As I go about my day to day, successfully distracting myself from the, “Is it here yet?” running through my mind, I hear a voice saying, “Three packages just arrived, one’s pretty big and heavy!” Could it be what I’ve been waiting for?
Worth the Wait!
What’s the first thing you do when you get a package in the mail? Really? You say, oh good it’s here and then walk away? You’ve got to be kidding! What does the Bow Bully do? I read the shipping label to see who it’s from, and when I saw the label from Pyramyd AIR, I knew what was inside. It’s not too often companies send you random products you didn’t order, (I didn’t say it never happens).
Do you start from biggest to smallest or the other way around? I go big or go…well I am home so I’ll just go big. When opening packages you want to make sure all the pieces/parts are included and you don’t lose any because well, I don’t need to explain. Good thing I opened the big one first because it’s easy to keep track of the parts when there’s only one, it’s the Big Shot Ballistics 450X Bag Target. Measuring at 25” wide and 28” tall, it is a decent size bag and a little bigger than my previous one.
The Main Character
Onto the medium box next! It’s the main character of the story, the Killer Instinct Swat Xq Crossbow Package. Same thing here, make sure you recover all parts/pieces. How do you know what to expect? The manual will show you everything, but be sure to take a good look at that and check off the items as you go down the list. If you find that anything is missing, first double check your box, then contact the company. As for me all is accounted for!
- Rail Lube
- Three HYPR bolts with field tips
- Three bolt quiver
- Quick draw rope cocker
- Compact silent crank
- A Lumix Speedring 1.5-5X32 IR-E Scope
We’re not done, we have one more box to open, the small one! Just because it’s little doesn’t mean it’s not important. Inside the small box are a couple things I ordered separately. The HYPR Crossbow Bolts with lighted nocks and some Montec 100 grain Crossbow Broadheads. Yep, things are getting pretty serious around here.
The Fun Part!
No, I’m not done! I can’t just unbox it all and walk away! It’s time to set it up! Some may have all the experience in the world with crossbows of all types and can pull everything out the box setting it up perfectly without a glance at the manual, is that you? While others take a look at everything and the recurring question is, “ Where does this go?” Let’s take a look at the manual and do it right the first time. Here’s to hoping.
Before mounting your optic decide whether or not you want to utilize the included three bolt quiver. If you do, use the included bracket that mounts to the picatinny rail just under the belly of the crossbow in front of the trigger guard. You have a choice to make. Depending on your dexterity preference, that is whether you’re right-handed or left, that will determine the best side to attach the quiver. I tried using the quiver but preferred going without.
Too Easy to Mess Up
Next up, mounting the optic, the Lumix Speedring 1.5-5X32 IR-E. That was simple (wait until you read what I did). After getting the screws torqued, let’s lube this bad boy for preventative maintenance that most everything that exists requires. And now it’s time to cock and nock it. Included as I mentioned earlier is a rope cocker as well as a crank, which should I use?
You guessed it, I’m cranking it baby! This Killer Instinct Swat Silent Crank is so easy to use, lift up the cheek rest on the crossbow, mount the crank on the butt of the stock, pull the latch to release the strings, then attach the hooks to the string and crank until the fire button switches to safe.
Nocking the bolt, be sure to insert and screw in the field tips before loading the bolt onto the rail, then slide the bolt with the red fletching facing up, there is a loaded indicator on the top of the butt stock.
First Shots
As I shoulder my Killer Instinct Swat Xq Crossbow and attempt to look down the scope, I realized I made a mistake. Do you know what mistake that might be? Okay, I’ll tell you but you better not laugh. I mounted the optic backwards, it’s an easy fix but, it brings about thoughts like, “After all these years, I couldn’t tell the difference between front and back?” I’ll not be too hard on me, because I know you guys won’t either and I appreciate that!
So that’s the set up of my new crossbow, thanks for going along for the ride. Next up, sighting it in and getting familiar with it.
