Cobra System Self Cocking Pistol Tactical Crossbow, 80-Pound

I in no way affiliated with the supplier or amazon.com. This review is 100% my own impression:From the picture and description, one would think that this was a dinky, Asian made toy that would be ineffective and short lived. I only purchased mine after being pressured by a friend. I was still skeptical during the unboxing and assembly. After assembling this product and firing my first few bolts I was amazed. This crossbow is amazingly powerful and accurate. Let me be perfectly clear, this this is NOT a toy.POWER- It will fire a bolt with enough force into wooden targets that a grown man will have difficulty removing the projectile. At close range, this crossbow has enough force to break/bend aluminum bolts. I have already killed 4 birds and 2 squirrels without feeling like it was inhumane. The bolts are moving at a high enough velocity that they have a clean entry and exit on small game. Aside from live targets I purchased a standard archery foam block target. this crossbow buries the bolts all the way to the back end at over 20 feet. Long story short, this thing is deadly. It should not be in the hands of inexperienced persons.ACCURACY- The attached iron sites are not perfect, but they get the job done, after a small amount of recalibration, I was able to produce 1" groups at around 20 feet with 3 arrows. Moving back to around 50 feet I can hit a 3" target with minimal effort. After about a week I removed the posterior iron site and attached a very cheap red dot site previously used on an air rifle. This allowed for a more comfortable eye relief, and easier target acquisition. With that in mind the accuracy did not improve. Recently my brother and I tested the long range use of this crossbow for fun and we were both impressed with the results. At 90 feet, there is a decent amount of drop in the projectile that requires some adjustment in aiming. However, once we were dialed in, we were able to hit within 5-7 inches of the center of our archery target 100% of the time. While I would not feel comfortable using this as a long range hunting/self defense weapon, I would be very worried to be 90 feet away from the wrong end of this crossbow if it were in skilled hands.The only negative things I have found with this product is that the safety is atypical, it is a gold rod that you must push forward to allow the trigger to release the string. I had an issue with bolts breaking if fired into hard targets or when fired from close range. but given how powerful it is and how cheap they are, I am not surprised. I also had to replace the string after 150 shots, which is fine given that they cost around $5.00 USD, and are in no way a representation of the crossbows reliability/durability so I still feel like this product deserves 5 starsPROS- dirt cheap, powerful, accurate, lightweight, easy assembly, durable.CONS- default sites are not great, strings break after 150 or so shots, safety is clunky, bolts can break

I purchased for a cool kid toy ,(I am 76), and in consideration of a potential future need for a WMD. After due consideration and following many prepper U-Tube videos I figured a Cross Bow Pistol would meet my imaginary survival/self defense needs better than some automatic fast firing gun powder weapon that requires registration with the agencies I am trying to escape from and announces for miles around; "Hey Zombies, I've got weapons, ammo, and other resources". I selected the fiberglass model with Red Dot sight and all the accessories. The product and accessories meet my expectations. I was a little disappointed that the red dot sight was in a little box taped to the side of the pistol box. As others have mentioned Stringing the Bow is NOT POSSIBLE without cheating, I couldn't even get the loop to fit on the end piece with out any tension. After reading reviews and watching U-Tube instructions I modified the auxiliary string method. I attached a length of high strength twine to the bow and pulled as much tension as possible before tying off. I then cocked the bow using this string. Putting the supplied OFFICIAL string on was now very easy. I tried it out with the included mechanical sight and was very impressed and happy with my choice. After a few test shots to align the sight It was more powerful and accurate than I would have anticipated. I fired my last 2 shots of that day from 15 yards into a 1 in group right on the target spot; which, I think that is amazing for a non shooter with shaky old man aim. The next plan was to evaluate with Red Dot Sight and was mostly disappointment. The instructions for mounting were not complete enough for an inexperienced Bow Smith to follow. I eventually figured I had to remove the existing mechanical sight from the rail. Then after more issues, found I had to cut down the the screw from the mechanical sight elevation adjustment. The Red Dot sight brackets still did not fit to the rail, either it was bent or just poor quality. I eventually added shims between the mounting brackets and sight to get a good straight fit on the rail. Adjusting the Red Dot was more difficult than anticipated. I never did get a good alignment or repeat-ability before I broke/lost the 4 arrows I brought with me. I plan on evaluating on another time and with no improvement I will remove the Red Dot and reinstall the mechanical sight. Overall I don't recommend the Red Dot option based on my experience so far. It appears to be a low cost add on instead of a tested system as implied. Arrow Quality! Since there have been other comments I will also. The 3 arrows that were included in the box appeared to be good quality I made several shots using the 3 to align the mechanical sight and they were fine with no damage. I eventually lost all 3 from low/missed shots resulting in them burying in the ground. I opened a pack of the accessory 36 included in the kit. They turned out be more penetrating in my make shift target as well as surrounding infrastructure, (see above on trying to align Red Dot). They also broke more easy with the plastic ends shattering or points breaking off. So, overall a good choice for my needs.