http://www.mac.asn.au/string_making.htmI researched string-making.
I wanted to make a longer string to reduce the weight on my 80 lb hand-crossbow (see below) with a one-piece aluminum bow. It is too noisy for what I wanted (sounds like a screen door slamming) and is too hard to string. (You can't use your legs to string it, like a regular bow.) I figured an inch or so extra on the string would do the trick. But what with the cost of a whole roll of Dacron or whatever you want to use, et cetera, just for a one-off string, I finally decided to just have the pros do it. But I never got around to bringing it in for measurements. They quoted 12-15 bucks, sight unseen, knowing it was a pistol crossbow.
When I strung it I had to use the railing pickets on my balcony for leverage and you could hear the railing groaning as I forced enough bend in one limb to "nock" the string. (I don't have a shop or anything like it in my apartment.) It remains strung, up there on a closet shelf.
It's got a cocking lever, so cocking it isn't a problem, but man, stringing it was a bitch.
Shoots fine, very powerful, but if you're too close to a cardboard box target filled with newspapers, it will strip the fletching off the bolts. Good sights, but they are plastic and a little fragile. Easy to cock despite the 80lb weight, if you keep the cocking mechanism rails lubed with candle wax.
Terry, 230RN
ETA: It's an MTech DX-80
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