Excalibur TwinStrike Crossbow Review – First Crossbow That Can Shoot 2 Arrows

Excalibur Crossbows released the TwinStrike crossbow. This crossbows features a brand new and unique design. Excalibur’s TwinStrike can fire 2 arrows, separate or at the same time, by using DualFire Technology!

Because Excalibur Crossbows is known for their high-quality recurve crossbows, we weren’t expecting a compound crossbow of course, but we had never guessed that they would release a crossbow that can fire 2 arrows.

This new Excalibur crossbow also includes the new “Overwatch scope”, this is a high end 30mm scope with a crystal clear image and includes aiming points from 20 to 100 yards, fully adjustable with a speed ring!

Excalibur TwinStrike Crossbow Specs

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• Overwatch Illuminated Scope
• Scope Mount and 30mm Rings
• Charger Ext / Fail Safe Strap
• R.E.D.S. Suppressors
• DualFire Decocking Aid
• Rebolt 4 Arrow Quiver and Bracket
• 4 x Quill Arrows with Rhino Nocks
• 4 x 100 gr. field points

First Impressions

Excalibur designed the first ever crossbow that can fire 2 bolts without reloading! As an experienced hunter, you should only need 1 arrow/shot for a kill, but beginner crossbow hunters could greatly benefit from that follow-up shot!

To fully utilize the ability of firing 2 arrows, Excalibur installed the “Two Trigger Platform” on the TwinStrike crossbow. Basically, you’ll be able to shoot both bolts at once or make 2 separate shots.

One thing that we noticed straight away, the design of this crossbow is based on the stock of Excalibur’s micro platform.

Design and Durability

Excalibur designs high-quality recurve crossbows that will last you a very long time. Because the TwinStrike is based on the micro platform, we’re sure that the TwinStrike has a high durability as well! This crossbow even has a reinforced safety and “CeaseFire Technology” for extra anti dry-fire protection.

After assembling the TwinStrike, it’s actually a surprisingly lightweight crossbow! Fully equipped, this crossbow has a total of weight of less than 8 pounds. With a length of 33.375 inches and a cocked width of 21.125 inches, it’s also a pretty compact crossbow for a recurve design.

To be able to load two arrows, an over/under rail system is used. The front trigger fires to top bolt and the back trigger fires the bottom bolt. Both triggers are the same and have a match-grade, 4-pound, frictionless pull.

Excalibur also installed their “Quick Loc Technology” on the TwinStrike. Quick Loc technology is usually only featured in Excalibur’s “Take-Down” lineup, like the Excalibur Assassin 420TD. This technology ensures for an easy removal of the limbs from the stock, making this crossbow also very easy to transport!

Optics

Included with the Excalibur TwinStrike is Excalibur’s new “Overwatch Illuminated Scope.” This scope is pretty compact and lightweight, but it’s easily able to handle crossbows from 300 feet per second to up to 450 feet per second!

Featuring an Illuminated Multi-plex reticle with 2X to 5X magnification, you’ll be able to hit targets from 20 to 100 yard distances. Due to multi-coated lenses, this scope offers a crystal-clear view. You can either pick a red or green illuminated reticle.

A premium scope wouldn’t be premium if it wasn’t waterproof, shockproof, and fog-proof for all-weather use. Even if you decided to buy another crossbow, I’ll bet you’ll be using this scope on your new bow! It’s an amazing scope from Excalibur.

Sighting in the Scope

Excalibur doesn’t ship the TwinStrike fully assembled, but as we mentioned before, this crossbow is equipped with the Quick Loc Technology. Assembling the TwinStrike is therefor very easy.

Sighting in the scope is not needed. Our first 2 shots were actually dead-center at 20 yards. Just assemble the crossbow and take it out to the range!

Noise Reducing Features

The Excalibur TwinStrike already features a lot of rubber to reduce vibrations, but for the sound of the string snapping at the end of a shot, Excalibur installed a “Recoil Energy Dissipation System” (R.E.D.S.) suppressors. These removable pads will reduce shock, vibrations and noise from the strings. The R.E.D.S suppressors are of course installed on both limbs and makes the TwinStrike a really quiet crossbow.

Cocking

Each TwinStrike crossbow comes with an Excalibur Charger EXT Crank. It’s a silent crank that is able to reduce the amount of force you’ll need to cock the TwinStrike to around 12 pounds. Both strings have the be cocked separately, but it’s really easy and fast with this crank.

Using a crank will save you a lot of back and/or shoulder problems. While the crank doesn’t really hinder you while shooting, it’s very easy to remove the crank. Just pull on the button and it easily snaps off.

While we don’t recommend using a rope-cocker, the TwinStrike does have a notch where you can mount your rope-cocker if you do prefer to use one.

With a special tool and the Charger EXT crank, you’ll also be able to de-cock the TwinStrike crossbow. Most crossbows don’t have the ability to de-cock, so this is a pretty cool feature to have.

Performance

A crossbow review isn’t complete without taking it out to the range for some test shooting. As we mentioned in the Sighting-in section, the Excalibur TwinStrike requires some assembly but it’s very quick and easy to do. The Overwatch scope is already pre-sighted, so you should be ready to go.

Excalibur includes 4 new Quill arrows with Rhino Nocks. Properly loading the arrows will give a click. This way you’ll be able to easily tell if you’ve loaded your arrows correctly. Using different nocks than Excalibur’s Rhino nocks is not recommended. The cease-fire technology, which prevents dry-firing, only works with the Rhino nocks.

We put a target at a 50-yard distance and decided to shoot groupings of 4 arrows, which only means 2 times loading the crossbow. Even firing both arrows within a second of each other, we were able to get really tight groups. The Overwatch scope is also really nice!

To finish the Excalibur TwinStrike crossbow review, we fired a total of 6 arrows over our chronograph. We weren’t able to reach the advertised 360 feet per second, but our highest speed our chronograph showed was 357 feet per second, which is close enough.

Recommended Accessories

Arrows & Broadheads

Excalibur introduced new Rhino nocks on their Quill arrows. The Rhino nocks work together with the Cease Fire technology, this prevents dry-firing the TwinStrike crossbow. We therefor can only recommend Excalibur’s Quill arrows with Rhino nocks. These arrows are perfect already and you shouldn’t even want different arrows.

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As for broadheads, Excalibur only includes field points with the basic package. You’ll need to buy some broadheads if you’d like to take the TwinStrike crossbow out for a hunt. Our best broadhead recommendation to use with the Quill arrows would be the NAP Killzone broadheads. These heavy-duty broadheads are perfect for crossbows up to 400 feet per second. You can also take a look at our list of the best broadheads for crossbows.

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Storage and Transportation

If you want to properly protect your Excalibur TwinStrike during transportation or storage, you should get a crossbow case. Our top recommendation for an Excalibur TwinStrike crossbow case would be the Excalibur Octane Crypt case.

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Conclusion