Field Tested: The Ravin R470 Review

INTRO/METHOD

I started deer hunting about 18 years ago when I wanted to spend more time with my husband. When he was outside shooting his bow, I figured I could try, too. I bought a bow, started practicing, and then got the bug. Once I felt pretty confident shooting a target, I wanted to try my hand at hunting.

That season, I took my first deer. Then, for five or six years after that, I was fortunate enough to bring a few more deer home for the freezer. However, I never felt exceptionally proficient. Maybe I didn’t practice enough, or I couldn’t calm my nerves enough, or perhaps it was a combination of both. Either way, I spent more time tracking those deer than I liked. Because of that, my bow hunting days came to an end, and I stuck with rifles.

Then last year, I got the itch, and I picked up the compound bow again. I practiced a lot – I mean a lot. And, I had gotten pretty good at shooting a target again. After several trips into the woods, I was successful and was able to harvest a nice buck. I was BACK!

Well, not all the way back. I may have missed a few other deer before I actually hit that one. And, because of nerves, poor form, or buck fever, we spent more time hiking through the woods looking for blood and sign with that deer than I feel good about. I decided to hang up the bow again.

The thing was, though, I had already signed up very excitedly to go on a trip the following year (this year) for an out-of-state deer hunt with some friends. I knew that if I were going to keep those plans, I would be taking a crossbow, so I started researching.

I’ve always heard great things about Ravin Crossbows, and they were kind enough to let me borrow a Ravin R470 for testing. We’ve had it out to the range for testing speed and accuracy. We even took a few shots at 100 yards to see how it would perform.

Now, I’m more excited than ever for my upcoming whitetail trip.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The Ravin R470 is one of their brand-new crossbows for 2025, and it’s clear that a lot of thought and innovation went into its design. It appears that Ravin’s goal was to create a crossbow that would be both extremely accurate and powerful, while still being versatile enough to be used in a variety of hunting settings and situations.

According to their website, the Ravin R470 is “designed to be the most accurate, user-friendly, and high-performance crossbow on the market.” From what I’ve seen so far, there are some key features built in that help the R470 in reaching that goal.

KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS

• VersaDrive Cocking System

Crossbow design has come a long way in recent years when it comes to cocking and uncocking them. I remember that with the first crossbow I ever shot, I had to stand on the front rail, loop a pull rope around, and use quite a bit of force to lift hard enough to lock the string back in place. Plus, most of the time, that rope was too long for me at 5’4”, so it took a little extra elbow grease to lock it in.

With the VersaDrive Cocking System, those challenging situations are resolved. The R470 comes with a cocking handle that inserts into the mechanism at the base of the stock. Magnets help keep the handle in place, so you don’t have to worry about dropping it. And, each side of the stock has a spot for the crank handle, allowing you to use it with either hand.

The VersaDrive system uses a dual-lead screw drive, so, again, cocking is smooth and even, so that the bolt travels centrally along the rail. This type of drive also means that cocking and uncocking can be done very quietly. Plus, if you hear movement or think an animal may see you, and you don’t want to spook it, you can stop the cocking process at any point. Everything will stay in place until you’re ready to resume. And, the bow has a clutch in place that prohibits you from overcocking. When it stops, it’s ready.

I do have to say, though, that cocking the R470 isn’t quite as easy as I expected. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s much better than the old lift-and-grunt method I was talking about earlier (There’s a reason I decided not to hunt with a crossbow years ago.). Turning the handle clockwise to slide the Trac-Trigger Firing System forward toward the string requires minimal effort. However, as you turn the handle counter-clockwise and pull the string rearward, the amount of force needed increases.

Ravin advertises that it only requires 17 pounds of force. We couldn’t directly measure that, but I do know that their instructions specify placing the front of the crossbow on the ground or the floor of your stand to crank it. This allows you to push down with sufficient force on the stock to stabilize it while turning the handle. In my ideal world, cranking the cocking mechanism could be done while the crossbow is still resting on a shooting rail or tripod. I would rather minimize the number of times and the distance the bow has to be moved to get it ready for shooting.

• Trac-Trigger Firing System

Now let’s go back to the Trac-Trigger Firing System I mentioned earlier. During the cocking process, the handle is turned clockwise to move this firing system, which I’ve heard some people refer to as a “trigger box,” forward toward the string. Once the Trac-Trigger Firing System makes contact with the string, it locks in place over the string, ready to draw it back. Due to this design, contact with the string occurs in the perfect center every time. Which means that the string is drawn back the same every time, leading to greater consistency and higher accuracy.

• Hexcoil Cam System

The Hexcoil Cam System is one of the newest innovative features from Ravin. These cams are designed with dual cables, one above and one below each cam. This double-cable design creates balanced movement and pull, leading to a completely centered path for the arrow. With this system, there is less room for error when the bolt is being drawn back and when it is fired.

In addition, each cam rotates an impressive 300 degrees. That amount of rotation not only contributes to the centered path and trajectory of the bolt, but it also provides the force needed to generate the breakneck speeds we saw from the Ravin R470.

The R470 is named as such because Ravin advertises that the bolt can travel at a velocity of 470 FPS. To ensure their accuracy, we set up our Athlon Rangecraft Velocity Pro Radar Chronograph to find out. After several shots, we had our answer. Not only did the Ravin R470 shoot at 470 FPS, but we clocked an average of 483.2 FPS.

