Brand new Mathews VXR 28 damaged by faulty release

[Robhannig4]

Help! I’m disgusted to even have to post this but I finally picked up my new Mathews VXR 28 two days ago and absolutely love it. I handed my old bow over to a family member who is new to archery and gave him my old release. In my haste to get my new VXR tuned I needed a new release and picked one up at a Cabela’s near my house (big mistake). After about 100 arrows I was in a full draw with an arrow nocked when the Cabela’s bought release crumbled into several pieces causing me to lose my grip. The remainder of the release which was still attached to the D-loop traveled forward at an obvious, very high rate of speed contacting my QAD drop away rest and destroying it immediately. By the time I realized what happened the arrow was long gone and I saw pieces of the release landing about 40’ from where I was standing. The worst part is the strings came off the cams and made an awful sound. I can’t tell anything is obviously damaged on the limbs and cams but I am concerned there is serious damage that I cannot see. My first course of action is to see if Cabela’s is willing to right this problem but I am not very hopeful. I am curious what everyone thinks about the bow and what I should do next? Again the whole set up is two days old and the POS release was only 1 day old! Thanks for your help and advice!

 

[Greenmachine_1]

I'm no help, but that really stinks. Hopefully everything is okay.

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[doncarpenter]

Help! I’m disgusted to even have to post this but I finally picked up my new Mathews VXR 28 two days ago and absolutely love it. I handed my old bow over to a family member who is new to archery and gave him my old release. In my haste to get my new VXR tuned I needed a new release and picked one up at a Cabela’s near my house (big mistake). After about 100 arrows I was in a full draw with an arrow nocked when the Cabela’s bought release crumbled into several pieces causing me to lose my grip. The remainder of the release which was still attached to the D-loop traveled forward at an obvious, very high rate of speed contacting my QAD drop away rest and destroying it immediately. By the time I realized what happened the arrow was long gone and I saw pieces of the release landing about 40’ from where I was standing. The worst part is the strings came off the cams and made an awful sound. I can’t tell anything is obviously damaged on the limbs and cams but I am concerned there is serious damage that I cannot see. My first course of action is to see if Cabela’s is willing to right this problem but I am not very hopeful. I am curious what everyone thinks about the bow and what I should do next? Again the whole set up is two days old and the POS release was only 1 day old! Thanks for your help and advice!

If your dealer is open, take it to them. They can tell you for sure if there is any damage.

Aside from the dealer. Take some cotton balls and run it over the limbs and cams. You are looking for any burrs or splintering.

Take a square or flat piece of metal and check the straightness of the cams, riser, and any other flat piece.

If you have a press, take everything apart and examine the pieces separate. Examine everything in very fine detail.

I would order new string and cables. It's a small investment and offers you peace of mind that they will be flawless after your incident.

Total bummer that it happened to you. I would seriously doubt if Cabela's would cover the expenses but the worst they can say is no.

If it makes you feel better I have sent my Carter Nock2it with an arrow twice. Both times breaking the thumb peg bracket. Smashing a QAD rest in the process. Luckily the bow remained intact.

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[Robhannig4]

Great advice thank you! I don’t expect much from Cabela’s but like you said it’s worth a try.

 

[Billy Goat]

Was it a Cabela's brand release? I don't see them having anything to do with it other than selling it, I'd be taken my it up with the release manufacturer.

Also trying to figure out how it came unstrung with the weight of the arrow on the string and the release head, not saying it couldn't.

 

[Robhannig4]

Was it a Cabela's brand release? I don't see them having anything to do with it other than selling it, I'd be taken my it up with the release manufacturer.

Also trying to figure out how it came unstrung with the weight of the arrow on the string and the release head, not saying it couldn't.

I was trying to figure that out myself. My only thought is that when the release still attached to the D-loop hit the rest, it sent the strings of their axis? Not sure though. The release was a “blackout” brand which is a Cabela’s brand if I understand correctly

 

[Billy Goat]

I was trying to figure that out myself. My only thought is that when the release still attached to the D-loop hit the rest, it sent the strings of their axis? Not sure though. The release was a “blackout” brand which is a Cabela’s brand if I understand correctly

What did it do to the string stop? Any marks where the string slipped one side or the other of it? Maybe the weight of the release caused the string to side step the string stop if it was a little off center, once it went one side or the other of the stop it derailed on the bottom cam.


I'd say good luck with Cabela's, I'd definitely try but doubt you will get very far.

 

[Robhannig4]

I

What did it do to the string stop? Any marks where the string slipped one side or the other of it? Maybe the weight of the release caused the string to side step the string stop if it was a little off center, once it went one side or the other of the stop it derailed on the bottom cam.


I'd say good luck with Cabela's, I'd definitely try but doubt you will get very far.

just checked the string stop, it did skip to the left side of the stop there is a pretty clear skid mark on it.

 

[Zac]

Well at least you get to order better strings, stock Mathews strings and the worst.

 

[SoDaky]

Glad u didn't get hurt.Had a similar incident with a name brand release.Sadly while drawing on a nice bull.Violent thing.Got a nasty cut over one eye.

 

[Terrapin]

I’m guessing every release manufacturer has replaced or repaired a bow. I can recall a handful of the biggest names doing so.


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[joshdidthis]

I'd like to see some pics

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[Jimbob]

What release was it and how did it come apart? did a screw back out? What a nightmare.

