Crossbow Showdown: TenPoint Nitro 505 vs. Ravin R26X vs. Excalibur MAG 340

A crossbow you will still hunt is a maker-stated speed on a named arrow, a cocked width that fits the blind you already own, and a cocking method you can repeat in a jacket — not a locker-room chrono and a mailbox “505.” The short answer: sit on a TenPoint Nitro 505, a Ravin R26X, and an Excalibur Micro MAG 340 at a licensed archery shop, then buy a rope cocker, a fitted case, and rail wax for the kit around them.

Short version. A compound is a different cam and a different shop visit. Bolts and heads is the spine conversation. Pair with a first sit. The older forward-draw trio — Titan M1, Invader 400, TS380 — is a different showdown. Check live prices on the kit. These three bows stay a licensed dealer or the maker.

This page will not crate a Nitro 505, an R26X, or a MAG 340. TenPoint, Ravin, and Excalibur sell through dealers. This page is the rope, the case, and the wax.

Speed is a maker number on a named arrow, not a story

TenPoint’s 2024 specification sheet rates the Nitro 505 at 505 feet per second and 232 foot-pounds with a 410-grain Pro Elite 400, and 485 feet per second and 232 foot-pounds with a 445-grain EVO-X CenterPunch. Ravin rates the R26X at 400 feet per second with a 400-grain arrow, and 142 foot-pounds. Excalibur package sheets rate the Micro MAG 340 at up to 340 feet per second on a 350-grain arrow. Those are maker numbers on named weights. A heavier hunting bolt will be slower. That is allowed.

Do not line the 505 up against the Ravin’s 400 and call the gap a hunting advantage you have measured. The grains are not the same, and a chrono in a parking lot is not the sheet. Write the arrow weight you will hunt. Then sit on the bow that can send that arrow.

Do: write the grain next to the feet per second. Don’t: a “we shot 500” that does not name the bolt. Rated glasses before the first string. A dry-fire is a bow you take back to the shop, not a shrug.

TenPoint Nitro 505 — reverse-draw, 505 on a 410-grain Pro Elite 400

The Nitro 505 is a reverse-draw hunting bow. TenPoint’s 2024 sheet puts it at a 300-pound draw, a 17-inch power stroke, 30.5 inches long without the foot stirrup, 12 inches axle-to-axle uncocked and 6.5 cocked, and 7.9 pounds with the ACUslide and without accessories or the stirrup. The limbs sit forward of a conventional crossbow. TenPoint’s own copy says that layout keeps the balance farther back and keeps the nock on the string longer. It is not a forward-draw. The Titan M1 on the older showdown is a forward-draw. Do not mix the sentences.

ACUslide is the cocking and de-cocking crank in the stock. TenPoint’s catalog copy on that system puts the cocking force at about five pounds, and it says you can take your hand off the handle and the cycle stops. That is the point of the crank: a 300-pound limb number is not the pull you feel if the ACUslide is the one in the stock. Confirm the crank is on that serial before you treat five pounds as the number you will pull in a jacket.

The 2022 catalog describes the S1 trigger as a two-stage, zero-creep break at about 3.5 pounds. Package glass varies — EVO-X, a rangefinding scope, a black scope on a moss-green bow. Sit on the glass that is actually on the rail. A 505-foot bow with a scope you cannot see through at dusk is a different problem.

It is the heaviest of this trio on the sheets, at 7.9 pounds with the crank. It is also the fastest number, and the cocked width is 6.5 inches. A narrow stand and a long poke are the use. A short walk with a heavy bow is the trade. Sit on the balance. Reverse-draw is supposed to feel less nose-heavy. If it does not, on your shoulder, the sheet does not care.

TenPoint — current Nitro pages and dealers

Do: a shop that still talks to TenPoint on strings and on ACUslide parts. Don’t: a “505” mailbox with a plastic rest and no paper. Sights if the glass is already the fight. The bow still wants TenPoint or a dealer.

Ravin R26X — 400 on a 400-grain, 12 pounds of draw force, not 340 pounds

Ravin’s R26X page rates the bow at 400 feet per second with a 400-grain arrow, 142 foot-pounds, 6.5 pounds, 26 inches long, and a draw force of 12 pounds. The same page states 5.75 inches axle-to-axle cocked. Ravin’s R26X listing also prints 9.25 inches uncocked. It is a bullpup: short overall, limbs wrapped close to the front, an integrated silent cocking system, and a Trac-Trigger that Ravin says clasps the center of the string. HeliCoil is the cam story. Ravin says those cams rotate up to 340 degrees. That 340 is degrees of rotation. It is not a 340-pound draw. A sentence that hangs 340 pounds on an R26X has misread the cam.