That Hexcoil Cam System sends the bolts flying at blazing speeds down range. The next question would be – How accurate is this thing?

• Frictionless Flight System

Before we delve into our testing results, I want to mention another feature that contributes to accuracy: the Frictionless Flight System. The Ravin R470 is designed so that neither the string nor the arrow makes contact with the rail during flight. We all know that the more external forces there are in play, the more opportunities there are to mess something up. So, when the potential for the bolt or string making contact with the rail is removed, then the chances of something getting thrown off in the flight path of the bolt are also decreased.

I’ve mentioned that all of these features are designed to work together to enhance accuracy and repeatability. Of course, we had to put this to the test as well.

After getting our R470 sighted in, we shot a few groups at 50 yards. Our best group was 1.6 inch group at 50 yards. I wonder if I was subconsciously a little afraid to hit another arrow and didn’t aim in the same exact spot, because I’ve seen other results under one inch from other testers. I think I would like to repeat the test, but remove the arrow after each shot to see if that would make a difference.

The main reason I bring that up is because we were feeling ambitious and decided to test the accuracy out to 100 yards. My best 3-shot group at 100 yards was 1.83 inches. I would think if we can get a group of less than two inches at 100 yards, we should be able to get one under an inch at 50 yards.

Either way, though, if we can consistently shoot 1-2 inch groups at 50 yards and in, with an arrow traveling at 483 FPS, then if we can aim and hold steady, we ought to be pretty deadly this deer season.

The Ravin R470 has a few additional features that I think make it stand out, which I would like to mention here.

• Anti Dry-Fire/Auto Safety

If you’ve ever done it or seen someone else do it, you know you want to avoid dry-firing a bow of any kind at all costs. One slip can lead to broken strings and cables, as well as potentially damaging the cams and limbs.

When shooting a Ravin R470, you must use Ravin bolts with Ravin nocks. This is because they are designed to fit perfectly and lock into place on the string, “informing” the crossbow that it is okay to fire. Until that nock locks on the string, it will not fire. So, if in the heat of the moment you forget to put an arrow in your bow, it simply won’t shoot. No worries about broken bow pieces flying all over your face. We know this feature works because it took us a few tries before we felt the nock click in, and it wouldn’t fire before we figured it out.

The auto safety is also a nice feature. When the crossbow is fired, it automatically switches to the safe position. Even though you should always check to make sure the safety is on the white dot before cocking and loading your crossbow, having that extra protection is nice.

• Built-In Sling Mounts

The Ravin R470 is very compact, measuring less than 27 inches long and only 11 inches wide at its widest point, uncocked. However, it does carry some weight to it. With the scope and quiver, it weighs just over 10 pounds. Now, it is very well balanced, but I wouldn’t want to carry it around in my hand all the time. The fact that you can easily attach a sling is a nice touch.

• Bottom Rail/Handle

The bottom rail/handle is another feature I like. It’s wide enough and long enough to be a very stable platform if you want to rest the crossbow on a shooting rail or the window of a box blind. The shape also makes it easy to use with a clamp mount, allowing you to shoot from a tripod if that’s your preference. Additionally, as an extra safety feature, there is ample space between the bottom of the frame and the handle to keep your fingers well out of the way of the string when firing.

• 100-yard Illuminated 550 FPS scope

The last feature I want to mention is the illuminated 100-yard 550 FPS scope. The reticle features markers ranging from 30 to 100 yards, making it easy to aim at known distances. The sighting process is speedy and requires shooting at distances of 10, 30, 50, and 40 yards. I know it may seem I got that out of order, but once you zero at 50 yards, you back up to 40 to check accuracy and make adjustments to the speed dial so the scope will be zeroed at all distances.

The illuminated reticles are always a nice touch. You can choose between red and green. Additionally, you have multiple brightness adjustments, making it easier than ever to see your reticle in low light.

SPECS

WHY WOULD YOU BUY?

If you’re looking for a crossbow that is incredibly compact but still shoots at some of the most impressive speeds out there, then take a look at the Ravin R470 crossbow. With the speeds and accuracy this thing is producing, it ranks high on the list. But there are a few drawbacks to consider.

PROS

• Very compact at 26.75”x11” uncocked and 8” fully cocked.
• Incredibly fast speeds, with our measurements of a staggering 483 FPS.
• Solid accuracy with a 1.83” group at 100 yards and 1.6” at 50 yards.
• The scope is very nice. The speed adjustment enables accurate aiming with the reticle distance markers, and the illumination makes aiming in low-light conditions effortless.
• Sighting in the bow is easy and quick.

CONS

• Because it is so compact, I expected it to be lighter. At 10 pounds, it’s not “heavy,” but it’s not as light as I thought.
• This thing is NOT cheap. The MSRP for the black version is over $2,500.
• It is not legal to hunt with a crossbow in all states, so make sure you know the regulations.
• Because it shoots so fast, you will need a target made for those speeds – bolts may fly right through your old target.
• You must use Ravin brand nocks, or the firing mechanism won’t function.
• Crossbows are not quiet, so be aware that if you take a shot from further distances, your game will likely react.

FINAL THOUGHTS

We’ve just started our testing with the Ravin R470, and so far, we’ve been very impressed. It was easy to sight in, it shoots lightning fast, and we’ve been accurate at a variety of distances. The compact size is also ideal for hunting from a tree stand or blind, providing better maneuverability. I’m excited to take the Ravin R470 with me on my hunt. Hopefully I’ll have some fun stories to share!

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