My Strykezone 380 experience

[Hogbear]

Bought a Stryker (by Bowtech) Strykezone 380 four days ago. Shot really nice and very fast. This morning I cocked it and put a bolt in and took aim but when I pulled the trigger, there was a loud bang and rattle and when I looked up from the scope, there was a tangle of string hanging from the cams. I only have about 40-50 shots on the bow and I waxed the string and lubed the rails as recommended.
I took it back to Bass Pro and the tech says "oh, another Bowtech back with problems." Says he's sold 4 of the SZ 380's and 3 of them came back with problems in less than 30 days. He felt around with a plastic cable tie where the string sits when it's cocked and said there were some sharp edges in there, and he's seen it before on the Stryker Xbows. Said I could wait on another Strykezone 380 but he didn't know when they could get one, or I could use the credit towards another brand, or just get a refund.
He said Excalibur or 10 Point/Wicked Ridge are the only two brands he would spend his own money on. I don't like the width of the Excaliburs and he couldn't find any of the wicked ridge in the system, and didn't have a guess when they would get more in.
I took the refund and went by Everything Archery and got a Parker Hornet.
Wanted to see if Phil had any Wicked Ridge in at Shelby Forest Archery, but I've been by there 4 times in the last week and he's been closed every time. Probably off hunting somewhere.

 

[stryker]

I've got a stryker max4 camo and I love it they are Awesome. I have a buddy that went and bought a 380 a few weeks ago and he already had to take it back once the limbs cracked. He forgot and left it cocked for a few days which was his fought but the 380's are having a lot of issues and he has a trip planned to leave 11-7 for a week in ohio. He called me the other day wanting to borrow the spare crossbow that I have cause he's afraid that he will get up there and it do something again. I told him I would get me a different one. I wouldn't recommend the new strykezone 380 to anyone. The stryker max 4 is AWESOME though but they should be for 1700 dollars. I think bow tech had to make some changes do to competition and the cheap way out has really started to give them a bad name. I think u made the right decision by getting something different now. I'm glad I got mine while they was still making GREAT QUALITY crossbows. I think people should wait a couple more years and bow tech will have all the issues worked out with them but right now DO NOT buy a Strikezone 380 unless u like issues. If u can find the stryker max 4 then I'd grab it they are made GREAT and built to last they are just a little pricey and hard to find now. I hope this post helps some people on TNDEER from buying something that has so many issues. If somebody on here has one and it's doing good then it's about 1 out of 10 so u was lucky. They will tell u this at Bass pro shop. It's not that Bow tech don't fix it, it's just the point that us as hunters don't want something that may cost us the buck of a lifetime. There's enough things that can go wrong without buying something that adds to the fact. How long will they give u a refund at bass pro on these bows Hogbear??? I'd like to know cause my buddy would like to take his back and get the 350 They do GREAT as well but the bass pro in knoxville tn don't carry them so he would have to get a different brand and he wants a 350 so he would have to get a refund and go buy one else where. Good luck with your new bow I hope u like it and hopefully it will be problem free except normal up keep.

 

[Hogbear]

I think it's only 30 days they do the "no questions asked" refund. After that it's probably send it back to Bowtech and wait for repairs. I may be wrong though, but that's what I understood from talking to the tech there. Probably best to call and ask them.

The tech at BassPro said the older Strykeforce had some problems with the triggers where they would hang fire. Guys would pull the trigger and nothing would happen, then about 5-20 seconds later the bow would fire. Very dangerous.

So far I'm loving the Parker Hornet. It's only about 315 fps, but it's very accurate and easy to chocolate chip cookie and showing no signs of string wear so far.