I just bought the Mission Sub-1 XR xbow the other day. I shot it in the bow shop 3 different times at 20 yards with a solid rest. I was shooting the same arrow every time and out of 15 shots I was inside 1" with all of them. I havent had much time to shoot it since I got home but I am finding out that it seems that different arrows can fly to different spots regardless of how accurate the bow is. During my research I was told by several supposed experienced xbow shooters that would be the case. They said quality arrows is 90% of accuracy. I am shooting Mission arrows which they recommend. Ive labeled my arrows and the #1 arrow shoots to almost the same hole every time. The #2 arrow does about the same thing but its hole is over about 1.5" to right. The #3 hits close to its same hole as well but its hole is low about 1.5 to 2". This was all with field tips at 25 yards off a good rest(only way I plan to shoot.) I didnt shoot it enough to have a real good sample size and it was overcast and trying to be mist in air so i dont know if that factored in. My other problem is it takes all my strength over about a minute or two just to get the arrow out of the target. I even bought a special rubber grip to help with that but the arrows usually buried too deep to use without getting into the vanes. I have to use both hands and one is squeezing the vanes which I wouldnt think would be good for accuracy. It completely wears me out. Im not real strong and ive had recent shoulder surgery and lost some strength but Ive GOT to get a different target or I cant shoot much. I plan to shoot some more and depending on how it shoots and what advice i get I may order custom arrows which I heard can help alot but then others say it only helps a little. Dang I wish I hadnt waited so late to do all this. This should be the fun part of hunting but the pressure of running out of time is ruining it. Any advise is appreciated.

Nice rig

I am not sure what you are using for a target but I found these come in handy

What I have is supposed to do what that does but yours appears to be much more likely to actually do what its supposed to do. Thank you very much, ordering one right now.

That arrow/bolt puller looks like a good one. I use those large rubber gripper pullers. They work ok but nothing special. Your supposed to be able to turn off Lumenoks with them but good luck with that. I usually end up using a multi tool. BEDNAR looks better. Thanks for the compliments on the goat guys.

They make an arrow lube that makes arrow removal a lot easier but you can do that with a bar of soap. The arrow is stopped mostly by friction which causes heat and can melt a little of the target which in a way hot glues the arrow to the target. A little slick oil or a little soap helps this melted target from sticking. The pullers can help as well and there are several that work well.

Which target are your using?

Get a good bag target for the field points, arrow removal is easy with them. Rhinehart makes one that is rated for 400fps or perhaps more by now. Heck a heavy Yellow Jacket bag target is good for a lot of shots. Just do not use a bag target with broadheads.

Like you have figured out arrows are not all the same from the same box the better quality arrows will be that way as well but with tighter tolerances they will usually be closer together than less guaranteed straightness and weight tolerance.

You may have a good point on brand of target Kmon. I have been using a Morrel for my broadheads. My shooting range added an archery range. They have Block targets. First thing I noticed was how much easier the bolts came out.

I use a Morrell Yellow Jacket, it was like $90. I plan to get a bag target for field points. I would worry any type arrow lube would alter accuracy...?? Also I have only ask one person about lumenoks and they say the jolt off a crossbow string can break them. I had planned on buying them but did not. I think they would be an advantage if reliable and would get them if I got positive feedback.

There are ones lighted nocks made for crossbows and some bolts that come with them installed. I have sold a of them and only heard of one breaking on the shot. That person also had other issues like a dry fired bow because a bolt was not loaded correctly for the half moon nock to cup the string

This is the target I was using, worked pretty good.

Where I hunt (river timber, pastures and alfalfa), anything you can do to find your bolt is BIG. Figure $11 for the bolt, $13 for the broadhead. Add in the Lumenok and you have around $35 in it. Getting back to the $24 without, it's kind of an investment in recovering my bolt. I will say that even with it, it took us a while to find the bolt because after the pass through, it went another 30 yards. It was around 1 pm with bright sunlight, so the lumenok didn't help much. If we wouldn't have found it during day, I would've just come back after sundown and it would've been easy. For deer hunting out of a treestand, I consider them invaluable. Elevated shot position plus usually sometime during dark thirty. Also gives you immediate feed back if it's not a pass through. I have never broken one of them. I think Cabela's (Basspro) has the above target on sale starting 9/24 for $49.99 minus a $10 rebate.

I plan on buying some carbon bolts for hunting and use the aluminum bolts to practice. I will probably need to crank a few carbon practice rounds to see if they hold same center.

I'm going to start a separate thread with questions about xbows

When changing anything confirm zero and drop at various distances. Different bolts will generally fly differently from your crossbow.

I broke down and threw more money at this money bit they call an xbow. First i bought a bag target which i needed. But the arrows being inconsistent from arrow to arrow was killing me. Maybe I could of taken time to go through the others I had bought and found some that flew the same and I may still try that. In the mean time I ordered some high dollar custom arrows. I was told by some this place is real good and that they will make a big difference. But i have been told by others it wont make much difference. I am learning that there are as many variables and opinions with bow hunting as there are rifle which i did not expect. As usual I waited too long to research and learn etc. I didnt even think i would pick up a bow but that huge buck keeps coming in like clockwork.
I have had most all my important rifle hunting equipment for decades, and I was told on here that sporting goods stores would go out of business if they waited for me to come buy stuff--well im making up for it in archery shops.

Hang in there Freerange. I've been hunting with rifles and shotguns for 63 years. It's in my blood. Pinnacle of my career was a 6x7 bull elk with a rifle. I do not know how many whitetail I have taken with a rifle. Antelope 6 or 7. The up close experience I had with my one whitetail and that antelope last Saturday, were second to none. It is definitely worth getting in to. I'll never get away from my love of those rifles but the adrenaline rush of getting up close and personal with a bow or crossbow makes me feel like a kid again.