Hi im new to the crossbow scene so please ignore any silly questions i ask.

I'm looking into purchasing my first crossbow but cannot decide on which model to go for. I used to be in the army many moons ago and always enjoyed the rifle shooting and even won a few marksman competitions in my day with the old SA80 mk2 model. A few weeks ago i happened to mention to a friend how i missed that sport and he offered me along to one of his clay pigeon shooting days. Never really being a fan of shotguns i didnt take to it much.

Once back at his place when putting the shotgun back in his gun chest i happened to notice a rather nice looking crossbow, after showing some interest we went to a privately owned field and shot some targets with it, now that i enjoyed enough to get me interested.

So i dont have the biggest budget to spend on what will be a small hobby but would like a quality, reliable and well performing crossbow that will keep me interested. I've been looking at a few models but narrowed it down between either the Barnett Jackel or the Perfectline Titan. Which model is superior? unless of course someone can suggest a better option?

Thanks for your time :)

My first crossbow was an Excalibur Phoenix and I havent looked back since. I chose Excalibur because everyone on the internet raves about them as being the best in terms of quality, performance, reliability and accuracy. Whats also great is they are recurve so you can replace the string yourself which you cant with a compound.

Many people will tell you that you cant go wrong with an Excalibur and thats because you cant.

For target shooting I would recommend the Vixen because it is easier to cock, and easier on the string and arrows.