Barnett Recruit Crossbow

The Recruit XP is the easy-draw end of the Barnett range. It is rated at 330 FPS from a 125 lb draw with a 13.6-inch power stroke, weighs 6.0 lbs and produces about 92 ft-lbs of kinetic energy. Those are not top-of-the-range numbers, and they are not meant to be: 330 FPS with a 20-inch Headhunter bolt carries enough energy for deer-sized game inside sensible range, and the point of the bow is that almost anyone can cock and shoot it.

The 125 lb draw is the headline. It is the lightest draw in the current compound lineup, which is what makes the Recruit XP the one Barnett positions for younger shooters, smaller-framed shooters and anyone coming to a crossbow for the first time. The light stock weight helps too - at 6.0 lbs it is easy to hold steady off a rest for the few seconds a shot takes.

There is no Hyper in the Recruit XP's name, so it takes standard-diameter Headhunter bolts - the 20-inch carbon arrow - rather than the narrow Hyperflite shaft built for the Hyper series. The package ships with 20-inch arrows, and 20-inch Headhunter is the correct replacement.

This is the one fit mistake that actually damages a bow, so it is worth being certain: the model name decides the bolt family, every time. The full list of which Barnett takes which bolt sits on the fit by model page.

The Recruit XP comes with a rope cocker in the box, which is part of why it is an easy bow to live with. A rope cocker roughly halves the draw effort - the 125 lb draw comes back at about 62 lbs of pull - and it centers the string as it draws, so both limbs load evenly and the bow prints a consistent group.

On a light-draw bow like this a rope cocker is usually all you need. If you want to drop the effort further, the same crank cocking device that fits the heavier Barnetts will mount here too, though most Recruit owners never feel the need for one.

Recruit has been Barnett's entry-level badge for years, and it has carried several bows: earlier Recruit recurve and compound packages, the Recruit Terrain and the Recruit Tactical among them. The current one sold new today is the Recruit XP, a compound package aimed squarely at accessibility and a low price of entry.

If you are shopping secondhand and see an older Recruit, treat it the same way as any used Barnett: the string and cable set, bolts and rail wax are all still available, so a bow with sound limbs and rail has plenty of hunting left in it. The model name still tells you the bolt family - no Hyper means standard Headhunter.

The Recruit XP is the floor of the current Barnett lineup, not the ceiling. The Hyper series and the faster 400-plus FPS models sit well above it on speed and draw weight, and they cost accordingly. The trade the Recruit makes is deliberate: less speed and energy in exchange for a draw almost anyone can manage and a price that suits a first crossbow.

Whichever Barnett you shoot, zero the scope at 20 yards before the first hunt - the sighting-in guide covers the order that avoids wasting arrows. For where the Recruit sits against the rest of the current and discontinued range, see the model overview.