Do Budget Crossbows Deliver?
/ September 15th, 2025Today’s crossbow consumers have more options than ever, especially when searching for affordable and budget crossbows. A quick online search can reveal hundreds of offerings, with some starting under $300. While customer reviews provide some guidance, they don’t tell the entire story. This article will provide the additional information you need to make a better buying decision when looking for a high-value, budget crossbow.
The crossbow market is not unlike the market for any other precision product. Some manufacturers focus singularly on quality and accuracy, staking their brand’s reputation on using the finest parts and implementing rigid tolerance requirements. This process adds to the cost but results in a superior product. Other manufacturers center their strategy on being the “lowest price.” This involves engineering costs out of the product and widening acceptable tolerances to eliminate part waste, creating what appear to be budget crossbows.
For some products, a low price works perfectly fine. A $5 tape dispenser does the same job as a $20 one. But what about crossbows? Can one of the many affordable budget crossbows on the market perform reliably and do the same job as a more expensive model?
For a crossbow to be successful, it must do two things at a minimum: it must be reliable without breaking, and it must be accurate, shooting arrows into the same place consistently. Bowhunting is a game of inches, where a fraction of an inch can mean the difference between a quick, ethical harvest and a lost animal. Every bit of accuracy gained is a valuable benefit to the hunter.
The three areas below play the largest role in determining if a crossbow has the capability to be both accurate and reliable. While arrows and scopes can impact accuracy, neither can make up for a crossbow that is deficient in these critical areas. These are the factors that separate genuinely affordable crossbows from those that are simply cheap.
Limb Durability
When it comes to crossbow reliability, the limbs are what make (or literally break) a crossbow. While limbs made from various materials can be accurate for a few shots, that means little if they fail regularly. There is only one fiberglass manufacturer in the world that has unlocked the formula for fiberglass that results in a limb that is both accurate and durable: Gordon Glass.
Limbs can be the most expensive component of a crossbow. Therefore, the limb is where manufacturers “stake their claim” on either building reliability or pursuing cost savings. While it may not be the most glamorous part, limb durability is the number one factor in determining if your crossbow will make it through the season. A $100 savings on one of these seemingly budget crossbows can quickly cost a hunter their entire season. All Wicked Ridge Crossbows feature Gordon Glass limbs to ensure lasting performance.
Cam Lean
Excessive cam lean can reduce a crossbow’s efficiency and cause the string path to be “out of plane,” resulting in inconsistent arrow release and a significant loss in accuracy. Wicked Ridge Crossbows are hand-built in America, where each one is checked in both a static and full-draw position to ensure cam lean falls within strict, acceptable ranges. In contrast, many mass-produced, imported crossbows marketed as budget crossbows will exhibit significant cam lean that varies from bow to bow.
String & Cable Quality
For a crossbow to live up to its full accuracy potential, it is critical that the cams remain perfectly “timed” so they roll over at exactly the same moment. Another common cost-cutting measure in mass-produced, affordable crossbows is the use of lower-quality strings and cables that stretch over time. This stretching is caused by both inferior materials and lax production processes. Wicked Ridge uses only American-made strings and cables and conducts frequent spot checks to ensure our bows stay in time, all the time.
Our commitment to material quality and our detailed limb deflection, cam timing, and tuning assembly steps are critical parts of our American manufacturing process. These processes separate the accuracy and durability of our bows from mass-produced imported crossbows with far less control over quality.
Proven More Accurate: The Wicked Ridge Invader M1 De-Cock proves that hand-built American crossbows deliver superior accuracy compared to mass-produced imported budget crossbows.Â
Each year, Outdoor Life conducts a comprehensive crossbow test featuring models with speeds from 375 to 450 FPS and prices from $550 to $4,000. Every crossbow undergoes rigorous testing across key performance areas, including speed, accuracy, cocking mechanism, and overall handling.
The accuracy results comparing the American-built Wicked Ridge Invader M1 to imported crossbows were revealing. The test showed the Invader M1 delivered 25% greater accuracy than the average of four major imported crossbow brands. Furthermore, it produced shot groups that were 35% tighter than the poorest-performing imported model.
These results prove that while the hand-built American craftsmanship behind the Wicked Ridge Invader M1 may cost slightly more, it delivers superior accuracy and reliability compared to mass-produced imported crossbows.Wic
