Christmas present!

I always wanted to have the Armcross Leopro.

Read a review about it here

A reverse bow, very compact, and delivered complete with scope, back pack and accessories. It was designed in Russia, but made in Germany. The sole reason why I did not pick it up earlier was the price - 1599 Euros, about 2080 dollars. I guess others thought it was too expensive, too - the company went out of business, probably some time ago.

The Leopro got cheaper and cheaper - now was the time to go for it! My wife (on my not so subtle hints) bought it for 580 Euros, about 750 dollars. Brand new, with all the bells and whistles.

Here you can see it with the back pack, ready to go:

And here you can see me, right next to the christmas tree, unpacking my new toy:

Tuned it in already - lost three of the four bolts that came with it. Two went over the mat and disappeared into the muddy lawn. One went through the mat (obviously too thin) and got deformed by the stone wall behind it. Oh well, gotta order some more after christmas.

The power is very good (307 fps with a 425 gr bolt), actually a bit on the high side for my taste - at that kind of speed, bolts break often and early. I actually would prefer it to be a bit weaker, maybe 290 fps. That would be powerful enough for target shooting and the occasional Zombie skull :)

Big downside is that you need a cocking aid (basically a length of string with a little claw, in a pulley fashion). Impossible to cock this baby with bare hands. That is very common for modern, powerful compound crossbows, though - a high price you have to pay for compactness and performance.

Now I have to replicate the design and make a rubber powered variant - less powerful (this thing is beast), but even more compact and far less expensive. I may even make a tutorial.

Here are some more pics from the christmas party - early in the day, my niece and her loverboy had to go to his parents, too.