Blast from the Past Blogs

Playing with the PSE TAC 15 Crossbow

March 31, 2011

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While at S&S; Gaham Archery completing the 2011 Bow comparison, I kept looking over at the PSE TAC 15 on the wall. It just looked mean and man did I want to shoot it! I kept hearing about how wicked that thing was. It has an AR-15 lower, which if you already have a AR-15 you can just buy the crossbow attachment to convert it from gun to crossbow! This one had a scope on it and the bolts were laying beside it made it even more nasty looking.
It looked a lot heavier than it was, only 8lbs. The limbs are what PSE states they started by “incorporating the incredibly strong X-Tech limbs into a extremely compact platfrom” which I’d have to agree at only 17” axle to axle at brace and 12” at full draw.

When you pull that trigger… LOOKOUT!! Only 12 miliseconds, trigger-to-bolt release from string. It is rated at speeds of 402-392fps with a 425 grain bolt, which we will be testing ourselves here shortly so keep reading! Kenetic energy is 153-145 ft-lbs with the peak draw weight being 155lbs. Impressed yet? I was! Davin from S&S; noticed I was drooling over it and he asked “Do you waa..” and before he could get anymore out I said “YEAH!!”
On to the chronograph & paper tuning room we went. He handed the beast over to me. I cocked it back and put the rediculous bolt that it came with to ready it for slinging some massive carbon material at a high rate of speed! With the quick-cocking design, the crossbow can be loaded and shot in less than 30 seconds.

So now we are pointing it downrange and we’re ready… here it goes….THUMP!! To my amazement the 1st shot read 410.7 fps!! That’s over 8fps than PSE rated it. Ok… “is this right?” I asked. So we recalibrated the chronograph and shot it again… 406.9fps!! This thing was sick! The next bolt was the fastest, 411.1fps. Then it slowed down the next shot to a measly 409.8fps. We shot it over and over until Davin had to pry it out of my hands.
It was really fun to shoot, looks awesome and I can tell you that whatever that bolt hits is in big trouble! The bolts were literally smoking the target material. I tried to take some pictures of the smoke coming off the bolt as it was almost completely sunk into the target wall that made them really tough to pull out.
I had a blast shooting the TAC 15. This is not a stalk in the woods type crossbow but if you planned it well you could definitely use it in a box stand, hunting fields and open hardwoods where you can really stretch out your range. The one I was shooting had a bipod on it so you could cover some good range and really lay some game out. Davin explained to me how a few of his customers were getting awesome groups at 120yds! If your interested in checking this thing out, stop by S&S; Graham Archery in China Grove, NC or your local bow shop that carries these sort of toys and shoot it a few times… I dare you to try to see if you can shoot it and not leave with one! They have them in stock and can ship anywhere if you just want to skip the nonsense and buy one. Give them a call (704) 855-1300 and tell them 704 Outdoors sent you!