Excalibur Ibex SMF Crossbow Review

ModelDraw WeightStrokeVelocitySuggested Arrow LengthCrossbow Length / Weight
Excalibur Ibex SMF Crossbow Kit

Excalibur Ibex SMF Crossbow Kit
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175 lbs.14.5"305 FPS


Crossbow Academy: ballistics, sighting, tuning
20"36.4" / 5.9 lbs.
Pros:
- Superb accuracy at 50 yard distances and further
- Very powerful and excellent for hunting even the largest game
- Great value for the money
- High quality reticle scope included
- Recurve construction (what can I say, I love my recurves)
- Responsive trigger
- Light-weight
- Comes with a rope cocking aid

Cons:
- None worth mentioning
Small Game Hunting?yes2
Deer, Elk Hunting?yes2
Moose, Bear Hunting?yes2
Target Shooting?yes2
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Also Recommended:Best Excalibur Crossbows

Assembling The Ibex SMF

Assembly instructions are exceptionally detailed and well-documented with images. Screw in the quiver to the bottom of the stock. Attach the stirrup to the front of the prod, then attach the prod to the stock. Mount the scope and make sure all crossbow assembly screws are tight. You’re done – the whole process will take no longer than 10 minutes for a beginner.

Shooting Accuracy And Power

Like most of Excalibur’s crossbows, the Ibex SMF is particularly accurate. Pretty much sighted out of the box, a beginner crossbow shooter will achieve very tight groups from as far as 40 and 50 yards as soon as an hour after assembling the weapon. Make sure not to shoot at the same spot from less than 40 yards as you’re likely to start splitting your bolts, it’s that accurate.

Ballistic Data For The Excalibur Ibex SMF

Your actual results will vary slightly depending on weather, and significantly with arrow weight change. See our Crossbow Ballistics Guides section for a complete understanding of how we conducted our tests and why this data matters.

Hunting With The Ibex

Excalibur Ibex SMFAs long as you use bolts with the same length and weight as those provided with the crossbow package, the Ibex SMF will launch the projectile with a velocity of 305 feet per second. This makes it deadly and well capable of taking down a buck or an elk from as far as 40 or more yards. Your aim and patience are a major factor here as well of course. Expect the bolt to achieve a full pass-through and to easily shatter the ribs of your game.

Kinetic Energy of The Excalibur Ibex SMF

When you’re shooting with the Excalibur Ibex SMF, you’re whizzing out arrows at 305 FPS, but how hard do those arrows hit? Assuming you’re using the manufacturer-provided 350-grain Firebolt arrows, you can count on dealing out 73 ft. lbs. of kinetic energy with a point blank shot. For shots beyond point blank range, just deduct 2-3% for every 10 yards past point blank range; for example, a 30-yard shot would have approximately 67 ft. lbs. of kinetic energy. This is enough power to take on large game like elk, wild boar, or black bears, but I wouldn’t recommend this crossbow for tough game like grizzly bears or Cape buffalo.

Use our arrow ballistics calculator for more valuable information.

Cocking The Excalibur

Being a 175 lbs. draw weight crossbow, the Ibex SMF is best cocked using a rope cocking aid. This holds true for both stronger and weaker individuals. Luckily, Excalibur provides a rope cocking aid with the package so there’s no need to buy it separately. Make sure to always draw the string evenly on both sides of the crossbow stock to achieve perfect shooting accuracy.

The Scope

Excalibur Ibex SMF3No Excalibur Ibex SMF review would be complete without a mention of the scope. The package comes with a four-reticle scope. The top reticle is sighted for 20 yards, and the remaining ones are automatically set for 30, 40 and 50 yards. The scope comes almost perfectly sighted right out of the box, requiring only a few windge/elevation adjustments at most. It will also hold zero for a very long time requiring very minimal tuning over time. Optics used, while not spectacular, provide for a clean view of your target in medium-lit conditions.

See our detailed guide on how to sight-in your crossbow

The Arrows

You’ll receive four FireBolt arrows (amazon.com link) with field points with the Excalibur Ibex SMF crossbow package. The shafts are strong and straight. Keep in mind though how accurate this x-bow is and make sure not to split your own bolts by shooting one bolt into the nock of the other one. It’s always a good idea to purchase some extra bolts along with your crossbow and use them as backups, or just to reduce the number of back and forth trips to and from the target.

You can also learn more about crossbow arrows and take a look at our broadhead recommendations

Design & Construction

The Excalibur Ibex SMF has a 175 lbs. draw weight coupled with a 14.5″ power stroke, delivering a velocity of 305 feet per second when the appropriate bolts are used. The trigger has a pull weight of around 3.1 lbs. and a relatively long travel distance, which might take some getting used to if you are a rifle or handgun shooter. After 20 or 30 shots though the trigger will feel perfectly comfortable and will do its job very well.

The foregrip fits the hands and the shoulder plate rests against the body as comfortably as you could imagine. It holds pretty much like a regular rifle does.  It’s also exceptionally light weight; at 5.9 lbs. you can carry it forever during a hunting trip without stressing your muscles.

Customer Warranty

The Excalibur Ibex SMF crossbow comes with a lifetime limited warranty. This warranty covers any problems you might face, except for when:

  • You make any alterations to the construction of the crossbow
  • You dry fire your crossbow

What Crossbow Case Fits the Excalibur Ibex SMF Crossbow?

A wonderful option for the Excalibur Ibex at a reasonable price is the Carbon Express Deluxe Case, as long as the scope size is not too large. For those featuring larger scopes the Tarantula Deluxe Crossbow Case is a rather nice alternative.

Excalibur Ibex SMF Crossbow Review – Summary

Thanks for reading our review of the Excalibur Ibex SMF. This is, without a doubt, one of the finest recurve x-bows available on the market. It also comes at an affordable price and is suitable for beginners, advanced shooters – by both hunters and for target practice purposes. With Excalibur I can guarantee you one thing: you’ll get more than you pay for. Take a look at today's amazon.com price on this crossbow and check out our top 10 crossbows rankings for more.

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