Crisbow Crossbow (pic heavy)

Hi Sybie

Those pics are very interesting: I've never seen a Cheetah crossbow with a flat riser at the front. Has that been cut off or is it smooth (factory)?

Also, the steel stirrup you have there looks like an aftermarket part that was being sold at Sharp Edges in Carlton Centre a long time ago. It might well be that these are very early Crisbow pieces but if I was to hazard a guess I would say that the metal stirrup and the odd-looking prod with 8 vertical bolts are not original Crisbow components.

As far as a replacement bracket goes, you might be able to get that engineered by using your good bracket as a template. It is small enough to be 3D scanned, but will probably be expensive to have made.
 
@ Odd Job

The cheetah was definately factory made, i have checked and double checked and checked again for any form of cuting or modifications but nothing.It seems factory made.

The od prod with the 8 bolts comes from my MK2 with the Imbuia Stock. I examined it and it seem well made and not just something someone created in his back yard. I will take pics to explain tonight and then post them tomorrow for interest sake, as a matter of fact I was even contimplating building another such one for those two loose limbs but will investigate tonight if it could work and provide the info tomorrow.

I don`t think someone here in Botswana could help me wrt the engineering so if all else fails I will see what I can do when next I visit South Africa but keep everyone posted.... lets keep this tread alive as i feel everyone has helped me personaly so much.

Thanks again.
 
Ah, then you got some early kit there and I would keep it for collection purposes if I were you.
 
interesting

Yes I agree the metal stirrup is the aftermarket one (I also have one knocking around)

I find the crisbow without the riser most interesting, as I have never come across one without it , the crossbow will still work fine (in cheetah form) without it , but you will have no front sight

regarding the missing re curve bracket , I see you do have one you can use as a template,If I was in your position I would take it to an engineering firm and have them make one up for you (they would probably make it out of steel so it would be a bit heavier that the original , but a lot stronger provided the use the same thickness ) this could not be that expensive as it is not a very complex bracket (they would probably use flat steel and weld on the different planes)

the 8 bolt prod is definitely a mkII

shame about the serial no's as it would have told us where to place it in the production run

but it would seem bar the strings your mkII and one MKIII , is complete ,
so someone is going to bag a warthog soon :)
 
a Warthog and maybe if I am lucky enough a Ostrich as well...I am still working on the Ostrich part :)

I have an extra scope that I will put on so that the MK2 and one cheetah will be working perfectly.

I am planing on keeping them and rather get more of them than geting rid of any of them....even if they are for "display purposes only"(of course that doesn`t count for me ;)
 
an Ostrich ? , well thats Interesting! the Idea never occurred to me before!

yes , do not get rid of your crisbows as they are becoming scarcer , and it is quite a different design the (MKIII/MKIV composite) than the others.

and try to get a Compound prod (Quadro) I found for hunting, my Quadro hits harder than my Cheetah (must be those aggressive cams)
 
Just for interest sake i took some pics of my bolts(arows).they are 22'', so i took one of the damaged ones and cut it down to 16" and wow they are short but will work fine in the bow, I dont think i would use them as I feel they loose to much weight and would decrease the impact on an animal and also will loose the acuracy over longer distances...I hope I am thinking corectly as i have not tested the shorter one...if any one difers from my thoughts please enlighten me as I am no expert of any sorts on arows,ets. Just my personal thoughts.

PS. I have Easton 2117 bolts
 

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Another thing that i was hoping that someone could assist with is the fletching, what is the best length, the pics i have aded are of some of the ones that i found recently but i have not tested them either,there are 3 lengts and was wondering if someone could asssist me with which i should rather use.:)

What would be the Ideal wieght for the field tips/broadheads be if I would want to use them for hunting(it goes without saying that I wont use a fieldpoint on warthogs,etc)
 

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Hi Sybie , your 16 inch bolts will have a flatter trajectory than the 22 inch jobs , also bear in mind , your target impact = momentum at that point
and momentum is defined as Mass x Velocity so you will find your shorter bolts will travel faster than the longer ones , the energy the crossbow launches the bolt is about always the same.
so it actually balances out , I prefer shorter bolts in my cheetah (18 inch) as I find them easier to shoot with , as far as I know 16 inch is the shortest you can safely use in a crisbow

regarding the broad-heads , you will find them a lot more inaccurate that field points , I use the normal 100 grain broad-heads , and have had good results with it ,

regarding the fletching,for the crisbow I fletch my bolts a little higher up the shaft as to just clear the loading mechanism (when loaded in crisbow)

also use the bigger fletches if you want to use the broadheads, (as there have more weight to stabilize )
 
Thanks for the feedback, yes I was also Thinking that 17" or 18" bolts would be best.Thanks again for the feedback.
 
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I found a book in my "library" about crosbows...I do not have a printing date for it but it seems as the Crisbow crossbows were quite a favourite in the days gone by.There is a manufacturers and importers list and it indicates the folowing for the Crisbows..(also see pic)

"Crisbow Crossbow, FPA Co., Steve Perry, 17220 New Hope St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708, or John Florence, P.O.Box 69, Pleasanton, CA 94566"

I have heard numerous times and from diferent sources that the Crisbow company was once in Swaziland?? Just thought this could be some info for any one.:D
 

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I had some good results with double delta fletchings on a short 16" carbon arrow (but that's only as shot against foam).
Agree that the fletchings should be a bit more forward of the nock so that they clear the trigger housing. The back edge of the fletching should be 45mm away from the nock.
 
