Going deer hunting starting in about 2 weeks. I just bought a Tenpoint Wicked Ridge Invader HP (Which had a limb bust within 1 hour, and is currently on its way back to factory, but that is neither here nor there I guess). It says to use Omni Nock bolts. Oddly enough the ones that came with it did not seem to be Omni Nock which may of contributed to my issues with it. But anyway. What bolts should I use? And which tips?  I'm pretty new at this

I hunt with a TenPoint Titan extreme, which is a few steps up in the TenPoint lineup, with the primary difference being the compact limb system.

TenPoints all use either a flat nock, or their brand new omni nock.  

I highly recommend sticking with the Easton xx75 2219 aluminum arrows, and using NAP spitfires in 100 or 125 grn.  I personally prefer the 125 grn heads, but if you stick with the 100 grn, your points of impact will line up more closely with the scope that they include with the package provided you follow the proper sight in procedure.

And now I'm curious, how did you bust a limb?  User error?  What were you shooting out of it?  I've never heard of anyone having a defect related problem with a TenPoint product out of the box, usually if something bad happens, directions weren't followed.  Not trying to be accusatory here or run salt on the wound if you made a mistake, just am curious as to what happened.

The xbow was already assembled at the local gunshop. It came with 3 wicked ridge arrows. Loaded up an arrow, made sure it was pushed all the way back, let it rip and it didn't make it 20 feet. Scratched my head a bit.. Picked up the arrow, tried again. Got my cousin, who owns two xbow's to come look at it. He tried that same arrow (it had not yet occurred to me the arrow could be defective) and same results. He shot the other two arrows just fine. Accidentally lost one ( a good one ) so we picked the other two up, tried again, it only went 20 feet. We determined that arrow's nock has to be bad. I went to cock it again and heard a limb crack.

Never dry fired it, always made sure to cock it evenly, and the only difference we noticed between the two arrows was an ever so slight deformity in the nock of the one that would not shoot. I noticed the bow said Omni Nock Only on it, then looked those up later. The WR Arrows it came with had half moon nocks. But.. they were the arrows that came with it. So if that turns out to be what broke it, I would consider that not my fault.

I took it back to the shop expecting a refund but they said they'd have to send it off. I buy a lot from that LGS and if I don't get either a fully functional (preferably new) bow or a refund I will raise hell, because I am expecting the problem to be with the arrow (causing dry fire like symptoms) and they either came from the factory wrong or the LGS mixed them up and gave me the wrong ones.


Edit - I bought 6 of these before I saw your reply. I'll order some of what you recommended as well. I can always use these I ordered for back yard fun.

Are you sure the arrows had half moon nocks?  If so, they are not OEM arrows.  TenPoint and wicked ridge have always been flat nocks only, and then this year they added the omni nocks to the lineup, so they recommend those or flats, and are trying to move towards only using omni nocks, as they are even better than the flats for tenpoint's design.  Tenpoint's design is such that the string places downward pressure on the rail/barrel, and using a moon nock can and most likely will cause a dryfire or partial dryfire condition, which leads to limbs breaking.

If your arrows had half moon nocks and a WR label, then the shop changed out the nocks before you took possession. Depending on the shop, this wouldn't surprise me terribly much.  Archery is like anything else, and there's a lot of idiots that think they know best, and since their granddaddy, always used moon nocks and never missed a deer, they are the only way to go.

And those arrows you bought are exactly what I recommended.  Those are the easton xx75 2219s, just manufactured by easton for TenPoint, and TenPoint installs their nocks and vanes.  At this point, I would recommend sticking with the TenPoint ones that you ordered, as easton hasn't yet released a fully assembled 2219 with the omni nock.

Also, just for future reference and info for any other crossbow newbs that may stumble on this thread-  the "arrow only went 20 feet" shot is what's called a partial dryfire.  Due to incredibly high tension, Modern crossbow limbs are very sensitive to dryfires, and in many cases, just one single dryfire will crack or shatter a crossbow's limbs.  

If you ever experience a dryfire or partial dryfire, do not, under any circumstance, cock the bow untill the bows limbs, strings, and cables, and limb mounting points have been thoroughly inspected for any damage.  If you don't know what you are looking for, take it to an archery shop.

