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How to Upgrade a Toy Cross Bow

A few easy additions can turn a toy crossbow from weedy weapon for shooting sucker-tipped arrows to a powerful, accurate crossbow for real target practice. This gives you a much more entertaining toy to play with. It is also generally easier to upgrade an existing toy than to build a new one from scratch. Modify as many or as few of the components as you need to instead of cutting a whole new stock and fashioning a new trigger mechanism.

Things You'll Need

  • Elastic
  • Thin metal strip or rod
  • Saw
  • Bow string
  • Fishing line
  • Hack saw
  • File
  • Tube
  • Thread
  • Clamp
  • Target
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Instructions

  1. Increasing Power

    • 1

      Replace the elastic with a stronger elastic. Many toy crossbows get most of their power from stretching the elastic bow "string" while the limbs stay more or less rigid. Switching to a more powerful version is the quickest, easiest way to upgrade the bow.

    • 2

      Replace the elastic with a non-stretchy string or cable if the limbs are fairly rigid but have some spring. This way when you pull the string back it will bend the limbs while the string stays a fixed length. If they are metal, wood or even plastic, with the right design they will spring back hard enough to fire the bolt. This can really increase the power.

    • 3

      Give the limbs more power by backing them with a springy, strong material. A flat, metal ruler is good for this, though something a little thicker would be ideal. Remove the cable, lay the metal strip flat against the limbs of the bow and bind it tightly in place with fishing line. Turn the line many times around both the limb and the strip. Reattach the string.

    • 4

      Replace the limbs entirely with a thicker, more springy material. Again, a metal strip makes a good, powerful limb. Unscrew, saw off or otherwise remove the existing limbs and replace with the metal strip. Cut notches to fit the string and file them smooth.

    Adding a Sight

    • 5

      Add a sight to the crossbow using a simple plastic tube. Cut a length of tube about 6 inches long. Stretch thread over both the openings of the tube to make a crosshair in the center of each.

    • 6

      Mount the tube over the stock. Do this by attaching two strips of metal on either side of the stock. They must stick up opposite each other and perpendicular to the stock. Put a bolt through each and put the bolt into the sides of the tube.

    • 7

      Fit the crossbow in a vice. Aim it at a target roughly 6 yards away. Fire the crossbow at the target. Look through the sight. Line up the crosshair in one end, the crosshair in the other and the target. See whether the bolt has hit the target where the sight is aimed. If not, adjust the sight so the crosshairs are over the bolt. Fire again to see if the calibration is accurate. Continue until the sight shows where the bolt will land.


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