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.

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.

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.