The 12-pound figure is draw force — the pull of the built-in crank — not a limb rating you will feel with a rope. The cocking system is in the bow. Ravin says you can stop the draw at any point, and that the silent version uses a one-way bearing so the cycle is quiet. A removable draw handle lives with the bow. This is not a rope-cocker package. Do not hang the Barnett rope on it and call the problem solved until you have read the manual. The crank is the cocking method.

Use is the tight place. Twenty-six inches long and 5.75 inches cocked is the narrowest, shortest bow in this trio. Ravin’s own page names saddle hunters and smaller frames. A ground blind with a low roof, a saddle, a stand where a 32-inch recurve clips a branch — that is the R26X conversation. It is not the lightest. The MAG 340’s bow-only weight is lower. It is not the fastest. The Nitro’s sheet is 505 on a named 410-grain. It is the one you can turn inside a blind without the limbs writing on the wall.

The standard package on Ravin’s page includes a 100-yard illuminated scope, a quiver, the draw handle, and three .003 arrows at 400 grains total, plus an anti-dry-fire and an auto safety. Arrows are proprietary. A bolt from the other two bows is not a spare. Write that down before you share a quiver.

Ravin — current R26X page and dealers

Do: the same shop that will still talk to Ravin on a string and a cable set. Don’t: a “340” you read as pounds. A compound shop is a different cam. This is still a crossbow last.

Excalibur Micro MAG 340 — a recurve, 340 on a 350-grain, wide when it is cocked

The Micro MAG 340 is a recurve. There is no cam to time and no HeliCoil to explain. Package sheets that dealers reprint as one block list up to 340 feet per second on a 350-grain arrow, a 270-pound draw, a 13-inch power stroke, 5.5 pounds for the crossbow alone, 31.75 inches overall, 25 inches wide uncocked and 22 inches cocked. The usual package is a rope cocking aid, an anti-dry-fire, R.E.D.S. suppressors, a scope, and Quill bolts around 16.5 inches with 100-grain field points. Finish and glass change by package — Mossy Oak, Realtree, a Dead Zone or a Tact scope. Sit on the one in the rack, not the one in a different SKU photo.

Twenty-two inches cocked is the number that separates it from the other two. The Nitro is 6.5 cocked. The R26X is 5.75 cocked. The MAG 340 is a wide recurve you will feel in a narrow blind and against a tree. That width is also why people still buy it: a simple limb, a string a shop can talk about without a proprietary crank, and a bow-only weight of 5.5 pounds. The lightest carry in this trio is the widest shot. Name which problem you actually have.

The 270-pound figure is the draw on those package sheets, not the pull you feel once the rope is seated. The rope is in the typical box. Confirm both hooks and the handle before you trust a reduced effort you have not felt. Excalibur also sells a crank that fits some of these bows. A crank you have not confirmed on this riser is a guess. The rope that came in the box is the cocking method until a dealer says otherwise.

It is not a 505 and it is not a 400. On a 350-grain it is a 340-class recurve. Heavier hunting heads slow it further. That is still a deer bow if the shot is the shot you have already grouped. It is a poor choice if the only reason you are here is the fastest number on a poster.

Excalibur — current crossbow pages and dealers

Do: a shop that still presses an Excalibur string. Don’t: a compound cam story hung on a recurve. A turkey sit is a different Saturday. This is still a bolt and a rail.

A rope cocker if the bow did not come with a crank — or if the factory rope is tired

The Barnett Crossbow Rope Cocking Device is the live rope we named: two hooks, a handle, even cocking if you seat both sides. It is the accessory for a MAG 340 whose factory rope is frayed, and a spare conversation for any bow whose manual allows a rope. It is not a substitute for ACUslide on a Nitro, and it is not the Ravin’s built-in crank. Confirm it fits your stock and the maker’s manual. Check live prices.

Do: the same rope every time, both hooks seated. Don’t: a one-hand yank that walks the string off-center. A crank on a Nitro or an R26X is a dealer option already in the bow, not a card on this page. A rope is the accessory that actually ships to a door.

