# Homemade Reverse Draw Crossbow



## Pellethuntr (Aug 13, 2013)

Over the last 6-8 months my dad and I have been building a crossbow. I am a machinist by trade and have an almost complete machine shop in my garage. Dad is the kind of guy who will spend just as much or more money building something then you can buy one new for. He likes the experience and I guess I do too!

We started with a pair of Horton limbs, we originally wanted to make our own limbs but after a few failed attempts we opted to just buy a set on eBay. We then went about building a trigger. The trigger is what took the most time, I think we remade and revised it at least four times before we were happy with the the amount of travel and break weight. We then ordered some aluminum for the rails, limbs pockets and cams and went to work making those. We wanted an 18" power stroke so we went with a two piece "riser" section so that we could change the angle of the limbs, which would effect the string length which would effect the end draw length. We changed the angle of the limbs three times before we got the amount of draw length we wanted. We made so many strings and broke the bow down so many times to add twists and redo serving I lost count months ago. It's finally finished, and we have been shooting it quite a bit. It draws just under 150lbs, has a 17" power stroke and shoots 330 fps over the chronograph. I am not a fan of the stock design but the crossbow is for dad and he designed it to suite his needs. Dad is anxious for the crossbow opener so he can prove our design and hopefully kill a deer with it!

Sorry the pics aren't the best.


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## pcmem (Jan 4, 2010)

Pellethuntr said:


> Over the last 6-8 months my dad and I have been building a crossbow. I am a machinist by trade and have an almost complete machine shop in my garage. Dad is the kind of guy who will spend just as much or more money building something then you can buy one new for. He likes the experience and I guess I do too!
> 
> We started with a pair of Horton limbs, we originally wanted to make our own limbs but after a few failed attempts we opted to just buy a set on eBay. We then went about building a trigger. The trigger is what took the most time, I think we remade and revised it at least four times before we were happy with the the amount of travel and break weight. We then ordered some aluminum for the rails, limbs pockets and cams and went to work making those. We wanted an 18" power stroke so we went with a two piece "riser" section so that we could change the angle of the limbs, which would effect the string length which would effect the end draw length. We changed the angle of the limbs three times before we got the amount of draw length we wanted. We made so many strings and broke the bow down so many times to add twists and redo serving I lost count months ago. It's finally finished, and we have been shooting it quite a bit. It draws just under 150lbs, has a 17" power stroke and shoots 330 fps over the chronograph. I am not a fan of the stock design but the crossbow is for dad and he designed it to suite his needs. Dad is anxious for the crossbow opener so he can prove our design and hopefully kill a deer with it!
> 
> Sorry the pics aren't the best.


Very impressive work you've done. Best luck with the hunt! 

Sent from my mobile using Tapatalk


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## County Hunter (Sep 17, 2012)

Looks great. Just like you said, these projects are a labor of love. Good hunting this season.


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## jim p (Oct 29, 2003)

Those hours spent making that bow with your dad are hours to be proud of the rest of your lives.


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## disco stu (Nov 16, 2012)

Nicely done!!! I'm guessing the strings are probably the most painful part to do

You make the cams yourselves?


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## BluMeanie (May 5, 2014)

That thing looks really slick, I have to compliment you on it. 330 through the chrony is impressive, have you calculated the IBO on it? Probably close to 400. What's your bolt-weight?


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## Pellethuntr (Aug 13, 2013)

disco stu said:


> You make the cams yourselves?


Yes we did! 

The cams were one of the hardest parts from a manual machining stand point. We spent a LOT of time measuring and checking to be sure that both cams would be the same. Every thousandth of difference is a little less accuracy on paper.

Next time we shoot it ill try and get some target pics and maybe a video!


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## Pellethuntr (Aug 13, 2013)

BluMeanie said:


> That thing looks really slick, I have to compliment you on it. 330 through the chrony is impressive, have you calculated the IBO on it? Probably close to 400. What's your bolt-weight?


We have not calculated IBO. The bolt weight is 440 grains for a 20" bolt. 

