The Evolution of Ek Archery’s Repeating Crossbow

“We realized that what was missing from the market was a reasonably-priced takedown crossbow that could be easily cycled by just about anybody. It should function equally well in a number of different roles including small game hunting, varmint control and self-defense.” -Ek Archery Research’s CEO Matt Liu

Since the mid 1980’s the continued development of the compound crossbow was driven by the needs of the end user, specifically the North American hunter. Even though hunting crossbows are extremely powerful out to 70 yards, the majority of ethical kill-shots are taken at 30 yards or less. This is because the habitat of North American whitetail deer and turkey are typically forested woodlots, meadows and the mid-dense foliage cover of open scrub. In this environment, a quality sports crossbow like Ek Archery Research’s Blade+ will release a 20” 400gr bolt at 340fps, producing about 100 ft-lbs at 30-yards, which all but guarantees instantly dropping a deer on a well-placed quartering-away shot. However, the hunting crossbow world is also pushed forward by the flatter trajectories and knock-down power afforded by the newest low-noise, +410fps shooting platforms.

Looking Outside of the Hunting Season 

It was within this context that CEO Matt Liu and his team of engineers at Ek Archery Research asked themselves the question, “Should the development of crossbow technology only be focused on increasingly complex, high-velocity designs?” This concept resonated with the veteran design team and was immediately expanded to wider questions, explains Matt, “We saw that trends in the market were no longer generated by the end-user needs but instead by the bottle-necked mentality of the product design teams at the heavyweight crossbow manufacturers. So, we asked ourselves, “What potential crossbow enthusiasts are excluded by the products and prices of the current market?” and “What other aspects of crossbow use are ignored by the focus on big game hunting rigs?” The journey that these questions started resulted in the development of an increasingly versatile platform, Ek’s R-Series crossbows.

Bigger is Not Always Better

Building a novel type of device from the ground up, Ek sought to address the standard crossbow’s low rate of fire which is exacerbated by unwieldy cocking ropes and awkwardly placed cocking winches. This line of development led to the production of the carbine sized Cobra R9 which is cycled using an integrated cocking lever. Its 90lb limb set can be easily cycled by all users and propels a proprietary 7.5” bolt at 240fps.

The R9 was soon joined by the harder hitting Cobra RX with its 130lb draw weight and 15” carbon bolts which produce a KE of 27 ft-lbs. at 40 yards allowing its use for medium game. Both the R9 and the RX are also revolutionary in that their interchangeable limb sets and stock can be rapidly removed from the crossbow’s back end without tools and stored in a small carrying case or backpack. Reassembly to firing readiness can be accomplished in ten seconds. This feature eliminates the cumbersome portability characteristics inherent in crossbows.

The Repeating Crossbow

Even though the cocking lever system of the R9 and RX afford a higher rate of fire than the traditional single-shot crossbow, Team Ek wished to develop a true multi-shot platform to allow for rapid follow-up shots. Envisioning a modernized version of the ancient repeating “Chu-ko-nu” crossbow; Ek’s design group cooperated with Jörg Sprave, of GoGun and the Slingshot Channel, to develop a unique five-shot top loaded magazine for the latest crossbow in the R-Series line, the Cobra System RX “Adder”. The Adder can easily maintain a firing rate of 10-12RPM; a substantial improvement over a traditional crossbow’s one or two shots per minute.

Featuring the same unique design attributes and safety mechanisms of the R9 and RX, the Adder’s 130lb limb set accelerates the 7.5” carbon bolts at a lethal 270fps. The design of magazine’s retention arm allows the crossbow to be operated while running and is easily reloaded in the dark. These characteristics make the Adder a formidable defense and hunting tool and put it front and center as the world’s first commercially available repeating crossbow.