How To Know If You Should Replace Your Crossbow Limbs
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.14.18
While it is rare to have to replace your crossbow limbs, it is a problem some hunters will run into at some point in their hunting career.
Perhaps you’ve used your crossbow so much the limbs are actually wearing out, OR a dropped bow from a tree stand might have damaged it. Either way, you are looking at replacing the limb on your crossbow, and are probably wondering what the best crossbow limb is.
Now, here is the sticky part. Crossbow limbs really aren’t generic parts. Often they are designed and calibrated for a particular brand of crossbow. Now you might be able to get away with changing out to limbs of the same draw rate, or you might not. It’s always best to buy your replacement limbs from the manufacturer or distributor. A professional bow shop might be able to work with non factory limbs, but whenever possible get the same one that you are replacing. That said, there are a number of nice replacement/repair limbs on the market, so we’ll show you some of the best crossbow limbs available today.
This generic 150 pound crossbow limb will work on a number of entry level and off brand crossbows, or other fairly simple 150 pound crossbows. A lot of users have reported that it works well as a replacement for their different Chinese import crossbows, or even for building their own crossbow. If you have an entry level or off brand 150 pound crossbow, take a close look, this might be the best crossbow limb for you.
When to Replace a Crossbow Limb
As we mentioned earlier, if you are having problems with your crossbow limbs, you pretty much want to go back to the manufacturer for them. Many manufacturers don’t even list limbs on their websites as something you can simply order, however any reputable company will replace limbs under warranty or for a reasonable replacement cost if out of warranty. You can also shop around online and hope to find a spare limb that’s been parted out from a used crossbow, but you might also just wind up with somebody else’s headache or damaged limb if you aren’t careful.
On rare occasions, a crossbow limb might fail on its own for no real reason. Manufacturing defects do unfortunately happen sometimes. Other times, if you accidentally (or deliberately) dry fire your crossbow, you’ll wind up damaging your limb. The end result is usually the same- splintering and cracking in the fiberglass material. If this happens you should stop using your crossbow and send for a replacement.
Another way crossbow limbs can be damaged is through shooting the wrong bolts. If you shoot too light, or too short of a bolt for your crossbow, you might wind up with a dry fire, or simply cause excess strain on the crossbow, which can eventually show in the form of a cracked or splintering limb.
Caring for your Crossbow Limb
You want to avoid any kind of undue stress on your crossbow. They are designed to operate within certain parameters, and a number of parts under strain have to be carefully balanced to avoid undue strain and damage. You want to keep your bow string clean and waxed. Replace it after a couple hundred shots, or if you see it starting to fray. A snapped bow string can cause an energy dump that your crossbow isn’t built to handle. Along with the already mentioned avoiding of dry firing and using the correct arrows for your crossbow, you want to protect the limbs of your bow from damage during storage or transport. Avoid dropping your bow whenever possible, and don’t let corrosive chemicals come into contact with any part of your bow.
