UPDATE: Due to being unable to find any Accuspine arrows, I decided to contact CamX support and got a reply from their parent company “The Outdoor Group.” Unfortunately, the brand CamX has been discontinued as of September 1st 2020.
“The Brand CAM-X Crossbows has been discontinued as of September 1st 2020 with product such as our Crossbows, bolts and Accessories no longer available for purchase. We will still be providing warranty assistance for as long as our replacement parts are available – at the time all CAM-X parts are depleted the warranty will be voided in which our services will no longer be provided.”
“If you are interested in buying replacement Bolts our Accuspine arrows are the Black Eagle Executioner bolt that is currently offered through the Black Eagle Website. (Link Below)”
Back in 2018 CamX released the CamX A4 crossbow as one of the most silent crossbows on the market. Today it’s still their main crossbow and that probably says a lot already!
The CamX A4 crossbow comes with a “Performance Test Sheet” to prove that the crossbow is fully sighted in and shoots the guaranteed advertised speeds of 370 feet per second.
After searching around for a long time, I finally was able to get my hands on a CamX A4 crossbow. I’ve only been hearing good things from CamX Crossbows, so I’m really excited to finally be able to review the CamX crossbow and take it out to the range!
Included with your CamX A4 crossbow package you’ll find a Comfortek Stock, Bow, Shim Kit, ARC 370 4×32 Illuminated Crossbow Scope, Weaver Style Steel Scope Rings, Wishbone 4 Arrow Quiver, CamX Cocking Sled, 4x Accuspine Matched Crossbow Arrows, Owner’s Manual and attached to the Comfortek Stock you’ll find the Performance Test Sheet.
Table of Contents
CamX A4 Crossbow Specs
[amazon table=”8651″]
First Impressions
CamX claims that the CamX A4 is the quietest crossbow on the market. What you’ll instantly notice are the pre-installed limb and string dampeners. Another thing that stands out is the inboard cam system. Usually, they’re mounted at the very end of the limbs. CamX calls and patented it as the “Inboard Swingarm Technology.” This is also one of the features that CamX used to make the CamX A4 as quiet as possible.
During the assembly process, I was already amazed at the comfortable hold of the CamX A4 crossbow. It’s a fairly lightweight and very compact crossbow despite all the accessories and the heavy-duty limbs. Included with every CamX A4 crossbow package is a shim kit to adjust the stock to your liking.
Design and Durability
The CamX A4 is a pretty compact crossbow and comes in at a total length of 35 inches, has an uncocked width of 16 inches, and cocked only 10.5 inches. This crossbow also boasts a “Comfortek Stock” that features an adjustable length of pull, which is always a great option to have on a crossbow.
One of the most important parts of a crossbow are the limbs. CamX features “Armor Tuff Quad Limbs” on the A4. These limbs are made to be durable. CamX released the A4 back in 2018 and it’s still their main crossbow because it’s a very durable crossbow. This crossbow should last you for a very long time, granted that you take proper care of the crossbow.
Armor Tuff limbs are the strongest crossbow limbs available today. Laminated glass skins are applied to both sides of the limb, covering all exposed fibers. No other method of limb construction and decoration provides this level of accuracy and durability.
CamX Crossbows
ARC 370 4×32 Illuminated Scope
CamX puts a lot of time and effort in their crossbows. They even design exclusive scopes for their crossbows. Mounted on the CamX A4 comes the ARC 370 4×32 illuminated crossbow scope. It’s a very lightweight and well-designed scope with multiple cross or dot aiming points up to 100 yards and 6 differing illumination settings.
Before any of the CamX crossbows leave the factory, the crossbows undergo some thorough testing. Before the ARC 370 scope is approved, it needs to be dead-center at 20 yards. Included with every CamX crossbow is a Performance Test Sheet, so you know that your crossbow is 100% accurate from 10 to 100 yards.
Noise Reducing Features
To make sure the CamX A4 would be the quietest crossbow on the market, CamX was thinking of the noise-reducing features during the entire design process.
One feature is the “Armor Tuff” limbs that I already mentioned in the Design and Durability section. The next feature are the limb dampeners that reduce shock and vibrations as well. String dampeners are also pre-installed to reduce the noise from the bowstring.
By using the Inboard Swingarm Technology, CamX not only managed to reduce the width of the crossbow, but the cams are also uniquely designed to make sure that the string dampeners catch the string exactly at the moment it should stop. Of course, CamX also rubberized some parts of the crossbow like the foot-stirrup.
Performance
On the Performance Test Sheet, CamX also provides the speed rating of the CamX A4. The CamX A4 crossbow has a speed rating of 370 feet per second. This particular CamX A4 crossbow has a speed rating of 371 feet per second. I’ll hopefully see the same results on our chronograph.
Another exclusive for the CamX A4 crossbow are the 4 included Accuspine Matched crossbow arrows. These arrows have been designed by Black Eagle Arrows. I’ve used the Black Eagle Executioner arrows before, they’re very accurate and they’ve got matching weights.
