| Model | Draw Weight | Stroke | Velocity | Suggested Arrow Length | Crossbow Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SAS Beowulf Check price on Amazon.com | 175 lbs. | 14" | 360 FPS Crossbow Academy: ballistics, sighting, tuning | 20" | 6.5 lbs. |
| Pros: - Lightweight and super quiet - Full-barrel Picatinny rail for accessories - Smooth, wonderful trigger pull Cons: - Only includes 3 arrows - Short, 1-year warranty | Small Game Hunting? |  |
| Deer, Elk Hunting? | |
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| Moose, Bear Hunting? | |
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| Target Shooting? | |
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| Also Recommended: | Best SA Sports Crossbows |
Putting the Crossbow Together
Assembly of this crossbow is among the easiest I’ve ever experienced. All you have to do is install the cable slide and then thread the cables into the barrel track, then tighten the bolt and screw to secure the riser to the stock. Next, you install the foot stirrup, quiver, and scope. I had my Beowulf ready to shoot within 20 minutes.
Testing Power and Accuracy
The Beowulf fires arrows at upwards of 360 fps, with 115 ft. lbs. of kinetic energy behind each shot. This makes target shooting fun and exciting, since you never know just how deep you’re going to drive your arrows into the target and the backstop behind the target.
Sighting in the bow took mere minutes, since the scope was almost sighted in right out of the box. When I started testing accuracy, I was impressed at how accurate this crossbow is for such an inexpensive model. I was able to maintain 2” groupings from 50 yards, and my 20-yard groupings were so tight the arrows actually touched each other.
Use our arrow ballistics calculator for more valuable information.
Ballistic Data For The SA Sports Beowulf
- Speed Reduction
- Kinetic Energy
- Hunting Requirements
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.
How is it for Hunting?
This crossbow is amazing for hunting, because it is compact and lightweight. You’ll barely notice you’re carrying it, but I would definitely recommend investing in a padded sling to help carry it and free up your hands.
This crossbow is quieter than just about any crossbow I’ve ever used, and the power and accuracy of the crossbow make it suitable for any legal game in North America. I used it to hunt feral boars, and found it to be more than capable of dispatching boar after boar. Recocking the x-bow to take on that next boar was quiet and effortless, and I loved hunting with this crossbow. I also took the crossbow on several other hunts, and the bow never once failed to hit the mark.
I filled my freezer several times over with wild boar, deer, elk, and even black bear…all with the SA Sports Empire Beowulf!
Cocking The Sports Empire Beowulf
The fantastic cams on this crossbow make it a breeze to draw and cock, even with the 175 pound draw weight. The included rope cocking device makes the experience even better, and the string pulls back smoothly and easily until its cocked.
The safety engages automatically, and the anti dry-fire mechanism works flawlessly for each and every shot. I do recommend, as does SA Sports, using the included rope cocking device. These aren’t just for reducing the pain of drawing the crossbow, they make sure the string gets pulled back evenly and consistently.
The Scope
The included scope is a 4×32 multi-reticle scope with poor light gathering capabilities but otherwise excellent performance. It sights in quickly and easily, and holds true for months of use and abuse. I found the scope to be particularly good during cold weather, as it is almost completely fogproof. Target image, when the light is good, is crisp and clear. The only drawback is that the scope is almost useless during low light conditions.
See our detailed guide on how to sight-in your crossbowBolts
The Beowulf only comes with 3 arrows, but they are decent quality carbon arrows. They shoot straight and work well for target shooting and hunting. You can use just about any 20” arrows with this crossbow, but my favorite are Firebolt arrows weighed in at 400 grain. Update: you need to use half-moon nocks for any arrows shot from an SA Sports crossbow, so make sure you buy those with whatever arrows you get (see the comments below this review for more information on this).
You can also learn more about crossbow arrows and take a look at our broadhead recommendationsSafety and Design
The Beowulf is a quad limb compound crossbow, with CNC machined radical cams that offer 65% let off. The trigger assembly gives you a smooth, 3.5 pound trigger pull that breaks evenly and consistently. The lightweight high performance synthetic rear stock and barrel are well made, and the crossbow oozes quality that belies its inexpensive price. The full barrel integrated Picatinny rail is an excellent addition to an already stellar x-bow.
Warranty
SA Sports offers a 1-year limited warranty on this crossbow, which is pretty short for a hunting crossbow. However, the folks at SA Sports are exceptionally easy to work with, and they offer value well beyond the warranty period.
