Steambow AR-6 Stinger II Tactical Repeating Crossbow

This is a very powerful miniature crossbow when you mount the 90lb hunting limbs. I haven't used the 55lb. limbs as much, but accuracy is pretty good for me out to 20 yards or so with the hunting limbs. The version I'm reviewing is carbine style Stinger AR-6 Tactical version 2 with the AR style adjustable stock (not the older version with the safety). This can do follow-up shots in a way that other crossbows can only dream of doing. There is no safety to get in the way here, which was a con others mentioned in the previous versions. I haven't tried any farther than 20 yards yet, but I'm sure it could be decent at even 25 yards. Farther than that is beyond pistol crossbow territory. Accuracy is very good though, assuming you are able to get a red dot sight at the very least. Groups are excellent (about 1-3") at 10-11 yards and under. Small game would not be safe from hunters equipped with this and the broadheads. I also like that it uses picatinny rails and the weight is low.

It should be noted that Steambow is constantly improving on the Stinger line, which is one reason I got this instead of one of the other options. Being able to get off follow-up shots without working a safety really sets this apart. Still, it is not the cheapest crossbow out there. For the price, you could get a more powerful full sized crossbow or even a firearm. It is not crazy to end up spending $500 once you get it and the hunting limbs, extra strings, arrows, and maybe an optional laser sight and spare parts kit. That is no small amount of money. Also, the original black spring near the trigger broke early on for me. I got a replacement from the manufacturer. Steambow has since upgraded this part to a silver one what has lasted way longer than the original two that come with it. I'd have changed that, but they already got to it. They also added a thumb screw for the rear magazine, which is another change I'd have made. It allows you to access the string for waxing without tools.

You really should get a red dot sight mounted on this as soon as you can. The fiber optic sight and spring co-witness combo are not a sighting system I could be consistent/accurate with. Also, Steambow makes a wide range of accessories to kit out your crossbow. This is one of my favorite things about this product. You can get things like an integrated laser (which is dead-on for me, even though it has an odd 3-screw adjustment method), a sling, light, scope mountable rail, folding stock adapter, various limb weights (35, 55, & 90 lbs), and even an upgraded trigger! While I favor the 90lb limbs for the overall versatility, the trigger pull requires some effort. The new trigger cuts that effort in half, as stated by the manufacturer. And they've recently added a new lower part that allows for a quick detach limb setup, adding to the portability of the crossbow. I think it is a really great crossbow system, and it shoots ammo made by tons of manufacturers. Just don't go cheap with arrows.

for its size very powerfull

the initial string wore out quick but rounded the edges of the rear load area and the new string is doing fine

buy extra shafts

Fairly accurate and fun to shoot. Draw weight is easy enough, but cocking mechanism with safety using rear stock is somewhat awkward, This is made a little worse because the synthetic adjustable rear stock attachment point allows for some rotation of the rear stock. For the price I would expect a better, stronger build quality. Assembly instructions are minimal. No parts list included, which is ridiculous at this price point. Easy enough to use common sense and figure out, but parts list would eliminate any guess work and second guessing. Example is listing the use of 2 bolts with washers, one long bolt and one short, no lengths or diameter supplied. Issue is there is one long bolt, but the short one is an Allen Screw, (pointed head not a bolt end), so you're not sure if your missing something, got a wrong part, who knows? Also had a spring, with no clue provided about where or why it was supplied? Print a parts list Steambow and put it as an insert in manual. Problem solved.

Rear sight is a joke. It is actually the top part of the latch spring holding the magazine closed. The spring on mine was very stiff and out of place, I had to bend it some to even get the magazine open. No way to guarantee it gets aligned correctly. - Use a straight edge in a straight line from point A to B, for windage, maybe? What about elevation adjustment.?Where are you going to land 25 yards out? All you can do is guess, shoot a few, then try to get lucky trying to adjust a stiff metal spring with a pair of needle nose pliers. Ridiculous rear sight solution for the price of this product. My string aid aid was also too short. No where near as long as ones shown in videos. I still had to bend limbs by hand to attach stringing aid. .Stepping up the quality wouldn't even add $5.00 - $10.00 to Steambow's manufacturing cost to fix some off the quality build issues. $5.00 - $10.00 more and this is a 5 star product and you have satisfied customers. That's a no brainer Steambow

Hard to find a way to mount a red dot that allows for absolute co-witness with the stock fixed sites. The picatinny rail is in front of the fiber optic front site. The rail is slightly below the same plain as the front site. This means the base of the scope is higher than the front site. This means you can't get an absolute or partial co-witness. Found a riser mount on Amazon that the mount is 2 sides only, no base plate, but it's a little expensive, Looked at some flush mount 45 degree adapters that had enough bad reviews that I avoided them. Found one that seemed of higher quality and may be thin enough on the base to not obscure the front sight. Even if you purchase from GoGun, (you pay more from them), and get their included picatinny rail on top of the magazine you'll have the same issue and now you will not even be able to see the front sight at all because of scope. Poor design execution.