Hello All

Some time ago, for some reason, I gained an interest in Crossbows.

Anyway to cut a very very long story, Short.

I decided to build my own.

A great deal of reading and hours spent online.

I set to the daunting task infront of me.

A plastic cusion and a metal shim/1p piece coin will do.

Is still required to protect the prod in the tiller slot.



IVO from here. and JASONWEMP of youtube helped along the way.

With support, comments and inspiration.

Thanks to them both.

Here is the nearly Finished Result of my Labours

No string yet until I get the prod protectors inplace.




An Armex Prod 175lbs, The stirup is steel not aluminium.




You can just see the gravity dryfire raised by the bolt.




I put a dovetail on the sight rail for when I make the sight.




The bolt retention spring is made from an old hand saw blade.



And thats it.

There is a full build history with lots of pictures on my blog.

Just click the link on my signature



I admit that I have made lots of mistakes along the way,

but to me a mistake is the way NOT to do it next time.



Please Please make as many comments as you like and ask as many questions also.



This is my very first build and I have not ever fired a crossbow before.

So I'm looking forward to doing so.


The Arbalist Guild has been my home for 4 hours a night for the last month.

The quanity and quality on information here is staggering.

Thanks to all.



Peter.....

Alright! Crazy big text too - well, it's better than CAPS.

Lol, I kinda argued with Peter on this build when on his blog. Sturdy guy.

It's good for the first build...some things I would have done differently on the outside, but it's a style thing... it gets better and better as you build.

I really like the internals.

The trigger group is familiar to me, but the safety and anti-dryfire are pretty cool. Think you did a video of that in operation, right?

Anyway, grab that string...or make one (we got a topic rolling on that)...and show us some groups. Hmm, by the way, what are you going with after optics wise?

Congrats on the build.

Ivo

PS: How hard is Opepe? Never heard of the wood before.

Opepe is a little softer than English oak to work with, but the grain is tighter, giving a really smooth finish.

Ok my in-experiance is showing through now.
I bought the prod from Merlin Archery UK.
Before I bought it I got some specs from them. Brace height 4" and power stroke 12".
I decided to set the power stroke on my build to 11" as it was my first time building. Giving my 15" prod to nut.
Today I strung the bow and low and behold the brace height is 3".
Which makes me return to a 12" power stroke.
This is not the problem.
It wont pull to 12", I can only get it back to 11.5".
Now what to do. If I leave the bow strung for a day or so will it give me the extra half and inch I need.
Or should I make a longer string.
Or should I buy a new prod.
Or should I re-build the front of my bow and move the prod back and inch or two.

HELP......

Cheers Peter

Ps These things are sent to test us.

I managed to cock the bow after an hour or two of been strung.

OH MY GOD

I need a good quality target !!!!!!!!!!
I need accurate sights !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I need a bigger garden !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At 15mtrs the bold went through 2 bags of soil, 2 planks of chipboard, and took a large chip out of a pathing slab, which was stood behind the target.
Pushing the target point 1" down the shaft of the bolt.
This thing scares the crap out of me.
Before I fire it again, a large open space must be found!
I Love It !!!!!!!!!!
This is my first and by no means my last build.
Now I understand why you are all here!!!!!!!!!!

I'm happy as a lamb.

Peter

I use a coffee sack stuffed with shrink wrap from pallets as an archery target. The shrink wrap is grippy stuff. Stops arrows quick. Plastic shopping bags works well too but maybe half as effective. Maybe sew a round end in the mouth of the sack and shoot through it lengthwise?

Thanks for the shrink wrap idea.
I will try it!

Question
Does anyone have an 175lbs armex prod, and can give me their brace height and powerstroke measurements,
I know mine is wrong. It is just too hard to pull the last inch or so...............
Thanks in advance.

Peter

We all work hard and time is valueble to us all.
So in lue of an answer I have reduced the length of the stock by 1.5".
OMG what a difference it makes. The draw feels right. The ease of the trigger pull is smooth and the hole crossbow feels relaxed.
It is now a pleasure to shoot.
I'm working away as usual so pictures and videos will be a week or two in coming.

Just one more question.
As its my own thread I thought I would ask it here.
Does the center serving of the string have to be of a thicker meterial than the end servings.
I know the answer is out there, but if some could just say yah or nay it would save me a few hours of searching.
Thanks again.

Peter...........

Hey Peter,

Very nice work there, really impressed. I hope to see a video of it shooting soon.

Cheers!
Jay

Jay
What can I say but thankyou.
You uploaded a pdf of your stock design, on my request, I receive emails from youtube, hoping you have done some more work on your crossbow, but your knives are great.
You was right about your stock design, as you didnot know the draw length of the prod, leaving the stock long was and is a wise idea.
A video will be forthcoming as soon as I return home.
Peter............

Hey, Jay chiming in...haha! Good to see you man.

petercro wrote:OH MY GOD
Now I understand why you are all here!!!!!!!!!!

Hellz yeh!

About the string, there is a topic on here dealing with that and it's grown pretty interesting with info.

https://thearbalistguild.forumotion.com/t567p15-string-jig-was-string-and-brace-again#5142

With larger tips like on the prod you have, I think you can use the same serving as the center. Since the string doesn't have tight bends on a larger nock it's not AS critical as with the tiny steel prod nock tips adn the serving should hold fine. Good luck.

Ivo