G,day all from Australia I have a Crisbow MKIV model number 6583 recurve model purchased it from local gun dealer in Melbourne in 1988 it hasn't seen the light of day for the last 15 or so years just dug it out of the shed, I got it primarily for pig hunting but only ever managed a couple of rabbits with it, I am mainly a compound, recurve bow hunter it's still in farly good nick needs a new string though, have ta chase 1 up.
cheers.:cool:
 
my cheetah

here's the pics of my ol cheetah, needs new string and has a bit of light surface rust but otherwise in good nick.
 

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well I have seen an perfect example Quadro 2000 go for R2700 that is ~ $370
 
Got a Quadro !!

Great stuff guys. Thanks for all the photos . I was given a Quadro 2000 by risxc , who is a very good friend of mine. Already topped with a mil-dot 4x32 scope Tomorrow i will contact the local guy that makes up cables ect , and see if he can make me a set. Will post photos asap. My nephew have a mark II ( :confused: maybe) crissbow with the wood stock he bought ~ 1984 in Pretoria . He will be pretty :cuss: when he sees this baby !! Cannot wait to bag a duiker the eco-friendly way ! :evil:
 
:confused: hello everyone new to this forum picked up a crissbow mk4 at a yard sale seems to be in great shape(rarely if ever used) promblem is cant get it to shoot straight(shoots low) it also seems to tear up the fletching almost every time. no bolts came with it so i used 20 inch carbon arrows. any ideas what bolts nocks and vanes should be used could this be the reason for the erratic shooting also where could i get some type of scope for this thing if i can get it to shoot strait.
 
Hi there, welcome to the High Road

I have experienced both issues that you describe. The tearing of fletchings is easy to sort out. Quite a few possibilities:

1) The prod is not attached in a central position on the frame. Have a look at the front of the bow (obviously with it unloaded) and see if there is equal space at the prod aperture on either side. These prods can be mounted with some play in their position, so you need to get that central. You usually see a few millimetres of the frame on either side, that distance must be equal

2) The scope mount housing sits quite low on the frame and if you get regular crossbow arrows (factory fletching) then these have to be pressed down to fit under the scope mount housing. I found that this can lead to problems because if the fletchings are not exactly level on both sides, you can get wear on the fletchings from the lower lip of the scope mount housing. The solution is to have all your arrows refletched so that the fletchings sit a bit more forward. On mine they sit 45mm from the nock.

3) You need flat nocks, not moon nocks.

4) Loading technique. If you have short arms or are stronger in one arm than the other, you might be starting the loading procedure by grasping only one side of the string then pulling it up to meet the other hand. You can get off-centred loading like this (the centre of the string serving which should be in contact with the back of the arrow now makes contact with one of the bars of the string retaining mechanism instead). When you fire, the string realignes and you have some force imparted to the arrow which is not parallel to the frame. Correct loading technique is to use only three fingers of each hand, which must be placed on the string simultaneously, firmly against the frame and then the string must be drawn up evenly into the retaining mechanism. At all times your chest should be against the buttstock so that you use as much arm power as possible and you are aiming to use zero back muscle. When I load it, the only thing that moves is my arms. If you can't reach or you can't pull it like that then you need to see if a manual rope-cocking assist can help. Unfortunately there are no factory-made cranks or motors for the Crisbow crossbow to assist loading.

5) If your crossbow is compound then you might have a damaged cable-guide, or even a missing cable guide or one of the cables has come out of the cable guide and now you have stresses in the system which could mean the arrow is not acted on by a force parallel to the frame. You need to check that cable guide after each shot: a cable can jump out.

6) Worn centre serving. If the serving is worn (the white thicker string entwined around the middle of the bowstring) then you could have uneven materials acting on the back of the arrow or snagging under the scope mount housing. You need to redo the centre serving if that is the case, making sure it isn't too thick so that it has to be forced under the scope mount housing each time you load.

7) Make sure there are no rough nicks or dings on the crossbow track. Also check that no obstructions are present in the central track groove, because that will take out a fletching.

About the crossbow firing low:

1) These bows are very rough on scopes. You need to check that it can still be adjusted. I went through two factory scopes and one third party scope already on mine. If you can adjust the scope and can shoot lower than where you are hitting currently, then you might have a problem where the scope has been mounted in such a way that you can't get the track and the scope aligned. In your case the front of the scope will be too high in relation to the track. There are ways to sort this out, but I'm not the guy to advise on that procedure. Head over to the rifle forum and ask the dudes there how to do it.

2) If the scope is broken and you need to get a new one, you should make sure you get a genuine crossbow scope. The forces acting on a crossbow scope are more vibratory in nature than those on a rifle, so the internals need to be able to withstand that.

If you don't come right with that advice, then please post pictures of your crossbow, particularly the front prod aperture, the scope mount housing and an overview picture of your scope as mounted on the bow.

Good luck, good shooting, keep it safe and let us know how it goes.
 
crisbow crossbow

I own a mk1v crisbow 150 pound recurve style crossbow and i have used it for years..Wish i could get the compound pod you have on yours...bet its cool ...think it s still available somewhere
 
odd job

i use 20 inch bolt with 100 grain broadhead and it works real good ..I been hunting moose and bear all my life ( 3 kills with bow on moose and 51 on bear)
I find if ur bolts are shorter u dont get the penetration nor acuracy...my crisbow cheetah mk1v is black
 
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