We could get some more speed out of it by cranking down the limbs but we are not sure that the limbs can hold up to the pressure. I would have liked to have a 20 inch plus power stroke for a true monster but dad wanted to keep the axle to axle relatively short at 18". 

I need to take a video of it as it is impressively quiet. Next time we shoot ill try and get a decible reading on it. It's quieter than any crossbow I have ever shot and just about as quiet as my Bowtech.


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## tjb50cal (Jul 5, 2010)

impressive, just curious, but how heavy is the whole crossbow? compared to production models? the actual weight, not the draw weight? how does it feel and sound when it is used? vibration? etc?


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## disco stu (Nov 16, 2012)

Pellethuntr said:


> Yes we did!
> 
> The cams were one of the hardest parts from a manual machining stand point. We spent a LOT of time measuring and checking to be sure that both cams would be the same. Every thousandth of difference is a little less accuracy on paper.
> 
> Next time we shoot it ill try and get some target pics and maybe a video!


Wow-that's pretty intense!! I thought you would have taken the easy road and pilfered some off a bow. Hats off to you guys


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## Pellethuntr (Aug 13, 2013)

tjb50cal said:


> impressive, just curious, but how heavy is the whole crossbow? compared to production models? the actual weight, not the draw weight? how does it feel and sound when it is used? vibration? etc?


We don't have a good scale for an accurate measurement but it's somewhere in the range of 5-8lbs. It's much lighter than any production crossbow I have ever shot (only a handful) and it's also much quieter. The noise is much more like a compound bow, no vibrations or scope "jolt", it's very smooth.


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## Johnbk (Apr 29, 2016)

I'm looking for a set of reverse draw cams to make a reverse energy compound bow . Need cams about 5 in. Diameter to get the draw length I need.,would you be interested in making such set. Please call me at 715 446 3980. John


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## migman93 (Feb 10, 2018)

As a fabricator/welder, this is flat out awesome. Would love to do something like this.


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## ZAB1 (Jul 12, 2016)

Impressive for sure


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## Thompson2 (Feb 23, 2016)

Awesome job and great way to spend time together!


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## Maykl751 (Jul 16, 2020)

Pellethuntr said:


> Over the last 6-8 months my dad and I have been building a crossbow. I am a machinist by trade and have an almost complete machine shop in my garage. Dad is the kind of guy who will spend just as much or more money building something then you can buy one new for. He likes the experience and I guess I do too!
> 
> We started with a pair of Horton limbs, we originally wanted to make our own limbs but after a few failed attempts we opted to just buy a set on eBay. We then went about building a trigger. The trigger is what took the most time, I think we remade and revised it at least four times before we were happy with the the amount of travel and break weight. We then ordered some aluminum for the rails, limbs pockets and cams and went to work making those. We wanted an 18" power stroke so we went with a two piece "riser" section so that we could change the angle of the limbs, which would effect the string length which would effect the end draw length. We changed the angle of the limbs three times before we got the amount of draw length we wanted. We made so many strings and broke the bow down so many times to add twists and redo serving I lost count months ago. It's finally finished, and we have been shooting it quite a bit. It draws just under 150lbs, has a 17" power stroke and shoots 330 fps over the chronograph. I am not a fan of the stock design but the crossbow is for dad and he designed it to suite his needs. Dad is anxious for the crossbow opener so he can prove our design and hopefully kill a deer with it!
> 
> Sorry the pics aren't the best.


Hello, can you give me a plan for the reverse crossbow, thanks in advance)


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## b0w_bender (Apr 30, 2006)

Not sure how I've missed this thread until I noticed it was from 2017... Anyway this is really well done. I am one of those guys who doesn't consider cross bows to be archery and I would prefer they weren't allowed during archery season, I think they preform closer to black powder than a bow and arrow but that's just me. Having said that I appreciate the effort and craftsmanship on that unit, nicely done. thanks for sharing!


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## cory.pitts (Nov 10, 2017)

Impressive


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