Crossbow Review – Summary
Thanks for reading our crossbow review. The SA Sports Empire Beowulf is worthy of its name, and is an excellent crossbow for target shooting or hunting. It is well made, is backed by a wonderful customer service team, and has already filled my freezer with meat several times over. Take a look at today's amazon.com price on this crossbow and check out our top 10 crossbows rankings for more.
I recently bought the SA Sports Beowulf cross bow and really like it but am having some consistency issues with bolts and broad heads. You mention using the Excalibur firebolt but these come with flat nocks and SAS recommends and arrows that come with bow are half moon. Did you put half moon on the firebolts? I am using the 125gr two blade rage with the firebolts, flat nock, and getting inconsistent patterns.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Jeff,
I’m very sorry for not mentioning this in the review. Yes, I’ve used HM nocks. It mostly has to do with the way a crossbow is constructed and how the string release system is designed; in some crossbows, lots of pressure will be exerted “downwards” when the trigger is pulled. If there is too much of this “downward” force present and you use a flat nock, the string can go right under the nock/arrow and lift it upwards, resulting in something very similar and akin to a dry fire, COMBINED with serious risk of damage to the crossbow and personal injury. A half-moon nock on the other hand will “hold” the string” right where it should be until the arrow exits the rail, so the string won’t have a chance of going beneath the nock (or at least it shouldn’t if the HM nock is of good quality). Worth noting is the fact that there isn’t necessarily always a correlation between the type of a crossbow (compound vs recurve, high speed vs low speed, etc.) and whether a half moon nock is a better choice, so one should definitely listen to the recommendations of the manufacturer because they know best how their x-bow is constructed.
Again, please accept my apologies for not mentioning the half-moon nock issue in the review, completely skipped my mind. I hope this doesn’t delay your crossbow shooting session too much.
I too had your promblem. Shooting a100gr thunderhead on cabelas carbon arrows. Switched to an aluminum Easton 2219 xx75 magnum and 125g tip. I use an Excalibur shadowzone scope. Dead on zero to 50 yards everytime. I could have gone with a 2216 and 100grain tip as well but prefer more kinetic energy down range
great review on this crossbow! i have generally been a firearms hunter my whole life but i have recently been looking into getting a crossbow for pennsylvania whitetails and was going to settle on a barnett recruit only because i do not want to spend much on something i may not like. after some consideration i think i may want to spend the extra $50-75 and get this crossbow. my question is, what brand/grain broadheads are you running out of this xbow. thanks so much for all the useful info on this site!
this is a great x-bow!had mine for 3yrs. now and no problems.got it from sportsman guild for 312.00 .great custumer service to.
You don’t me motion the “capture” nock so I’m guessing they came on the market after your review. Can I use bolts with the capture nock on my Beolwolf crossbow
I just purchased this bow from Sportsmans guide also. While sighting it in, after shooting about a dozen arrows, the bow will not cock now ??? . I pull the string up frmly, as I did the prior 11 times, but the device won’t grab the string, any ideas ??
Are there any crank cocker devices for the beowulf? I just bought this bow and I am thinking of getting another one for my wife. I think she would struggle with just the rope cocker.. also. . What is the purpose of the dovetail on the butt off the stock? Is this for a existing cocker?
My new Beowolf will not fire. I have a bolt loaded but the safety is still on. Any ideas?
Stock broke completely off where it inserts into the riser. Only the upper piece or track of the fore end remains unbroken. Cost me a nice day doe. And, I about filled my pants discovering the failure while it was cocked!. Shots previously had become much louder that usual. Riser bolt nice and tight… nice and tight to a broken off fore end. Be ware!
Hunted with this crossbow for one full season, at the start of the second season right limb of the crossbow splintered. I have shot this crossbow less than a hundred times and was only able to use it for one complete season. I am not happy with the quality of this crossbow, and have read other comments about limbs splintering with less than forty shots! This seems to be a major issue with the crossbow!
I got mine from Sportsmans Guide also. I replaced the scope first thing with a Sightmark Core SX 1.5-4.5 scope. I’m using Victory X/bolts half moon nocks and w/100 Rage 2 blade chisel tips. I can hit a dime from 20-50 yards. The only problem that I had was things started to come loose, problem solve w/blue Threadlocker!! I’ve taken a 16pt, an 8pt and a doe with my xbow with a heart shot on all 3 deer. I can’t get over how well this xbow performs!!
Turn safety off.