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America’s Top Crossbow Manufacturers: a Brief Overview

PSE-Archery-Compound-Bow

PSE Archery

Forty years ago, PSE (Precision Shooting Equipment) founder Pete Shepley, was working for another corporation as a product engineer and designing archery equipment during lunch hour. He first experimented on bow release aids. He developed a flexible arrow vane to replace the traditional feathers. Thus, a perfect compound bow (his first) was invented. It was introduced at an Indiana tournament and within a week, he received 200 orders. The following weeks, requests reached 700 with customers ringing in from all over the country (and he only had to rely on word-of-mouth advertising at the time).

Nowadays, PSE is the country's leading archery equipment manufacturer with 120,000 SF factory located in Tucson, Arizone. , holding twenty patens for bow designs and archery. A lot of effort is put into Research and Development, which is pretty much how Shepley managed to nail his first compound bow (and the first hundred requests).

Advanced techniques are employed in the production of PSE crossbows. The company pioneered the use of solid aluminum for bow risers, reducing total weight and increasing strength. They also manufacture crossbows with an Integrated Quick Cocking Design Reload system, requiring force as low as 4 lbs, as well as an adjustable rear stock. It also uses a rail-less and therefore, frictionless design, increasing the string life.
TenPoint-Crossbow

TenPoint Crossbow Technologies

Tenpoint Crossbow Technologies is one of America’s leading crossbow makers, and one that is recognized for constantly being on the cutting edge of crossbow technology. Tenpoint is also a name in the same class as the manufacturers already mentioned, and they offer unique material hybrids in their weapons giving you some of the strongest and lightest weapons on the market.

The company was founded in 1994 by Rick Bednar, the former Chief Operating Officer of Horton Technologies. They hold various patents pertaining to triggers, grip safeties and barrels, incorporating aircraft grade metals. Its first product was the Huntmaster Advantage crossbow; at present, Tenpoint holds eleven patents in the US with fourteen more pending, and has two successful brands, TenPoint and Wicked Ridge. Its product range includes not just high-performance crossbows but also a wide range of accessories.

Some of TenPoint Crossbow’s significant technological innovations include:

  • PowerTouch triggers that are now standard in all of the company’s TenPoint and 6 Point Series crossbows and has a lighter pull compared to standard triggers available on most other bows.
  • Dry-fire-inhibitor (DFI) prevents the crossbow from firing when there is no bolt loaded on the flight deck, avoiding potential damage to the bow, as well as injury to the user, that can result from dry firing.
  • AccuDraw cocking aids help users cock bows with heavier draw weights and auto-retracts the string after every use.
  • GripSafety secondary safety helps the user avoid injury by ensuring that thumbs and fingers are in the proper position before the trigger can be pulled.

For 2010, TenPoint’s newest model is the Turbo XLT, which features a compact bow assembly that measures just 13.5-inches when cocked but has a draw weight of 180 lb, enough to deliver a 420-grain bolt at 315 fps with 92.5 ft/lb of kinetic energy.

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