Barnett HyperTac 420 Crossbow

The HyperTac 420 sits in Barnett's top speed tier at a notably lower price than the flagship Hyper bows. It is speed-rated at 420 FPS, which puts it alongside the Hyper Raptor and Hyper Whitetail 410 for raw velocity while keeping a short, compact profile that handles well in a blind or tight treestand.

Draw weight is listed at 210 lbs on some retailer sheets and 215 lbs on others - a normal spread for a current package sold through several stores rather than one standardized listing. Kinetic energy works out to roughly 149 ft-lbs with the speed-rated arrow, and the bow weighs 7.6 lbs unloaded with a 15.5-inch power stroke. Barnett markets it as proof that a hard-hitting Hyper crossbow does not have to carry a flagship price.

The word Hyper in the name is not styling: it means the bow is built around the narrow-diameter Hyperflite .204 shaft, not the standard-diameter Headhunter bolt that most of the range uses. A Headhunter arrow is physically too wide to sit correctly on the HyperTac's rail and nock, and shooting the wrong bolt invites a dry-fire that can damage the limbs, cams and rail.

That is the single most important thing to get right on any Hyper bow. The same trap catches owners across the lineup - a Raptor takes Headhunter, a Hyper Raptor takes Hyperflite - so the full breakdown of which bow takes which bolt is on the fit by model page. For the HyperTac 420, buy Hyperflite and only Hyperflite.

A 210-215-lb draw is too heavy to cock cleanly by hand, so the package includes a rope cocking sled that halves the effort and, just as important, centers the string so both limbs load evenly - the single biggest factor in holding a consistent zero. If shoulder or back strength is a concern, a crank cocking device cuts the effort by roughly 93 percent, and Barnett sells a factory W/CCD version of the HyperTac with the crank fitted from the start.

Whichever method you use, cock the bow the same way every time and re-check zero at 20 yards before the first hunt. The sighting-in guide walks through the order that avoids wasting bolts on a fresh scope.

A standard HyperTac 420 package ships with an illuminated scope, a lightweight side-mount quiver, a rope cocking sled and Hyperflite arrows - enough to assemble and sight in without a second order, apart from field points or broadheads. The crank-equipped W/CCD package is a separate listing if you want the crank included rather than added later.

The HyperTac 420 is a current model with a live Amazon listing, so it is one of the few complete Barnett crossbows you can buy directly rather than only through archery retailers. The reliable consumables - spare Hyperflite bolts, a crank or rope cocker, and rail wax - are all stocked as well.