Have you ever noticed areas of your crossbow that needed to be tuned up, but didn’t know exactly what to do? Maybe you’ve been shooting your bow all season and feel that you should clean it up before ending the hunting season. Or, maybe it’s the beginning of shooting season, and you know your crossbow needs to be looked over before you go back out and shoot.
If any of these sound right to you, you’re going to love this 10 best maintenance tips for your crossbow page.
Whether you’re looking for tips to keep your crossbow working well before, during, or after hunting season, these top insights always work no matter the time in the season.
Wipe it with a cotton cloth
The first step is to spray water on a cloth and wipe the crossbow down to remove dirt, dust and debris.
I use water instead of cleaning agents to insure that the coating on the stock and limbs do not have a reaction, which might cause flaking or peeling.
A cotton or microfiber towel is favorable because these materials will not scratch your bow.
When doing so, make sure to wipe under and around the string, around the trigger and at the areas where dirt easily collects.
Tighten nuts, bolts, and screws
Each shot fired from a crossbow puts the bow through a lot of force and pressure. Parts of the bow, such as the nuts, bolts, and screws will naturally loosen.
Use the two tools below to quickly and easily tighten the necessary parts of your bow.
Tools for Crossbows
Apply oil to steel parts
Keeping your crossbow well lubricated will help prevent rust during the off season.
In particular, apply this lube to the parts of the bow that are made of steel, such as the nuts, bolts, and screws.
We all know how amazingly fast rust will find its way onto our tools and equipment. Maintain a schedule for keeping the bow lubricated to make sure that rust doesn’t cause other damages to your bow.
When it comes to lube, you want to use crossbow lube. Lubricants made for other materials can cause the dipped paint on your bow to flake and peel.
There are multiple types of crossbow lube on the market, but I always stick with TenPoint’s lube.
Apply oil to the Dry-fire inhibitor, cam bearings, axles, and trigger
Before cleaning the larger parts of the crossbow, make sure your bow is set to the safety position.
Apply a drop of oil to both sides of the safety slide through the window in the trigger box.
In order to make sure the oil spreads evenly, move the safety mechanism back and forth multiple times.
Next, apply a drop of oil to the string latch that’s located in the trigger box and use that same back and forth motion to correctly lube the string.
From here, we will apply oil to the dry-fire inhibitor. To do this, put a drop of oil on the left and right side of the bow’s dry-fire inhibitor wedge, which will be located just below the steel pin.
From here we’ll move onto applying oil to the two cams. To do so, simply apply oil to the top of each cam where the bearings pass through the axle.
To finish off, apply a cotton swab to wipe away excess dirt, grease, and oil from the bow.
Wax your string
Both cold and hot weather are brutal on a crossbow’s string. Weather conditions can severely shorten the length of the string’s lifespan.
But it doesn’t have to be like that. Waxing your string properly will ensure your string lasts longer and performs stronger.
In order to wax your string properly, take the lid off the wax container and rube the lube stick up and down the string while making sure to cover the sides of the string as well.
Clean the flight rail
Dirt and debris will collect in and around the flight rail, and you’re going to want to clean this area of your crossbow.
Dip a q-tip into water and move the q-tip through the rail, making sure to clean the sides very well.
Then, grab your cotton cloth and wipe off any remaining debris that you still see.
Check cut-out and other hard to reach areas
Oftentimes, crossbows will have difficult to reach areas, like where the handle meets the shaft.
Many crossbow models have cut outs, where the company took metal out, leaving a hollow place, which is great to keep a lightweight set up, but a place that needs to be clean.
For this area, take more q-tips, and your cloth and make sure to get inside with the q-tip and around with the cloth.
Clean the scope
Start by removing the lens covers from the scope and checking for dirt and debris.
To clean your scope, you’re going to want to use purified water with a drop or two of dish detergent.
I recommend this mixture because dish soap is non-alcoholic, which will keep the coating on the optics safe.
This time, dip a cotton ball into the solution and gently rub the cotton ball onto the scope lens.
Use both a dab and twist to properly lean the optics. Next, take a dry cotton ball and gently go over your scope to ensure that no water or soap is left behind.
Clean and lubricate the cocking mechanism
If your crossbow has a detachable cocking mechanism, such as the Acudraw, take off the device.
If this option isn’t available to you, you will still use the same process that comes next.
First wipe dry with the cotton rag. Then, take a cotton ball and dip it into the water and soap combination. Gently wipe around the edges and inside to mechanism the best you can.
After that, apply a small amount of oil to the device and move it around in side-to-side and up-and-down movements to get the oil all around the device.
When it’s time to put the cocking mechanism back on the bow, make sure you get the nuts and bolts tight.
Use a case
The best way to keep an unused crossbow well maintained is to keep the bow in a case.
There are hard cases and soft cases that will protect your bow.
Plus, if you’re looking for a new case, and want to make sure to get the best crossbow case for you, read our in-depth article about crossbow cases directly below.
Conclusion
Did you know that a crossbow can easily last a decade or longer?
The bows we buy, plus the equipment it takes can get expensive. It’s best to maintain your crossbow to get the longevity out of the bow.
Hopefully you found value in this article, and if you feel I missed another way that you use to keep your bow shooting well, please leave your comment down below!
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