Anyone interested and future buyers of crossbows are often overwhelmed by the huge selection and extensive choice of products and lose track quickly. Mispurchases are inevitable that way and the new interest is often tarnished by avoidable mistakes. This does not have to be like that. BSW wants to give you a hand and help you find the perfect crossbow since there often is a lack of knowledge about the necessary information that is needed in order to buy the right crossbow. No wonder considering that you never have the opportunity in everyday-life to get into contact with a crossbow, let alone compare several models. This is why we offer detailed information about crossbows with our extensive guide, so that you are able to pick the right crossbow for you. Of course we will also be happy to help you by telephone or via our support center at any time. Here, our experienced crossbow shooters will be helping you in word and deed.

Buy crossbows at BSW

At BSW, every crossbow shooter will find his ideal companion for leisure-, competetive-, or hunting use. When compared to bows, no matter if longbow, horsebow or recurve bow, shooting with a crossbow will be an entirely different experience. The crossbow sector offers numerous possibilities and thereby a broad selection of crossbow models. No matter if you do a hunting vacation in foreign countries, training or are at a medieval event in historically accurate clothing- here at BSW you will certainly find the right crossbow for your desires. Browse through our large selection of well-known quality manufacturers and you will also become a precise crossbow shooter.

Which types of crossbows are there?

If you have informed yourself a little bit about crossbows you surely have noticed already that the various models are different in the way they are built and how they operate. Some crossbows are smaller than others while other types have rolls at the ends of the limbs on the other hand. We would like to bring some light into the darkness. If you want to buy a crossbow at BSW, you will have to learn about the different executions sooner or later. We will help you decide. There are the following types of crossbows:

The compound crossbow

You have opted for buying a compound crossbow? Or maybe you are only in the process of informing yourself about this special model. In both cases you are right at BSW. Apart from a large selection of compound crossbows, we alo offer extensive purchase advice.

What is a compound crossbow?

The compound crossbow is a high end sports device that convinces with its special and futuristic looks as well as with formidable and impressive properties.

This combination quickly helped the compound crossbow become the first choice for beginners and professionals at once. So if you are looking for a model that offers high accuracy and convinces with its light draw, we generally recommend you buy a compound crossbow.

But how exactly does a compound crossbow work?

The many components of compound crossbows can quickly overwhelm beginners here and there. No wonder considering that normally in everyday-life you do not get in contact with such devices. This of course makes it quite difficult to get some initial experience with crossbows.

If you take a closer look at the compound crossbow you will soon notice the iconic rolls at the ends of the limbs, which are called cams. These cams are connected with the string as well as with cables that are secured in the other limb. When spanning, the components all work together and a pulley effect occurs, making the spanning process significantly easier. This way, the compound crossbow can achieve the same or even higher arrow speed despite having a far lower draw weight than fast recurve crossbows.

The recurve crossbow

Compared to the futuristic and modern looking compound crossbows, recurve crossbows look rather simple at first glance and have a somewhat traditional character. One important reason for that is that many components that are very often used on compound crossbows are left out in the case of recurve crossbows. Recurve crossbows do not use any cables or cams and thereby do not have the properties of the pulley effect that compound crossbows have. These models only use the very essential components.

How does the recurve crossbow work?

In the front area of the recurve crossbow the riser is located, which the so-called limbs are mounted onto. Depending on the model, it can be just one entire limb or a pair of limbs. The ends of the limbs are connected with the string. Since the string is shorter than the distance between the two ends of the limbs, they are always under pressure. And that is all, no hidden or surprising functions.

There is always pressure on the limbs of the recurve crossbow until the string comes to rest in a lock at the back of the crossbow, which secures the string. Thereby the energy is safely stored in the trigger unit until releasing it.

The advantages of a recurve crossbow

Many beginners to crossbow shooting quickly come to the conclusion that the performance of recurve crossbows cannot compare with that of compound crossbows. How is such a simple construction even supposed to compete with the complex design of compound crossbows? Please do  not allow yourself to be deceived by the simple construction. Recurve- as well as compound crossbows can achieve nearly identical performance. Of course recurve crossbows are harder to span compared to their compound crossbow brothers due to the missing compound tech, that triggers the pulley effect.