And then, do not attempt to fire the bow again untill you can be reasonably certain of the cause of the dryfire, and have eliminated that variable from the equation.  

Most common causes of dryfires are almost always arrow related.  Either the arrow was not seated all the way back, used incorrect nock, was not correctly indexed on the rail, or was physically damaged (bent shaft or damaged nock). If your arrow is even slightly bent, I'd recommend not using it.  Arrows are cheap, replacement crossbows and physical injury are not.

A dry fire with my excalibur won't break the limbs.All you do is put the string back on.
A compound Xbow is trouble with a dry fire.One other thing is read your manual
and you need to send it back to the factory in Ohio to get new string and cables on it
and also check the trigger box every 3yrs.I have a Titan xbow and just did that.
My new Excalibur Matrix 355 only needs a new string which i can change in the field in 2 minutes.
No sending it to anyone.

I am not sure which Excalibur model you have, but excalibur's website lists the damage that can occur with a dryfire, and their forum has a lot of people that have broken their excalibur's limbs or strings by dry firing.

I'm new to it so I didn't realize. Don't think it would of happened if I had been supplied the correct arrows

Yeah that would be an easy mistake to make.  Were your arrows wicked ridge branded?  Or were they something else.  TenPoint does supply 3 arrows with each bow they ship.

They were wicked ridge. White and orage.

According to the LGS , they sent mine off Monday and ordered two new ones Tuesday. When the new ones come in, they are going to give me a new one and then the one that is fixed, they will probably resell at a discount

And from now on, I know that "arrow only went 15-20 feet" = Dryfire and don't shoot again until it's checked.

Good stuff.  Really something like that is common knowledge with crossbows, which you will gain with experience.  

And just another tip: inspect your arrows regularly and don't fire bent/damaged arrows.  They will not be accurate, and can lead to dryfires or in some cases damage your crossbow.  And damaged carbon arrows can explode upon attempting to fire.  Arrows can become damaged or bent  if you miss your target and hit a tree/ground/etc, so make sure you are shooting at a good target/hay bale/etc

Also, OP, tenpoint has their own forum on their website, which is a great resource, and their employees use it as well and will answer just about anything you ask.

I sent Tenpoint an email today, trying to find illuminated Omninocks so hopefully they get back to me. I see some threads via Google where they should be out by now but can't find them anywhere.

Also, it seems eBay is a pretty good place for arrows and broad heads? I found a 3 pack of NAP Spitfire for $21.99 here. I haven't ordered yet but they seem legit. I need to order from either here or Cabela's ($39.99) real soon as the season starts on the 18th

Sometimes buying the lowest price you can find is good, but I find with archery stuff, buying from your local archery shop (only archery, not lgs that sells bows) to be very beneficial. You get the benefit of their knowledge and experience, and if you are a regular customer, you will often get small services at no charge.

Yeah They have an archery professional there (not sure what the term is for "gunsmith" in archery) and I do get good/low cost service there for my guns all the time. But I don't buy every single thing from them. Especially not much ammo. It's just too high. But the crossbow was $495 where as Gander Mountain (about 45 mins further) was $449.99 + $25 gift card back. I went with them over Gander because of service.

Well turns out Tenpoint never got the order for all the new ones they placed. So he resubmit the order. He's giving me the choice to get a Barnet BCX CarbonLite for $100 ($595 total) more if I want it. I really can't decide. I like the built in accu-draw of the WR, but I like the compactness of the Barnett. Not sure which to pick really

At that price, you could look into tenpoint's Titan model.  It is the entry level TenPoint compound, and uses the compact limb system, which makes for a nice sized package.  The Titan is an awesome bow, and is 100% made in the USA.

I looked at 3 or 4 Barnetts when I bought my TenPoint. Found defects in every single one of them.  NONE of them had a straight rail/barrel, and a couple of them had crooked limbs.  My advice is that if you plan on buying a Barnett inspect it VERY thoroughly.  Particularly try to put an arrow onto the rail, and look at contact points to make sure it is straight/true the entire length.  Also measure the gap from the end of each limb to the barrel on both sides and compare.

Yeah I really feel like I trust the Tenpoint/WR more. Thanks a ton for all the help!