BALLISTA BAT Compound Mini Crossbow - Small Crossbow for Hunting, Fishing and Target - 300 FPS, 130 Lbs, 2.46 lbs

Let me first say that I have close to zero previous archery experience, so I have nothing to compare this product against. Having said that, I believe this is a serious weapon (definitely not a toy). I have set up an "archery range" in my basement and am able to shoot about 30 feet from my target. Practice bolts that came with the crossbow sink 4-6 inches into the target. I am very sure that this crossbow would do major damage to any living target.My primary reason for buying this product was for home protection. I am convinced it would stop anyone on the receiving end. Of course, if you were to use this against another person, you had better make the first shot count, as even with practice, it will take 5-10 seconds to cock the crossbow and load the next bolt.The quality of this crossbow seems excellent. It is easy to cock (and de-cock if needed). Cocking is very easy, you simply pull back on the cocking handle until it locks in place. When you cock it, a "safety" button pops out at the near end. You can't fire a bolt until you press the safety button back in. This is a great safety feature to prevent a dry fire or accidental shot. Once it is cocked, your choices are to either fire a bolt or to "de-cock" it, which is also very easy to do. The instructions warn you in no uncertain terms to never "dry fire" (fire without a bolt), as this can do serious damage to the string or the crossbow itself and will void the warranty. Once I got the sight aligned, I found I can hit within an inch of the bullseye with about 90% of my shots from 10 yards (in my basement with no wind). I can hit within two inches 100% of the time. So the repeatability of shots seems to be very good.Having no previous archery experience, I didn't take into account the extra costs associated with this crossbow. I needed to also buy the sight, an extra string/cable, a "press" (to replace the string/cables), a target, and some hunting bolts (it comes with three practice bolts). So, it was very easy for the total cost to come up to $500 or more once I take into account those additional, but very necessary, accessories.Aside from its main purpose that I bought it for (home protection), it is a lot of fun to shoot. The power is incredible. I'm sure larger crossbows have more power, but this seems to have all the power I need for my purposes. As I mentioned above this is NOT a toy, so I would not allow a child to use it without close supervision. But it is a lot of fun to shoot.

I did not expect this to be such a powerful weapon. It was exactly what I was looking for, even better!! I live in New York, I just moved into a new area, low security and wanted something on hand that I can use to defend myself with. I did not want to go out and get a gun license since there are so many laws around it, especially if I even had to use it in a moment of need. Using a gun in New York, regardless of self-defense in your home is a very sticky legal subject, and I would not want to be penalized for defending myselfThis was very easy to put together. I fired a few practice rounds in a secluded piece of land, that I own with capture targets, and the arrows were unrecoverable. That’s how serious and strong this weapon is. It’s not your basic bow and arrow set up. It’s a real weapon, I’m kind of surprised they sell this on Amazon but I am grateful. Having this gives me such a sense of security and defense. Any single woman, living alone should definitely buy this item and get comfortable firing it. It goes beyond pepper spray and a taser gun.

Caution must be used with this easy to load, amazing and highly accurate pistol gripped, double handed, load quickly, little beauty. Be very careful, use a back stopper because it's got great distance and strikes with force and enjoy. It's not hard to assemble and maintained well it will last a long time. Never dry fire it with nothing nocked. Woooh

On the third draw that the string became dislodged. And since they don't provide a Stringer with it so you'll have to buy one probably just to be safe if you still choose to buy this piece of garbage. I'm going to try to restring with the Stringer I already have from another crossbow and though I'm not sure if it will even work with this design. Also it's immediately obvious that the handle that comes with this is poorly designed. Because unless I'm missing something it can either stand straight up or Tilt at a 75° angle to either side but there's no way to fix it in place so it doesn't really work well as a handle. Now I say three draws but I got one practice shot off. The first draw was as soon as I unboxed it inside my house so I wasn't going to fire it. Which was okay cuz they make a big Point not to dry fire right so I wanted to practice decocking it. Which I will say that at least was very easy. I do also feel like I should mention the grip and trigger mechanism of the crossbow itself feels like cheap plastic, to the point that it doesn't feel like it goes with the rest of the crossbow.Like I said if I can fix it and shoot it a little bit consistently maybe I'll keep it but honestly it's probably going back cuz I can't imagine I'm going to be able to restring it and I refuse to buy a Stringer from them because this thing failed on the first day which is really something they should include anyways. I'd still be disappointed but I could work with itEditI caved and bought the the press to restring this. Restrung it took it out. Used it for a day. Got off a fair number of shots. But then look down and see that the string is already fraying. To the point that I'm debating whether or not to buy a back of spring for when this one breaks. So let's put it together between the Press for around $60 and the new string for around $40 you're probably going to want to add an extra hundred bucks to the price of this thing off the bat.

I love this crossbow. Easy to use and so funn to shoot. I have to remind myself that it is NOT a toy. But I have one major reservation. I have shot this weapon about a hundred times and have already seen significant fraying on the cables. Other crossbow manufacturers state that strings and cables should be changed every two years. I am wondering now whether it is safe shoot this again. A snapped cable could easily damage the pulleys and risers.