Barnett Crossbows: Current and Discontinued Models

The CCD suffix means the package ships with a crank cocking device already fitted - worth checking before you buy one separately. See cranks and cocking.

Both the Stalker 410 w/CCD and the XP400 Midnight Edition w/CCD come from the standard side of the range table above - Headhunter-bolt models, not the Hyper series - so neither one commits you to the narrow-diameter Hyperflite shaft.

The shared trait across both packages is the crank: the w/CCD suffix means the crank cocking device ships fitted rather than sold as a separate accessory. That is generally the cheaper route to a bow with cocking assistance already built in, and it is worth checking for on any Barnett listing before adding a crank afterward - the full breakdown is on the crank cocking device page.

Because both take Headhunter bolts, the bolt, string and parts guidance for the rest of the standard lineup applies to the Stalker 410 and the XP400 Midnight Edition the same way - see the bolts guide for specifics.

Among the current Hyper models, the HyperTac 420 is the compact, high-speed option: roughly 420 FPS, a 210-215 lb draw and around 149 ft-lbs of energy, shipped with a rope cocking sled, an illuminated scope and a quiver. Like every Hyper bow it is committed to Hyperflite bolts for life, so weigh that against the standard-bolt models before you buy.

The single most consequential choice in the Barnett range is not speed or price, it is whether you buy a Hyper model.

Hyper crossbows are built around the narrow-diameter Hyperflite bolt, which carries less drag and arrives with more energy. That is a genuine performance gain. The cost is that you are committed to one bolt family for the life of the bow, with few third-party alternatives and no fallback when stock runs short.

Everything else in the range takes standard Headhunter bolts, which have been in production for decades, come in 5 and 12 packs, and are available everywhere.

Neither choice is wrong. But it is a decision to make deliberately at purchase rather than discover later, and it is the reason the naming trap matters: a Raptor and a Hyper Raptor take different bolts.

Barnett's discontinued models carry real followings - the Jackal, the Raptor and Raptor FX, the Recruit, the Wildcat C5 and C6, the Quad 400, the Whitetail Hunter and Hunter II, the Ghost series, the Predator, the GameCrusher and the Droptine.

If you own one, the bow is almost certainly fine. String and cable sets are still available for all of them, and Headhunter bolts fit every one. The full list with string lengths is on the fit by model page.

What has become hard to source is structural - limbs, cams, trigger assemblies, stocks. Those are model-specific and not made aftermarket. The honest test before spending on an old Barnett: if the limbs, cams and rail are sound, every wear item is available and the bow has years left in it. If something structural has failed, it is usually time for a different crossbow.

One more name worth knowing: the Brotherhood, better known by its Bone Collector TV branding. Full specs and what you can still buy for it are on the Brotherhood / Bone Collector page.

Full specs for the Quad 400 - including its crank-compatible stock - are on its own page: Barnett Quad 400.

The Quad 400's four-limb design lives on in the current lineup as the Quad Edge - a faster, lighter update to the same quad-limb concept, though it ships without any cocking device included.

One more name from the discontinued side worth knowing: the Wildcat C5, a 320 FPS, 150 lb compound that shipped without a cocking device. String and cable sets and Headhunter bolts are still easy to find for it, so a used C5 in sound condition remains a working hunting bow - full specs are on its own page.

Two more names from the same era worth knowing, because both get confused with current packages. The Stalker 380 is not the Stalker 410 - it runs a slower 380 fps at a lighter draw and does not ship with a crank fitted. The Droptine STR shipped with a rope cocker instead of a crank and takes 22-inch Headhunter bolts rather than the more common 20-inch length. Full specs for both, including the string lengths that confirm fit, are on their own pages: Stalker 380 and Droptine STR.

Three questions get you most of the way:

• Hyper or standard? Covered above. Performance versus bolt availability and cost.
• Do you want a crank included? The CCD packages cost more but come with the crank fitted, and at these draw weights some form of cocking assistance is close to essential. Buying the package is usually cheaper than adding a crank later.
• Who is shooting it? The Recruit XP is the adjustable, compact option built for smaller or younger shooters, and it adjusts as they grow. The Wildcat CRX is the low-price entry. The Whitetail and XP families are the mainstream hunting choices.

Whatever you choose, budget separately for bolts. What ships in the box is not a season's supply, and on a Hyper model the bolts cost more and stock out more often.

Whatever lands in the rack, plan to sight it in before the season, starting with the 20-yard zero.

Once the season ends, decock it the right way rather than leaving it loaded in a corner, and keep it in a case sized to fit rather than loose in a closet.

Two more Barnetts worth knowing by name sit at opposite ends of the range. The Recruit XP is the current entry-level compound - 330 FPS from a light 125 lb draw with a rope cocker in the box, built for younger and first-time shooters. The discontinued Ghost series (350, 360, 400 and 410 CRT) sat higher up, running 350 to 410 FPS on a carbon riser. Both take standard Headhunter bolts, so neither one uses the narrow Hyperflite shaft.

Two older Barnett models people still search for by name round out the picture. The Raptor Pro STR was the 2018 step-through-riser Raptor, a 400 FPS bow on standard Headhunter bolts, while the Jackal was the budget entry point at 315 FPS. Neither is current, but both take the same standard Headhunter bolts as the rest of the non-Hyper range.