| Model | Draw Weight | Velocity | Crossbow Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
BladesUSA Eagle 3 Get Amazon.com's Discount Price | 150 lbs. | 275 FPS | 1.9 lbs. |
Pros:
- Inexpensive and lightweight recurve crossbow
Cons:
- Very stiff and erratic trigger pull
- Safety occasionally locks up and has to be disabled to fire the crossbow
- Quite a bit of recoil for a 150 lb. crossbow
- Only includes 2 arrows
- No warranty coverage
Package Contents
Welcome to my review of the BladesUSA Eagle 3 crossbow. Each package delivered by BladesUSA includes the following items:
- The BladesUSA Eagle 3 crossbow, including stock, riser and prod
- Vibration dampeners
- Steel compression plate
- Polyester bowstring
- 2 14” crossbow arrows
Assembling The BladesUSA Eagle 3 Crossbow
Putting this crossbow together was pretty easy, except for what’s always the most difficult part: stringing it.
BladesUSA doesn’t really include any instructions, but assembly is fairly straightforward. You insert the prod assembly into the hole in the riser, and then place a vibration dampener pad on either side of the prod. Next, put the steel compression plate between the front pad and the retention screw, and then tighten down the retention screw. It is easy to strip this screw, so be careful that you do not tighten it too much.
To string the bow, make sure you use a stringer. Without one, you run the risk of injuring yourself or anybody around you, or damaging the bow or the string. You also run the risk of getting the string uneven, which will greatly influence your accuracy. I used a bow stringer and had the prod strung and ready to shoot within just a few minutes.
Accuracy And Power
The BladesUSA Eagle 3 has a draw weight of 150 pounds, and fires arrows that are 14” long and weigh in at around 290 grains. It flings the arrows at a blistering 275 fps, which gave my arrows plenty of power to drive straight through a medium-sized phone book.
I would like to say that this crossbow really shines in accuracy, because it would be great to find an inexpensive crossbow that is accurate and powerful. Unfortunately, I simply can’t say that. For starters, the crossbow has a very erratic and stiff trigger pull, and this hinders the shooter from maintaining a bead on the target. Next, the recoil is unlike anything I have ever experienced with a crossbow. I might as well be shooting a shotgun, not a crossbow, with as badly as this thing kicks.
At the end of the day, I was only able to maintain 2” groupings from 25 yards, and 5” groupings from 50 yards. Installing a scope or a red dot might help, but not by much. The problem is not the sight; it’s the recoil and the sloppy trigger pull.
Hunting: What To Expect
To be honest, I haven’t taken this particular crossbow hunting. Simply put, the accuracy isn’t what I would expect to have on hand when I’m hunting, and I’m not going to risk a sloppy shot maiming an animal when I could have killed it outright with the right crossbow.
If the thing had better accuracy, I would expect it to be more than adequate for small- to medium-game hunting. Squirrels and rabbits would be no match for its power, and even deer or antelope should be decent targets for a crossbow with this much power.
The only modification I’d make, assuming the accuracy problems were fixed, would be to add some sort of padding sling. Since the frame is plastic and can’t be easily drilled into without damaging the structural integrity, I’d probably go with a tie-on 3-point sling.
Cocking The BladesUSA Eagle 3 Crossbow
Cocking the BladesUSA Eagle 3 is pretty easy, as long as you use a rope-cocking device. Draw weight on this crossbow is 150 pounds, which you can do by hand without too much difficulty if you have the hand and upper body strength for it, but using a rope-cocking device makes the whole process go much more smoothly and accurately.
The draw is smooth and the string latches firmly into place. Occasionally, however, the safety will lock up and nothing short of dismantling the crossbow so you can force the safety to disengage.
Rope-cocking devices are inexpensive, so invest in one. BladesUSA doesn’t include one with this crossbow.
The BladesUSA Eagle 3 Crossbow Sight
The Eagle 3 includes a simple sight, but it is adjustable for windage and elevation. It took approximately 20 shots to have the crossbow sighted in, in part because of the uneven trigger pull and recoil. Once sighted in, though, the disappointment really set in. The sight doesn’t hold zero for more than four or five shots, and then you have to adjust the elevation all over again.
If I were to keep using this crossbow, the first step I’d take would be to replace the included sight with a good quality scope.
Arrows For The Eagle 3
The Eagle 3 comes with 2 14” aluminum crossbow arrows. These arrows are of decent quality, but the field tips are glued into place and cannot be replaced with broad heads. Invest in some lightweight carbon crossbow arrows, because these are only good for a few rounds of target shooting.
Any arrows weighing between 280 and 400 grains should work okay, but the heavier arrows will have much shorter range than the included arrows. I thought about testing this crossbow with the same 480-gr Carbon Express arrows I used with the Eagle 2, but ultimately decided that I didn’t want to risk damaging the arrows on such an erratically-shooting crossbow.
Safety and Design
If your idea of safety means locking the crossbow up completely so it cannot be fired, this might be the safest crossbow on the market. That is not what we look at though, so let me just say that I do not find anything to like about this crossbow other than the way it looks.
When a safety locks up and cannot be disengaged without dismantling the crossbow, this is a very serious safety flaw. Because of this problem, and the fact that BladesUSA doesn’t offer any warranty coverage or customer service for their products in the USA, I will have to make a recommendation that I rarely make: do not purchase this crossbow for any reason.
Warranty
As with the other BladesUSA products I have looked at, this crossbow does not seem to have a warranty. The BladesUSA brand, as near as I can tell, is actually a Taiwanese company. Since this crossbow does not have warranty coverage, you should only buy this if you are prepared to purchase another crossbow soon after you buy this one.
BladesUSA Eagle 3 Crossbow Review – Summary
Thanks for reading our review of the BladesUSA Eagle 3 crossbow. While this crossbow looks nice, it offers many problems that would plague a new or experienced crossbow archer. Because of these problems, I can’t really recommend this particular crossbow, though if you still want to give it a try then you can buy it on Amazon.com. A far better alternative in my opinion would be the BladesUSA Eagle 2, in case you’re interested.
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