Mathias Outdoors

The Rocky Mountain 415.

So back In December 2021, ( Around Christmas) Infact I think it might have been on Christmas Day to be honest.

I was talking with my friend Rob Berry, about past hunting trips I had been on, and recent hunting trips he had been on. Rob is an avid hunter and for the past 3 years since I’ve known him, he’s come home with a deer every fall. 

Rob uses an Excalibur crossbow. We started talking Crossbows and I myself have been thinking of getting back into hunting after taking a 6year hiatus from the sport. 

When I was hunting regularly, I hunted Deer, coyote, grouse, rabbit, turkeys, ducks, and geese. 

I’ve used everything from shotguns, & rifles, slingshots, and both compound bows & cross bows. But nothing was as thrilling as using my old Excalibur Vortex.

 (which I sold to a friend years ago)

Now to be honest there are so many amazing bows and all kinds of Archery equipment on the market these days but Excalibur bows have always been my favourite. 

Well like I said, after discussing the possibility of getting back into the sport for the 2022 season I have decided to go with another Crossbow as my weapon of choice once again. Only this time I did not go for my beloved Excalibur series crossbow.

 I’m a bit hesitant to even give this review to begin with because I have not used this bow in the field as of yet and won’t get the chance until at least the spring, when I plan on taking it on its first Turkey hunt. Only after a few years of use will I be able to give this bow a true evaluation. So In a couple years I will review this bow again. 

Buying one of those Excalibur bows can also comes with a fairly hefty price tag. Those crossbows range Anywhere from approximately $600 to $3000. Well I just didn’t have, or want to spend that kind of cash on a bow, so I started looking around for other (cheaper) options that would get me into the game and not break the bank.  

Anyway I came across many cheaper bows but the one I went with that reallly caught my eye, & for good reason. 1- Yes the price tag,  but 2- and more importantly, the power of this bow can really only be rivalled by its competitors that have starting price points of around the $1600.00 in the market. 

I bought this Crossbow on New Years Eve 2021 at Cabbalas in Ottawa on sale for $379.00 plus tax, it was -$200 off the regular price, but because I received a gift card from my sister for Christmas, I only paid $279.00 plus tax for this incredible bow. 

Now most bows on the market these days come with a package of some sort so it was no surprise that this one did as well. It came with the following 

Rocky Mountain’s RM415  is built on a one-piece camouflage synthetic stock with a durable limb system, this bow weighs 7.5 pounds and comes field-ready, with everything you need. The Bolt speed, clocked at 415 fps (feet per second), is very impressive at this price range, and the 146-foot pounds of kinetic energy it produces is more than enough to down any species of big game targets, from coyote, deer,bear, Elk, or even moose. Not that I plan on hunting Most of those accept for the coyote,& deer. 

The RM415 features a DFS (Dry Fire Safety) system that auto-engages when the bow is cocked, 

Well funny story about this anti dry fire system. I decided to take the bow over to Robs house to show him this new toy. Well it wasn’t long before I told him I hadn’t even cocked the bow yet and I’d had it for a month already lol (not like me at all) anyway, he had the bow in his hands and said well, it has to be cocked at some point! As he pulled the pull assist rope and all we heard was the click of the anti dry fire system doing its job as it engaged. The bow was fully cocked. 

Well the only problem was that I did not bring an arrow with me which you need in order to disengage the bow,  otherwise the bow must be fired. Only once an arrow enters the chamber will the (DFS) allow you to switch the safety lock into the fire position, and only in that position will you be able to pull the trigger. Anyway since I hadn’t brought an arrow with me, I ended up taking Rob’s practicing target home with me, so I could fire off the bows first round the next morning when I got up. But it stayed in the cocked position on my wall for the night. 

I have to say, the bow preformed great as every part including the DFS worked flawlessly lol. 

Moving on to more of the bows accessories. This bow also has a pair of string suppressors and limb dampeners to reduce noise and vibration. Pretty much all crossbows come with an accessory package, but at this price, it’s especially notable that you get a 4×32 scope, rope cocker, quick-detach three-cross-bolt quiver, 3x PileDriver Carbon Express bolts @350Grain weight with practice points, and rail lubricant.

After the bow spent the night on my wall it was time to fire it for the first time. Although it was very fast and packed a punch. The arrow went right through the target,  however the scope will  definitely need some adjustment. (To be expected)Lol

The Bolts:

The grain of the bolts are especially important because the amount of energy this bow produces that sends those arrows down range (at a blistering 415FPS rate of speed) need to be a heavier grain then most bows require on the market. If the blots (shaft of the arrow) were lighter than say 400Grains? then not enough energy from the bow would enter the bolt resulting in an excess amount of energy being dispersed into the bow itself  (once the arrow leaves the stock of the bow) resulting in too much vibration for the limbs (arms) of the bow to be able to handle and you would most likely be needing to replace those limbs as they would likely  splinter and break. 

I did a lot of research on this to figure this all out prior to even taking a single shot. Which is a good thing now that Rob has forced me to take its first shot lol. Just kidding Rob, it’s a good thing. 

The company Rocky Mountain must have added heavier Grain bolts to this model in their line up because of the reviews they were getting from their model RM400, (1 model down from the RM415), and also the bow I originally went to Cabalas to buy to begin with. Lol.

So what I can say about this New bow of mine is it is an absolute beast, seems it should be durable, however only time will tell that tale, and without any upgrades at all & straight from the store, this bow comes ready to shoot. You’ll need only to purchase broad heads in order to go hinting. 

However I will also say it is not made with the top of the line components, as to be expected with the price tag and I would and will be changing out a couple things right off the bat. 
1st, the bolts to this package. Although they will do the trick, and the Grains are heavy enough, there are better bolts for hunting than the ones that came with it, the manufacturer of the bolts (also associated with Rocky Mountain) do not make a streamline bolt, meaning it could be a hair straighter. You would not notice with the human eye however with the speed this bow sends the arrows down field, straightness of the bolt does make a difference, and could result in a deer you take home for the dinner table, vs the one you watch run away never to be seen again. 

The second item I will be changing on this bow is the scope. And again, the one it comes with will work, however it seems that it is always just a bit shy of coming into complete focus on your target which to be honest is more of an annoyance than a real problem. 


At first I thought it might be my eyes going bad,  but then I read the online reviews and I heard nothing but the same thing from other people that have the same scope. 

And 3rd 
This bow does not come with a carrying case as most models don’t, & for the cost I would not expect it to either, so I have put a shoulder strap on it to carry it to my hunting areas.

So in conclusion and although I have not hunted with this bow as of yet, I have complete confidence in the RM415 from Rocky Mountain, and anyone who is new to the sport and wants to give it a try without breaking the bank, then I would recommend this Bow as a good starting bow. We will simply have to wait to see how it performs in the field in order for me to give this a full review. 

Please remember to leave only footprints behind you, if your planning to go in the woods to play.

I hope this is helpful and please let me know in the comments what you thought of this review.