Excalibur crossbow history and Mag Air SMU review
Excalibur's rich and illustrious, now 40-year history dates back to the late 1970s in Canada, when competitive shooter Bill Troubridge raced Astro Daco crossbows. However, he was not satisfied with the trigger mechanism, so he decided to build his own trigger mechanism. He subsequently built his own crossbow, which continued to be fitted with Astro Daco shoulders. The crossbow was very nice and successful, so many of his friends asked him to make just such a crossbow for them. So in 1983, Bill and his wife Kath decided to build crossbows in their garage in Kitchener, Ontario, an hour west of Toronto. This humble beginning not only fulfilled their resolutions and dreams, but over four decades has led them much further than they could have imagined. It started a revolution that has resulted in some of the most famous, most accurate and finest reflex crossbows ever built.
The first model Excalibur introduced was the virtually handmade Relayer. Each model was different and unique. It was produced from 1983-1985, with a wooden stock and still with the fiberglass Astro Daco shoulders. Many shooters praised its reliability and there were many who hunted with it for over three decades with almost no malfunctions!
From left, two Astro Daco Scorpion 140 lb crossbows, an Excalibur Relayer 150 lb, an Excalibur Exomax 225 lb and an Excalibur Micro Suppressor 280 lb
In 1985, Astro Daco went bankrupt. This was very unpleasant for the newly formed Excalibur. So the Troubridges bought up all the remaining Astro Daco arms, then put all their savings into development and designed and built their own arms. And it should be noted that this move was more than successful. They have created the best reflective arms the world has ever seen. As a result, the Wolverine was created in 1985 and continued in production until 1992. It had a wooden stock, the new Excalibur fiberglass shoulders with a 150 lb cocking force, and was most often brought out in a gray-brown camouflage coloration. This model was behind the initial successes and building of the brand's reputation.
It's no coincidence that this year's beautiful 40th anniversary model of Excalibur is named Wolverine, in a retro grey-brown camo pattern with wooden accessories, just as a tribute to the aforementioned predecessor.
By 1992, Excalibur had raised enough money to acquire new production facilities and introduce the revolutionary Exo line.
Exo marks the beginning of the brand's most famous line and era. The crossbows were given aluminum heads as well as the drawn aluminum rail with a guide groove as we know it today. It was a simple, durable and ingeniously conceived crossbow design. The crossbow was easy to make, and by varying the rail length, a wide range of crossbows were created, from the 90 lb. target Apex to the top of the line Exomax/Equinox models with 225 lb. These were also the first reflex crossbows to surpass an arrow speed of 350 fps in 2004.
These were still hard to beat today in terms of reliability and accuracy. The exception was the shoulder sets that shot well over 100,000 rounds without failure. The crossbow worked in all conditions, even in hunting with temperatures well below -20°C. Excalibur won not only all comparisons, but was unrivalled on the world's ranges for almost two decades.
The Exo series catapulted Excalibur to the top. The success was so great that, just as in the world of design or art, where the greatest achievements are often imitated, the Exo range was often copied. Whether it was the Chinese efforts of Jandao, Maximus... or the Canadian Middleton. None of them succeeded, and none of them came anywhere near the quality, reliability and accuracy of the Exo series Excalibur.
The Excalibur Exomax 100m
The company quickly gained momentum and within two decades, a small family business starting in a garage became a brand with 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Despite this, Bill and Kath never forgot their roots and dream of producing accurate and reliable crossbows of the highest possible quality, which they have embedded in the brand motto: " Recurve, Simply Tough".
After the Exo line, the smaller sized Matrix line followed the trend for smaller, bulkier crossbows for hunters. Again, it included a wide variety of types, built around the Matrix's shoulders. They varied in head angle and rail length. Performance ranged from the weakest Matrix 310 to the Matrix 405, which in 2014 was also the first reflex crossbow to break the 400 fps speed barrier.
In 2013, the American archery company Bowtech, which also owns the Diamond, Octane and Stryker brands, acquired Excalibur. Although some purists were unhappy that this distinctly Canadian entity was bought by a larger American corporation, the deal ultimately led to further growth for the company.
In 2015, the new Micro line was introduced.
The smallest in size, the line followed the demands of the market and hunters and
is again offered in a wide range of performance, from the Micro Short 308 to the extreme Micro 400 TD.
A year later, in 2016, the Bulldog series began replacing the Matrix series.
Dimensionally similar to the Matrix series, but bringing a number of improvements