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Quality
TenPoint
crossbows are more expensive than many
competitors, but for a good reason:
quality
is second to none! This is rather clear as you
handle one of their crossbows as quality is
something you can feel and touch.
Most of
the pieces are machined from billet, just a few
are metal injection molded, the finish is
painstaking on molded parts , dipping (camo
finish) is very well done and exposed metal
parts are anodized in non glare black:
flight track, riser, limb pockets,
trigger box, scope mount , cams, etc.
If you
look close enough you can see the machine tool
finishing marks on several pieces clearly
indicating the piece has been CNC machined.
Thanks
tour new Nikon’s 60mm Macro lens we have been
able to take some high magnification pictures
(see the gallery).
The
design of the Defender CLS calls for a SixPoint
series stock and foregrip, both are finished in
Mossy Oak Treestand camo. The dipping as
mentioned is very well done and applied in
problematic areas such as corners undercuts etc.
the finish seems to have a soft touch providing
a good and nice feeling while holding the
crossbow with bare hands. Both the stock grip
and the fore grip are designed with a grooved
surface in the finger area to further enhance
grip.
One of
the critical components of a crossbow is the
trigger.
This is
an area where TenPoint shines. The Defender CLS
trigger in fact is one of the best around. For
2009 TenPoint has unified the offering , there
is now just one trigger type used on both
TenPoint and SixPoint series crossbows, the only
notable difference is a slightly different
design of the trigger finger. The trigger is
nice: a grooved surface provides optimal grip
and the action is crisp and it is set at 3.5
pounds. The trigger mechanism also houses the
automatic safety (as you cock the crossbow it
moves to safe) but as a further safety measure
TenPoint added the patented anti dry fire
mechanism (DFI) that in case you fire the
crossbow without arrow it catches the string
within half an inch of travel.
The
scope included in the package, the TenPoint Pro
View 4X32 with illuminated multi reticle, is of
surprisingly good quality. Sometime
manufacturers try to keep price of their package
offerings low closing an eye on quality of some
components and the scope, representing one of
the most expensive component of the package is a
good candidate for saving. TenPoint chose not to
save money here: the lenses are sharp from
corner to corner and the reticle markings are
precisely etched. Part of the reticle can be
illuminates (small points) in
5 intensities of red and green in order
to match preferences and lighting conditions of
the target. The illumination is one of the best
I have seen so far: even at its highest setting
there is no light bleeding or halos, the dot
remains extremely sharp and focused: I am
impressed.
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