The included Accuspine arrows all had the same weight at 410 grains including the 100-grain field points. They have a total length of 18 inches and use a half-moon nock. Depending on if you have an old owner’s manual (like me), it can say 18 inches with a flat nock. Even on the CamX official product page, it is displayed incorrectly. Black Eagle arrows will definitely improve the accuracy of any crossbow.
The last thing that gets properly tested before the CamX A4 leaves the factory is the trigger. Every trigger gets a proper test run before it even gets installed into the stock. After it’s installed, the trigger is ready for some live firing on the range. This whole process makes sure that every trigger has zero creep and a smooth pull.
I put a target out at 50 yards and fired a couple of test arrows first just to get a good feeling of the crossbow. I quickly managed to get 1-inch groups, an average of 369 feet per second, and a damaged arrow. Every shot I fired I only heard a very low noised thud. I’ll have to do some comparing with the Ravin R29X, TenPoint Vapor RS470, and the Excalibur Suppressor 400TD, as these are newer crossbows and also very silent. Right now, I’m not sure which one is more silent but the CamX A4 still is one of the quietest crossbows on the market in 2020.
Cocking
Included with the CamX A4 crossbow is a CamX Cocking Sled. The rope cocking sled makes this crossbow very easy to cock and ensures an even load on the limbs for accurate cocking over and over. Your hands and fingers are always protected by the auto engaging Thumbsaver for safe loading of the arrow. A second Thumbsaver will protect your hands and fingers from below the flight path.
Unfortunately, CamX nowhere states what the exact draw weight of the CamX A4 crossbow is. According to our own research and tests, the CamX A4 has a draw weight of around 200 pounds.
Decocking the CamX A4 is very easy to do. Watch the video from CamX below:
Assembly and Sighting-In
CamX claims that the assembly process of the CamX A4 will take about 35 seconds. With the ARC 370 scope already mounted on the stock of the scope and the strings and accessories already installed on the bow, assembling the crossbow only took me less than a minute. If I was to hurry it, I’d probably beat the 35 seconds assembly time stated by CamX, but the fact of the matter is that this crossbow is very easy to assemble.
Attached to the stock you’ll find the “Performance Test Sheet.” As mentioned in the #scope section, CamX delivers the crossbows fully sighted in. After the assembly process, you can take the CamX A4 out for a hunt! It’s recommended to take it out for some target shooting first!
Recommended Accessories
Arrows & Broadheads
One of the reasons the CamX A4 is a high-accuracy crossbow is the Accuspine arrow. It’s hard to beat the Black Eagle Accuspine arrows, but they’re very costly and hard to get by. Currently, they’re out of stock on both CamX’s and Amazon’s official sites.
I’d highly recommend sticking with Black Eagle arrows. I mentioned the Black Eagle Executioner arrows before and I’d highly recommend them for the CamX A4. These arrows are the same arrows as the Accuspine arrows!
For broadheads, CamX includes 4 Slick Trick XbowTrick 100-grain broadheads with the CamX A4 “Hunting” and “Expedition packages.” These broadheads are very good but also pretty expensive. To save some costs I’d recommend the SinbadTeck 100-grain Hunting Broadheads.
Storage and Transportation
The “basic” package for the CamX A4 crossbow doesn’t include a sling or crossbow case. There’s a sling included with the “Hunting” package and a sling and a crossbow case with the “Expedition” package.
If you already bought the CamX A4 crossbow package and you’re looking for a sling, you can get a separate one on the official CamX website. Because the sling “utilizes an exclusive button and tab attachment,” also one of CamX’s innovative designs, this is the only sling that’s currently available for the CamX A4.
Unfortunately, the Expedition package is nowhere in stock and CamX doesn’t list any crossbow cases on their webshop, so I had to find a case somewhere else.
I ended up having to choose between 3 different crossbow cases. The first one was the Allen Company Recluse Crossbow Case, the second case was the Sportsman’s Outdoor Products Tarantula Deluxe Crossbow Case and the third case was the SAS Padded Soft Crossbow Case with Sling. All these cases fit the CamX A4 perfectly.
I ended up picking the SAS case because of the extra compartments on the outside of the case and the black non-branded look. The Allen Company crossbow case fitted the arrow compartment on the inside of the case, which I don’t prefer and the Sportsman’s Outdoor crossbow case lacks space in the extra compartments.
Our Rating of the CamX A4
Summary
The CamX A4 crossbow is an amazing high-quality American made crossbow. This crossbow is easy to assemble and already pre-tuned and fully sighted in by CamX before it leaves the factory. Because of all the noise reduction features, it’s one of the most accurate crossbows I’ve got to shoot. It’s also powerful enough to take out any big-game animal at 50-yards!
What we like
- Powerful @ 370 FPS
- Extremely Accurate
- Very Quiet
- Easy to Cock
- Made in the USA
What we don’t like
- Uses Exclusive Sling
- Accuspine Arrows are hard to get by