A fitted case that clears the cocked width you wrote

The Allen Company Endura Fitted Crossbow Case is the live soft case we named: fitted hood, scope room, a sling. Measure the bow you actually bought. A 22-inch cocked MAG 340 is not a 5.75-inch R26X, and a 26-inch Ravin is not a 30.5-inch Nitro without the stirrup. The stirrup adds length the sheet already told you to add back. Check live prices.

Do: unload, verify empty, then the case. Don’t: a cocked bow in a bag. A sock is a long-gun sleeve, not a crossbow case. A truck-bed toss is a cracked limb. A wide recurve in a narrow compound sleeve is the same crack, slower.

Wax the serving and the rail. A dry string is a fray.

Bohning Tex-Tite is the live string wax we named: natural-based, crossbow-compatible on Bohning’s own sheet. A thin film on the serving, and on the rail if the maker said so. A Ravin flight system that is supposed to free-float the string is not an invitation to glob wax into the rail. Read the manual for that bow. Check live prices.

Do: a little, often. Don’t: a glob that picks sand. Rail lube and string wax are not a kitchen candle. A knife habit is a different steel. This is still wax on serving.

Bow	Maker speed	Cocking	Where you buy it
TenPoint Nitro 505	505 fps on a 410-grain Pro Elite 400	ACUslide, about 5 lb on TenPoint’s crank copy	TenPoint / licensed dealer
Ravin R26X	400 fps on a 400-grain	Built-in silent crank, 12 lb draw force	Ravin / licensed dealer
Excalibur Micro MAG 340	Up to 340 fps on a 350-grain	Rope cocking aid in the typical box	Excalibur / licensed dealer
The kit	—	Barnett rope, Allen case, Tex-Tite	Check live prices

Maker numbers on named arrow weights. The bows stay a dealer. Check live prices on the kit.

Bow	Draw on the sheet	Cocked width	Mass	Length
TenPoint Nitro 505	300 lb limb; crank is the pull	6.5 in	7.9 lb with ACUslide	30.5 in without stirrup
Ravin R26X	12 lb draw force	5.75 in	6.5 lb	26 in
Excalibur Micro MAG 340	270 lb on package sheets	22 in	5.5 lb bow only	31.75 in

Uncocked widths on the same sheets: Nitro 12 inches, R26X 9.25 inches, MAG 340 25 inches. A heavier hunting bolt is slower than the named grain.

How we would pick among the three

Want the maker’s 505 number, a reverse-draw, and a 6.5-inch cocked bow with a crank that also de-cocks? The Nitro 505. You are carrying 7.9 pounds with the ACUslide, and you are talking to a TenPoint dealer about strings. Want the shortest bow in the trio, a 5.75-inch cocked width, and a 12-pound draw force on a built-in silent crank? The R26X. Learn the 340-degree cam sentence so you do not buy a “340-pound Ravin” that does not exist. Want a recurve, the lightest bow-only weight here, and a rope already in the box? The MAG 340. You are accepting 22 inches cocked and a 340-foot sheet on a 350-grain. Sit on all three if the shop has them. The one you can cock in a jacket, and turn in the blind you already hunt, is the one you will hunt.

Do: a season on bags in the clothes you will wear. Don’t: a first deer at forty with a bow you unboxed Thursday. A first sit still wants a quiet walk. Broadheads after the group is a group. Night is a legal picture, not a lighted nock as a license.

Know the state before you hang a stand

Crossbow seasons are not compound seasons. Some states are deer-only, some are disability, some are open during archery week, some are not. A 505-foot bow does not rewrite the regulation. Write the season, the bolt weight minimum if the state prints one, and whether a crossbow is legal in the weapon class you think you are hunting. A tree sit still wants a harness you clipped. A harness if the stand is already the plan. Unload at the truck. Then the walk.

Sit on the bow. Buy the kit. Hunt the group you already shot.

TenPoint, Ravin, Excalibur — at a dealer. Barnett rope, Allen Endura, Bohning Tex-Tite we named. Check live prices. Come home with a group on a bag, not a mailbox 505.

Bags before a deer. A Thursday unbox is a miss you will keep.

Twenty bolts, three evenings, in the jacket you will sit in. A T-shirt group is a different sport. The Nitro’s 17-inch power stroke and the MAG 340’s 13-inch stroke do not share a sight tape. The R26X scope is a speed dial on Ravin’s own glass. Zero the bow you bought, at the grain you will hunt. A first sit. Rated glasses. Check live prices on the rope, the case, and the wax we named.

