The Ravin R15 stirred up a lot of excitement in the crossbow world when it stormed onto the scene at the 2017 ATA show back in January. I saw an excitement in crossbow hunters I’d never seen before. I personally have never had much desire to hunt with a crossbow. In my mind, they were big, bulky, and heavy. But when I stopped in to see what all the fuss was about at the Ravin booth at the ATA show, I immediately realized these guys were on to something. It was honestly the first time I’d ever found myself thinking I might try and deer hunt with a crossbow. The Ravin R15 addressed a lot of the issues that crossbow hunters had with other bows on the market. The R15 was lighter, tighter, incredibly compact and lightning fast. I decided to give it a try. So after some time on the range – and in the woods – with the R15, here’s a closer look at the Ravin R15 crossbow.
2017 Ravin R15 Crossbow
First Impressions
As mentioned above, the R15 is the first crossbow that ever made me want to take it to the deer woods. The Predator camo finish looks really sharp, but there’s way more to this crossbow than its good looks. I know crossbow hunters probably hate when someone compares their weapon of choice to a rifle, but the R15 really felt like a comfortable rifle at my shoulder. It was well balanced and fit nicely to my shoulder, whether shooting off-hand or from a bench. The super-narrow axle-to-axle length on this bow will immediately grab your attention, and the speed at which it launches an arrow will make you smile. The moment I saw it I knew it would be a great option for hunting in the tight confines of a ground blind or treestand. My little boys and I decided we’d put the Ravin R15 to work this fall and see if we could punch a few Tennessee deer tags.
My 8-year-old boy, Easton, killed his first archery buck opening weekend of the Tennessee season with the Ravin R15.
Not to be outdone by his little brother, 12-year-old, Aidan, punched his first tag of the 2017 deer season a few days later with the R15.
Specs on the R15
Speed – 425 fps (400 gr.)
Power Stroke – 13″
Kinetic Energy – 160 ft. lbs.
Draw Force 12 lbs.
Width Axle-to-Axle – 6″ Cocked
Width Axle-to-Axle – 10.5″ Un-cocked
Length – 34.5″
Physical Weight – 6.9 lbs.
The R15 comes with a 100 yard illuminated scope with red or green illumination at the simple turn of a dial. It’s a really slick setup for low-light conditions or night-time hog hunting. I also like the fact that the R15 comes with 6 Ravin brand arrows as opposed to just 3 like a lot of companies offer. You’ll also find the removable cocking handle, 6-100 grain field points, quiver and mounting bracket and built-in sling mounts.
The R15 comes fully assembled and pre-tuned so you’re ready to roll right out of the box. The bow features an auto-safety and anti-dry fire system to maximize safety at all times.
The Ravin R15 comes in a great ready-to-hunt package right out of the box.
Helicoil Technology
The Helicoil design is the engine behind Ravin Crossbows. This revolutionary technology has several industry changing advantages that all work together to create what they feel is the most accurate crossbow ever designed. HeliCoil technology coils cables away from both the top and bottom of the cams in helical grooves keeping the cams perfectly balanced. This allows the cams to rotate an incredible 340 degrees, while both cams remain perfectly level when drawing and shooting the crossbow. This revolutionary design creates an incredibly compact crossbow packed full of innovative features that produce rifle like down range accuracy.
The Helicoil Technology delivers incredible performance and accuracy.
Versa-Draw Cocking System
The Ravin R15 has a ton of great features that propel it to the top of the crossbow food chain, but one of the most impressive features is its cocking and decocking system. Some crossbows honestly scare me when it comes to the way they were designed to be cocked and decocked. But that’s not the case with the Ravin. Its boasts one of the greatest cocking systems ever created for a crossbow. It’s super simple and extremely safe. The crossbow has the typical clicking sound when being cranked with the hand crank, but you can easily go into silent mode with a simple press of a button. No more obnoxious game-spooking noise in the deer woods as you prepare to load your crossbow. Better yet, when you’re done with your hunt, you can easily decock the R15 by simply reversing the way in which you cocked it. No more lugging a decocking target or arrow around to unload your crossbow. This is honestly the slickest system I’ve come across yet.
Frictionless Flight System
Another unique feature of the Ravin R15 is its Frictionless Flight System (FFS). This patent pending technology allows the arrow and string to free float above the rail, eliminating friction for consistent accuracy and increased string and cable life. This unique HeliCoil advantage delivers unmatched down range accuracy with every shot.
The Ravin 15 is honestly the first crossbow that ever grabbed my attention and made me want to give crossbow hunting a try. I took this 8-point Tennessee buck on my first hunt with the Ravin R15.
Trac-Trigger Firing System
A patent pending built-in trigger mechanism slides forward on the rail and clasps directly to the precise center of the string every time the bow is drawn, allowing for straight-line nock travel. This unique Helicoil advantage creates a perfectly balanced draw for incredible down range accuracy with every shot.
Negatives
It’s honestly hard to grab any negatives on the R15. It’s truly a well engineered machine. The time and attention to detail is obvious when you lay hands on this crossbow. The only negative thing I can come up with is the fact that the Ravin R15 utilizizes Ravin’s own arrow nocks for their bolts. It’s a very unique nock system. And while there is nothing wrong with this system. It didn’t allow for me to add lighted nocks like I typically use for hunting. These nocks are also not readily available at your local archery shop…at least not in my neck of the woods. But, I’d be willing to be that these issues are being addressed and lighted nocks are on the way.
Check out the video of the buck I killed in Tennessee with the Ravin R15…
Conclusion
The Ravin R15 wears a price tag of $1999. While some say that’s high, others have no problem shelling out the bucks for the baddest crossbow ever created. The R15 is a game changer when it comes to crossbow hunting. It’s fast, manueverable, and super stealthy. Give it a look for yourself at www.ravincrossbows.com.