 

[outdoorsbound]

I feel your pain. At least yours wasn't self induced....
-steps into confessional-

I've had my VXR 28 since early March. After the initial set-up and "shoot-in" of the stings, I was having a fit with peep rotation. I had built a press but was working in conjunction with the dealer until COVID turned that off. Once he was forced to close down I didn't feel right asking for clandestine trips to the shop and my wife is on immunosuppressants so I had to limit my own exposure.
Well, after playing string-off / string-on for about the 15th time, I went outside to test and everything was OK till I released the shot. It sounded like somewhere mid-travel in the shot, but the string derailed and came off the upper cam. Scared the living doo-doo out of me and then pissed me off immensely. I had religiously checked the strings / cams after each iteration of twist but could only assume I had missed something. The loops on the factory Zebra strings aren't served so I think I may have failed to catch a loop that had partially come off as I was unloading the press (even though I'm careful to keep tension on as I do that...).
The buss cables took up the load of the bow and kept it loaded but I was sure the shock had stressed or damaged something. I took a deep dive into the webs and found a few really helpful threads on AT.
Some of the diagnostic techniques I took away were:

To do the cotton ball technique mentioned above.
To do a detailed visual inspection of the limbs and pockets in the dark using a blacklight. (Looking for micro cracks / splinters).
Inspect each of the cams for straightness and true rotation. (I used a machinists square)
Inspect the axles for out-of-true conditions (I rolled them on a piece of plate glass)
And look for flat-spotting on the tophats.

In the end, all I found was a really tiny rolled edge (maybe .003") on the inner bearing surface of two of the tophats. I burnished that out with some 2k grit sandpaper. I then ordered a new set of strings from GAS (nice by the way) and installed them. I was nervous for the first few dozen shots after getting everything back together but there have been no further indications of latent damage.

I hope this can help you out at least a little bit. It took me a while to have real confidence in my bow but I'm there now. I'm at least 250-300 shots later and no issues. Even so, I still look regularly.
Good luck and enjoy your bow. I love my VXR.

 

[FlyGuy]

I bet everything is fine. I had my release slip out of my hands once last year. Parts went everywhere! Cables came off, release was shattered against the back of the riser. Took it into my shop and they went over it top to bottom, zero issues.




You can’t cheat the mountain

 

[Robhannig4]

I feel your pain. At least yours wasn't self induced....
-steps into confessional-

I've had my VXR 28 since early March. After the initial set-up and "shoot-in" of the stings, I was having a fit with peep rotation. I had built a press but was working in conjunction with the dealer until COVID turned that off. Once he was forced to close down I didn't feel right asking for clandestine trips to the shop and my wife is on immunosuppressants so I had to limit my own exposure.
Well, after playing string-off / string-on for about the 15th time, I went outside to test and everything was OK till I released the shot. It sounded like somewhere mid-travel in the shot, but the string derailed and came off the upper cam. Scared the living doo-doo out of me and then pissed me off immensely. I had religiously checked the strings / cams after each iteration of twist but could only assume I had missed something. The loops on the factory Zebra strings aren't served so I think I may have failed to catch a loop that had partially come off as I was unloading the press (even though I'm careful to keep tension on as I do that...).
The buss cables took up the load of the bow and kept it loaded but I was sure the shock had stressed or damaged something. I took a deep dive into the webs and found a few really helpful threads on AT.
Some of the diagnostic techniques I took away were:

To do the cotton ball technique mentioned above.
To do a detailed visual inspection of the limbs and pockets in the dark using a blacklight. (Looking for micro cracks / splinters).
Inspect each of the cams for straightness and true rotation. (I used a machinists square)
Inspect the axles for out-of-true conditions (I rolled them on a piece of plate glass)
And look for flat-spotting on the tophats.

In the end, all I found was a really tiny rolled edge (maybe .003") on the inner bearing surface of two of the tophats. I burnished that out with some 2k grit sandpaper. I then ordered a new set of strings from GAS (nice by the way) and installed them. I was nervous for the first few dozen shots after getting everything back together but there have been no further indications of latent damage.

I hope this can help you out at least a little bit. It took me a while to have real confidence in my bow but I'm there now. I'm at least 250-300 shots later and no issues. Even so, I still look regularly.
Good luck and enjoy your bow. I love my VXR.

Great info, thank you! I took it into my dealer (they’re still open because they’re also a gun dealer which is deemed necessary in my state) and they went over top to bottom. At the end of the day it cost me a new QAD rest and a new made in the USA release. Like you said it will take some time to build confidence by I am very relieved there was no major damage

 

[Robhannig4]

What release was it and how did it come apart? did a screw back out? What a nightmare.

It was a “Blackout Link”. Apparently made by true fire and appears to be a decent release in the hand. Yes a screw backed out holding the bottom two fingers on. Definitely some lessons learned with this whole thing.

 

[stonewall]

Dang. Sorry man. Glad your shop got you up and runnning

 

[Sobrbiker]

I recently had a TruBall MaxPro 4 ding up my roller guide on my Elite. I was able to fix where the head of the guide was dented. Luckily nothing else came undone (the arrow launched at about peak draw right before let off).
The “cable retainer” by the rollers disappeared in the incident and I went to my local shop to see if they had any parts or could get one from Elite. When I tried to tell the tale of a “faulty release incident” they got a pretty good laugh out of it, and I’m pretty sure they’re right-regardless of what I wanna think, I probably let the damned thing go.

 

[Sled]

sorry to hear about your release mishap but it might be a blessing in disguise. now you get quality strings and the ability to ditch the QAD for something reliable like a limb driver.