The recurve crossbow has its advantages in other important topics. The simple and robust construction of the recurve crossbow allows it to be shot without the shooter having to worry about potential malfunctions even in bad weather conditions when outdoors. There are no cams that can get damaged or bent easily when handled roughly. There is little space for mud and dirt to accumulate in various parts. The cables would be another unnecessary wearing part that you do not need to worry about anymore with a recurve crossbow. Like that, the costs of possible repairs and maintenance are reduced to a minimum.

Crossbow purchasing guide

As you can see there are also numerous advantages with recurve crossbows. Now you have to find out what properties are relevant for you in order to find the right crossbow. For that, we offer an extensive crossbow purchasing guide, by which we want to support you so you can find your desired crossbow.

The hunting crossbow

If you are looking for a hunting crossbow, you can pretty much look at 90% of our models at BSW in detail. But why does the majority of the crossbows belong the the category of hunting crossbows? There is a pretty simple reason, namely that the crossbow was originally designed for hunting purposes. So all proper crossbow models are intended to be used for hunting. No wonder that the large manufacturers of hunting crossbows like Excalibur, Barnett and Tenpoint are from Canada or the US since they are not only used for sports but also for hunting there. Not suitable for hunting are light beginners´- and LARP crossbows as well as the compact pistol crossbows.

But not only the large, well-estabilshed manufacturers offer convincing hunting crossbows. There are also alternatives to the incumbents from the US or Canada, for example the brand X-Bow, which you should definitely take a closer look at.  X-BOW crossbows convince beginners with fair prices as well as experienced crossbow shooters with an impressive performance.

Are you allowed to hunt with crossbows?

As we know by now, clearly the main use for crossbows is hunting. In many countries, this use of hunting crossbows is not restricted like in Canada or the United States.

But what about Germany? You can only buy crossbows in Germany if you are 18 years or older. There is no further need for any certificates like a firearms license or similar documents. Crossbows in public should only be carried in such a way that other persons that are not entitled to handle the crossbow are not able to do so. For that, suitable crossbow cases or crossbow bags for example are a good choice.

Hunting with crossbows is prohibited in Germany. Thereby the crossbow can only be shot in sports use. That means that customary targets for crossbows or 3D animals can  be used as crossbow targets for example. This can occur on your private property, a club or on the parcours. Of course you should inform yourself whether the owner of the parcours allows or does not allow the use of crossbows.

The values of crossbows | joule, fps, lbs, grain

In order for you to be able to opt for the right crossbow, you should also understand the values of that certain crossbow, which is not always very easy. If you have already looked into the topic more closely, you certainly came across values like fps, lbs or joule. For many beginners, these values are likely to be a completely new thing. This might not be surprising, however, since these values are used in the imperial system. Chances are that you are more familiar with the metric system. If that is the case, you first have to get used to that since you will come across this commonplace data in the entire world of archery. In the following, we would like to clarify some terms for you, in order to bring light into the darkness.

FPS – The speed of the crossbow

The fps-value tells you how fast the crossbow is. FPS menas "feet per second" and is the counterpart to the metric unit "meters per second" (m/s).  This value, however, can also be converted to km/h. This should be the most common unit for users of the metric system and thereby the easiest to understand how fast the crossbow bolt will be.

LBS – The draw weight of the crossbow

The draw weight of crossbows is measured in lbs. LBS tells you how much weight in pounds is required for the string to be fully pulled back. This value is from the imperial system as well and can be converted to kilogram, which might be more common to you. Recurve crossbows generally have a higher draw weight than compound crossbows since recurve crossbows do not make use of the compound tech, which triggers a kind of pulley effect.

That means that a higher draw weight does not necessarily mean higher arrow speed or performance. The actual energy is measured in joule.

