come with them
 
#7 ·
Quiet and crossbow are antithetical: no such thing, if measured by what a deer hears. Moreover, most anything that is done to quiet a CB meaningfully reduces arrow speed. IMO it's more productive to focus on one careful shot, at a relaxed animal, at a reasonable distance than trying to sneak up on them with a CB arrow.
 
#9 ·
My definition of quiet is implied in the post: so quiet that deer can't hear it. Anything else is really only for the SHOOTER'S benefit. Even if your Vision is as quiet as you say it is (I'd rather you'd specified DBLs rather than a subjective comparison to "most modern compounds"), you're likely only getting one shot at an animal; the motion and noise of re cocking pretty much assures that. Therefore my mantra: one careful shot, at a relaxed animal, at reasonable distance.
Glad you like your Vinson. How's the serving holding up?
 
#12 ·
I agree about the one shot deal.If a deer cant hear it,i would call that silent,not quiet.Having hunted with compound bows for 27 years my biggest complaint about crossbows has always been the noise they produce,the Vision doesn't.I dont have a way to measure DBLs but you can read Jon Teaters review at the top of the page,he evaluated and recorded the DBLs.The serving is holding up great and i am using the factory string.
 
#10 ·
quiet

I've owned and tried;
excalibur
horton
stryker
parker
scorpyd
The bows are listed from loudest to quietest, the excalibur without any silencers is almost like a .22 lr, the scorpyd which is the quietest crossbow I've owned sounds similar to a compound, the sound of the arrow hitting the target is louder than the bow.
 
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#11 ·
I appreciate all the input guys and gal(Wouldn't forget about you Aggie). The Vision and several Excaliburs' are more readily available to me at this time, so I will start there, but won't stop until I find a suitable CB. 1 shot is all my wife will have the nerve for at the moment of truth. I realize that a CB is louder than a conventional bow, but I still want the quiestest for her, without spending $2000. The price tag on a new Vision or Ex. is at the farthest end of what I would want to spend at this time.

Thanks again for all the input, I will check in later.
 
#13 ·
I have not ever seen a Scorpyd, so I can not compare them.
I have shot
Parker
Ten Point
Exc.
Horton
Barret
Bow Tec's $700.00 bow??
I think Parker is the quietest..JMO

Leave the slincers off they will come off in a short time and throw your POI off. Besides they do not really help. (on the Parker Tornado)
 
#14 ·
My Scorpyd is as quiet as any of my compounds but not as quiet as a one cam Mathews or some of the newest compounds like the Strother.
 
#16 ·
Here's link to the site with prices for the bows and package.
http://scorpyd.com/store.html
The new 165 bow will cost $150.00 extra for the package and bow over the RDT 125 model.
 
#17 ·
If you want quiet, you definitely do not want an Excal, or other brand of recurve bow. They sound like guns going off!! I, as you can probably tell, am a big fan of Parkers, but I also like the Hortons. If you are looking for a compact, quiet, accurate, fast bow, and don't want to break the bank, give the Tornado a real hard look. Shoot it against others, and see how it feels. Only by doing this will she see what she likes best.

Rob
 
#18 ·
Horton Vision is the quietest bow that I have tested. IIRC

There was a running tabulation of data that I had collected over the past couple of years and adding info from other crossbow sites and testers (such as wyvern).

I will see if I can dig up those old posts for a reference point.
 
#21 ·
My SCM Twinbow and Vision 175 are

the quietest crossbows I've ever shot but I would recommend you look at other aspects of hunting crossbows if it actually is to be used for hunting. Things like physical weight, difficulty level of cocking, how the crossbow handles and feels in the hand and ease of maintenance are more important than how loud it is. JMO There are many choices and nothing beats actually holding the crossbows in hand and even shooting them. Have fun shopping:) Also talk to dealers about brands and models that have had reliability problems during the last year. Most of them will tell you.
 
G
#23 ·
the quietest crossbows I've ever shot but I would recommend you look at other aspects of hunting crossbows if it actually is to be used for hunting. Things like physical weight, difficulty level of cocking, how the crossbow handles and feels in the hand and ease of maintenance are more important than how loud it is. JMO There are many choices and nothing beats actually holding the crossbows in hand and even shooting them. Have fun shopping:) Also talk to dealers about brands and models that have had reliability problems during the last year. Most of them will tell you.
Moon, I have to agree with you on the check out the reliability factor. I have (admitting being a dumbass in public) dry fired my Vortex 3 times and it survived and is still going strong along with you dumping yours out of the tree and it survived. Excals are about as bullet proof as a crossbow can get. I do like others like the Scorpyd..but the Excals are just about fool and idiot proof.
I really appreciate the information guys. A quiet bow, or "quietest X-bow", gives me a place to start looking. Reliabilty should be my biggest concern, but I'm not one to hang on to my equipment forever. If my wife can use this X-bow for say 5 years, we will be in business. Also, she will use it maybe 3 times a year in the woods, and 5 times that on the range, so we shouldn't have a bunch of time spent reserving the string. Again, thanks for all the input, I now have about 2 weeks worth of being a salesman to myself.
 
#22 ·
Moon, I have to agree with you on the check out the reliability factor. I have (admitting being a dumbass in public) dry fired my Vortex 3 times and it survived and is still going strong along with you dumping yours out of the tree and it survived. Excals are about as bullet proof as a crossbow can get. I do like others like the Scorpyd..but the Excals are just about fool and idiot proof.
 
#24 ·
One that is often overlooked is the Darton. The new Serpent for those that have shot it at the ATA show, all know how quiet the bow was. Not the fastest by any means but one that you can hear the difference-a lot.
Not on the web site yet and will not ship until the beginning of March!!.
 
#26 ·
JMO my muzzleloader is not quiet and it kills all the time.... a deer can hear a mouse fart .. so does it really matter how quiet,, , I would be looking at vibration at the shot, overall weight, durability ect, JMHO
scorypd being the most efficent would be the quietest,,
 
#27 ·
Well buckeyboy - the speed of sound is a tad over 700 fps. The best you might have a crossbow actually shoot is 350 fps. Your muzzleloader might be shooting 1700-1900 fps. The crossbow is half the speed of sound, the ml is well over twice the speed of sound - not exactly an apples to apples comparison . . . whether that mouse farts or not.
 
#30 ·
#31 ·
But if deer automatically panicked, ducked, and then bolted at any anomalous sounds in the woods, then bleating, grunting, whistling, etc. would rarely work to stop them. They'd all head for the hills when we numbskulls made our attempts at deer-like sounds.

Also, there is the fact that the farther away they are, the less intense the sound is.

Bottom line, shoot what is practical and ethical with your skills and equipment. ;)
 
#34 ·
IIRC, in the Outdoor Life test the Darton Serpent was the quietest of all the bows they tested. A good friend has one and it is without a doubt the quietest crossbow I have ever heard. Darton also makes awesome equipment. If I was in the Market I would certainly be looking into one of these.
 
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