Today we’ll be reviewing the SA Sports Empire Beast 400 FPS. The latest in the Empire lineup from SA Sports! This is one of the cheaper crossbows that still shoots arrows at 400 feet per second!
SA Sports is a company that only exists for around 10 years. They’ve been founded in 2010 by Mark Ambrose. SA Sports’ goal is to design and create quality hunting gear at affordable prices.
SA Sports advertises the Empire Beast as “The supreme leader of the Empire line of SA Sports crossbows.” With a new model coming soon in the SA Sports Empire range, we had to review this crossbow before the Empire Punisher 420 gets released!
Table of Contents
SA Sports Empire Beast Crossbow Features
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The Empire Beast is a compound crossbow with custom-designed CNC machined inverted-cams. With speeds of 400 feet per second, this makes the SA Sports Empire Beast among the fastest crossbows currently available on the market!
Size and Weight
The SA Sports Empire Beast comes in at a total length of 35.5 inches, with an adjustable tactical AR-style buttstock and foregrip. 35.5 inches is pretty average for a crossbow with this amount of power. Only Ravin managed to create a very small and compact crossbow with the R26.
Uncocked this crossbow measures 17.76 inches wide and cocked 14.25 inches wide. This crossbow can generate a lot of power with the CNC machined inverted-cams.
Even though SA Sports built a very powerful crossbow, they managed to keep the Empire Beast very lightweight. This crossbow only weighs 6.25 pounds!
To keep this crossbow as lightweight as possible, SA Sports built the Empire Beast with an extruded and machined aluminum barrel, custom-designed CNC machined inverted-cams and a CNC machined riser.
Speed and Arrows
SA Sports rates the Empire Beast at 400 feet per second. We tested the Empire Beast with the same chronograph we use for all crossbows and managed to get speeds of 398, 400 and 400 feet per second.
SA Sports produces their own arrows, so they included three 20-inch carbon arrows with the Empire Beast. You can buy them on Amazon at the lowest price available.
If you prefer to use your own arrows or arrows that you’ve still got laying around, make sure they’re half-moon nocks and fit properly.
Included with the package is also a “Side Mounted Claw™ Lever Latch Quick Detach Quiver with Picatinny Mount.” This quiver holds up to 3 arrows.
It is possible to mount the quiver sideways rather than mounted on the side by removing the “side mount bracket.”
Scope
Included with the Empire beast is an Vision Illuminated 4×32 Multi Reticle Scope. SA Sports produces these crossbow scopes in-house, as with all of their crossbows and parts. This scope has a red or green reticle and has lines for 20, 30, 40 and 50-yard shots.
Once properly sighted in, the Empire Beast is very accurate and you’ll hit your targets at 50-yards with ease!
Assembly and Storage
SA Sports doesn’t deliver the Empire Beast fully assembled. You’ll have to install the crossbow yourself. Total time for assembling our crossbow was around 10minutes.
Always make sure to properly read the instruction manual! You can find the instruction manual for the Empire Beast here.
Because this crossbow has a boot-sized foot stirrup, it’s possible to just store the crossbow by its foot stirrup. You can also hang the crossbow by its shoulder sling.
We highly recommend to always store your crossbow in a case. However, SA Sports doesn’t manufacture crossbow cases right now, so there’s currently no official crossbow case for the Empire Beast.
However, you can buy a different case that fits this crossbow. Guide Gear offers a “universal crossbow case” that fits the SA Sports Empire Beast crossbow.
Cocking
Included with your Empire Beast crossbow should be a rope sling to cock the crossbow with. Rope-cocking a SA Sports crossbow shouldn’t be too hard. They feature an extra help, which reduces the draw weight even more!
The draw weight of this crossbow is around 185 lbs. Using the rope-sling will reduce the draw weight by over 50%!
Before you cock the crossbow, the safety feature should be in “fire” position. Once you’ve properly cocked the crossbow, it should be on the “safe” position. Only if you’re ready to shoot should you switch it back to the fire position.
It should be very easy to rope-cock this crossbow with just the rope sling, if you prefer to use a cocking device for your Empire Beast, we recommend getting the official crank-cocking device from SA Sports. You can buy one on Amazon or on SA Sports’ official website.
Shooting and Trigger
The Empire Beast comes equipped with a trigger that has a trigger-pull of around 3.5 pounds. This trigger has all the safety features you’d need like anti-dry fire and an ambidextrous auto-engaging safety switch.
Because of the adjustable tactical AR-style buttstock and foregrip, the Empire Beast is perfect for any crossbow hunter. It has a nice feel and is perfectly balanced.
It took me 4/5 shots to fully sight-in the scope. After the initial sighting process, this crossbow is very accurate.
I managed to get <2-inch groups at around 40-yard distances. Rope-cocking this crossbow seems smoother than most other crossbows that you have to rope-cock and it is perfectly doable long-term.
Features
- Utilizes Patented Inverted Cam Technology
- Utilizes Patented Narrow Limb / Long Power Stroke Design
- Quad Limb Compound Crossbow
- Radical CNC Machined Cam, 65% Let Off
- CNC Machined Riser
- Precision Scope Mount and Trigger Assembly 3.5lbs
- Anti-Dry Fire Trigger
- Adjustable Tactical Rear Stock
- Ambidextrous Auto-Safety
- Machined Aluminum / Adjustable String Stoppers
- Extruded Aluminum Barrel
- Integrated Full Barrel Picatinny Rail
- Adjustable Picatinny Mount Foregrip
- Side Mounted Claw™ Lever Latch Quick Detach Quiver with Picatinny Mount
Package Contents
- Barrel/Stock
- Riser and Limbs
- Foot Stirrup
- Side Mount Quick Detach Quiver
- 3 Carbon 20-inch Bolts
- Adjustable Fore Grip
- Illuminated 4×32 Multi Range Scope
- Rope Cocking Device
- Shoulder Sling
- Hex Keys, Bolts, Screws, Washers
- Rail Lube
- Instructions (Online Instructions)
Final Rating
SA Sports Empire Beast Final Rating
Summary
If you’re looking for a cheap, accurate, and powerful crossbow then look no further; the Empire Beast is insanely accurate, shoots arrows at 400 feet per second, and still falls in the $500 or less category. SA Sports included everything you’ll need in the package, from the instruction manuals to the rail lube!
What we like
- 400 FPS
- Accurate
- Lightweight
- Cheap
What we don’t like
- No official SA Sports Crossbow Case