Joule – The energy of the bolt

Joule is the unit telling you the energy of the bolt, that means how high the power or force of the bolt is. Because of that, this unit is one of the most significant of the crossbow. In order to calculate the joule value of the crossbow, you need to know the velocity (fps) and the weight of the bolt (grain).

Grain – Weight unit for bolts, points etc.

The weight of bolts, points, nocks as well as feathers is measured in grain most of the time, which is an even smaller unit than gram. 1 gram is 15.4 grain for example.

The crossbow for leisure-, sports,- and hunting use

As an alternative to the classic bow, crossbows offer many similar application possibilities in the hobby sector as well as for hunting. The entire construction consists of one bow that is mounted in the middle of a horizontal pillar. The string is spanned between the two limbs as usual, although in the case of crossbows you should always use a spanning aid.

This ensures a consistent draw and reproducable results when firing the bolts. Crossbows were used mainly as ranged weapons in medieval wars. Nowadays, they are mainly used as sports- and hunting devices. They are made of high-quality plastics as well as carbon fiber and fiberglass, which makes them extremely durable.

Beginners´ sets with numerous accessories

You want to get a crossbow? Then you unfortunately have the agony of choice so take a quick look at our crossbow purchase guide. Thereby you will quickly find the models that are suitable for you. You are a beginner and want to collect some experience about crossbows first? Then we recommend you buy an affordable pistol crossbow by X-BOW, which can also be ordered in a complete set for beginners including the crossbow itself, a bag, aluminium bolts, string wax and a replacement string. Like that, you can immediately start with your first training. Of course you will also find recurve- or compound crossbows in our shop that are suited for beginners. If you prefer a medium-priced model, you can take a look at the crossbows by Sanlida. They are ideal for the hobby- and sports sector and are a good choice for learning basic shot techniques.

Excellent brands

If you are one of the advanced or professional sports shooters or hunters, it makes sense to switch over to medium- or high range crossbows. Decide whether you want a recurve- or compound crossbow by Barnett, Excalibur or Stryker and profit from the excellent quality.

For each one of our crossbows we supply the matching bolts with accessories, exchangeable points and individual fletching. Medieval- and LARP-fans can also get equipped at our shop with detailed replicas of historic crossbows made of wood and metal. Take on a journey through time between the 12th and 15th century and duel with our crossbows. Do you have questions? Then do not hesitate to call our friendly service team or send us an email.

Crossbows in the course of time

Whether you want a recurve crossbow, a pistol crossbow, a compound crossbow or a medieval crossbow - you have the agony of choice if you want to get yourself a new crossbow. Today´s crossbow models are all based on technologically far less advanced models that have already been used by the Greeks, Romans and Normans. The crossbow has already had a long history.

The primal form of crossbows is a medieval wooden bow that had to be spanned with both hands and whose draw weight was very low. It did not require a spanning aid. A further development of this form was the composite bow, which was made with horn and animal tendons. This construction was still susceptible to weather and had to be equipped with a spanning aid in the form of pulleys, levers or screws. In the 14th century, only crossbows made from steel that were no longer affected by wind and bad weather were produced.

Modern crossbows cannot be compared to the early ones. The basic function of crossbows was kept, although the advance in technology made it possible that crossbows could be precise, efficient and light-weight at the same time. Modern materials like aluminium or carbon allow for the desired low weight, high-speed cams enable bolt speeds of up to 400 km/h and due to accessories like high-quality scopes, crossbows are as accurate as never before.

Modern crossbows by well-known manufacturers

In our product range, you can find lots of great recurve-as well as compound crossbows by manufacturers like Barnett, Excalibur, TenPoint, Sanlida, Stryker or X-Bow. Of course you will also be supplied with high-quality accessories like crossbow bolts, scopes or replacement strings. With such a large selection of crossbows, the decision which one to buy is not all that easy. For that, we offer you our free crossbow purchase guide in our online shop, which will help you make a decision. As you can see, we have thought of everything so that you are 100% happy with your next crossbow and are always able to hit the bullseye.