Broadheads after the group is a group. Field points and heads do not always share a hole, and a head that was fine at 340 feet per second is not automatically fine at 505. Read the head’s speed rating. Find the truth on a bag, not on an animal. Bolts. A compound is a different cam.

A lighted nock is not a season. Night. Know the state’s crossbow week. Unload at the truck. Then the walk. The older forward-draw numbers live on the Titan, Invader, and TS380 page.

Width is the hunt. Speed is the poster.

Measure the blind before you fall in love with a sheet. A hub blind that is already tight on a camp chair will hate a 22-inch MAG 340 and will not notice a 5.75-inch R26X. A saddle with a short tether has the same argument: the R26X is 26 inches long, the Nitro is 30.5 without the stirrup, the MAG 340 is 31.75 and much wider at the limbs. Write the number on a card and hold the card up in the stand before you pay.

Mass is the walk. The MAG 340 at 5.5 pounds, bow only, is the one you forget on a long drag back to the truck — until the limbs catch a vine. The Nitro at 7.9 pounds with ACUslide is the one you feel at mile two and do not feel when the crank does the cocking. The R26X at 6.5 pounds sits between them and wins on length. None of those weights include a quiver full of bolts, a harness, or the jacket. Weigh the kit you will actually carry.

Cocking is the third filter, and it is the one people skip in the store. A 300-pound Nitro limb with a working ACUslide is a five-pound conversation. A 300-pound Nitro whose crank was removed by the last owner is a different bow. An R26X at 12 pounds of draw force assumes the built-in crank. A MAG 340 at 270 pounds on the package sheet assumes you will use the rope. Sit on each one in the coat you will wear. If you cannot finish the cycle twice without a rest, that bow is not your season.

A fuzzy serving is a shop, not a glob of extra wax.

Tex-Tite we named is a thin film. A frayed serving is a press. TenPoint still talks strings on a Nitro. Ravin still talks strings and cables on an R26X. Excalibur still talks strings on a recurve, and a recurve string is a simpler part than a cam system that has to stay in time. That is the dealer half. Do not mail a serving job to a kitchen table because the wax is already in the drawer.

Do: the same wax every month you shoot. Don’t: a kitchen candle. Fire starters. A dry rail is a fray you will hear. On the Ravin, follow the manual before you wax a rail the maker told you to leave dry.

The Allen Endura we named still wants a bow that is empty. Verify. Then the zipper. Gun socks is a long-gun sleeve, not this case. A 25-inch uncocked MAG 340 needs the hood the listing claims. If the zipper stops on a limb, the case is the wrong case.

A used Nitro or R26X is a serial you write, not a parking-lot hope.

Ask when the string was pressed. Ask whether the ACUslide still stops when you let go of the handle. Ask whether the Ravin crank is silent because it is the X system or noisy because something is dry. Sit on it. A certified pre-owned page at the maker is still the maker. A compound is not a substitute if the crossbow season is the season you drew.

A MAG 340 with a tired factory rope is why we named the Barnett rope. Confirm the hooks still seat on that stock. Confirm the anti-dry-fire still blocks an empty rail. A recurve that has been dry-fired is a limb you can sometimes see and sometimes cannot. That is a shop, not a discount.

Do: a shop transfer if your state wants one. Don’t: a trunk cash deal and a cracked limb. Ownership habits — a locked case, a person who knows where the bow is — still apply to a crossbow in a house with kids. The bow stays a person who will still press it.

Coil the rope. Wipe the rail. Then the case.

Empty the quiver. Mice eat vanes, and a Ravin bolt is not a hardware-store replacement. Dry the Allen case if it sat in a wet truck. Leave the bow uncocked for storage unless the maker’s manual says a short cock is fine, and even then do not leave a 300-pound limb cocked through June. Check live prices. Storage thinking scales to a bow locker: dry, off the floor, away from a furnace vent that cooks a string.

The three bows stay a dealer. This page is still the rope, the case, the wax. Bolts. A first sit. Rated glasses. First aid if the stand is far from the truck. Tell someone the hour.

Last line: sit on the bow. Hunt the group. A mailbox 505 was a flyer. The older showdown is the forward-draw trio. This one is a reverse-draw, a HeliCoil bullpup, and a wide recurve. That is enough. Check live prices.

Also in the magazine

Keep going with the Titan M1, Invader 400, and TS380 showdown, compound bows, arrows, a first sit, and rated glasses. Check live prices.