Customer Reviews

Barnett Predator 18035 Crossbow Package

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A good year of research preceeded this purchase. After a disappointing first archery season which included exhaustion drawing back the compound and waiting for the deer to get closer and over shooting a nice 8 point I was ready to step up to the now legal crossbow here in central Pa. Place my order early evening on a Friday and Amazon had it here by Monday with free shipping. Ordered the rope cocking device but to my surprise it is already included in the package. Many reviews I read commented about the less than high tech quiver and I agree. It will break easy but it seems to be just fine to carry the bolts to where your going and its easy on and easy off. Finally shot it today getting ready for our late season which starts tomorrow. I spent alot of time reading and researching the power and how it was blowing through regular targets and crossbow targets at the 10 Yard line to sight it in. I was ready to put 100 plus bucks into a target either. I ended up, luckily buying a 6 x 6 foot wrestling mat for 50 bucks. I had a friend cut it into equal squares and ended up with 9 pieces. I stacked up first 5 high, because the thick compound and double vinyl coating of the 1.25 inch thick pieces seemed like it was enough. Oh yeah another review i read said to lay a laser bore sighter on the rail to make the first adjustments to the scope, I did just that and it worked out great! Ran it the full length of the flight rail, even tucked it under the main string to make sure it was the same everywhere, it was. Dial the top of the 3 dots to meet it. Ok first shot, Predator Vs Wresting mat 5 layers thick at 10 yards. Predator wins, buried all the way to the nock. I'm not sure but it almost seemed like the internal material of the mat may have melted from the friction of the carbon arrow hitting it because it was litterally fused to the feathers. They where kinda crinkled like they were heated too when i finally got the arrow out. Oh yeah was dead on. Took it back inside and duck taped all 9 layers togther, thinking this will stop it for sure. Oh yeah I has this plenty lubed up from the get go, rails, cams, string, flight rail, lower notch every where. Was nervous after reading reviews about strings breaking on first couple shots and wanted to be sure that mine wasnt gonna be from lack of lube. Ok second shot Predator vs Wrestling Mat 9 layers thick now at 15 yards. Predator wins... Dead on this time stoping about 3 inches from burrying the feathers. I also only used the first bolt I mangled for every shot. Time to back it up. 40 yards using top pin. Dead on 5 inches low. Next shot 40 yards second dot dead on 1 inch low. Penetration on the mats at 40 yards was still about 4 inches shy of the feathers. Couple things I'll be aware of hunting with this is. SOUND: I never heard the bow but I did hear it hit the target within the same milli-second i squeezed the trigger. TRIGGER: I read some reviews the the trigger has creep or people didnt like it, well I wish all my triggers were like this one, I was very impressed considering its holding back a very angry string. I wouldnt be near it when taking the safety off. SAFETY: Easy to reach and disengage. WEIGHT: My 270WSM is much heavier to carry in the woods. Even at 9+ pounds it shoulders and comes on Target easy and hold stable. OPTICS: I didnt want the 4X because ones I've looked through I wasnt crazy about all the crosshairs. I'm not super crazy about the 3 illuminated dots and do think a single dot dialed in at 35yards would work great little high close and a little low at 50. COCKING: Tied another knot in the rope cocking device shorting it by 8 inches, worked perfect for my longer arms, pulls back easier than I thought once it rolls past the cams power bands and dont see reloading in a tree stand a problem with practice. ASSEMBLY: Was so easy that it took me awhile to actually believe its only the one bolt. ADJUSTMENTS: Cheek piece all the way up and I may roll the stock back a half inch once on stand but adjustments are a breeze. My rifle sling fits the perfectly into the swivels to shoulder for the walk. The weather here looks bad the next couple days so I'm anxious to get the some field time before the new year. I was ready to either get a newer faster compound or a crossbow. I glad I went the Predator route and even glader Amazon was 90 less than Cabelas. SPEED:I don't know how fast 375fps really is but when I squeeze the trigger and hear the impact on target at 40 yards at the same moment it's fast enough. I could watch my compound arrow flying that distance and then impact and then hear the impact. I'm not the easiest on equipment all my guns are synthetic to take abuse. This is built well and rugged. The will kill what is strikes and will do significant damage. It is super accurate and has the power I know atleast for me increase my hunting opportunities and add more stalking capabilities to my archery hunting.

The bow itself is awesome! It took a while to assemble due to damage during the manufacture packaging process. Why didn't I send it back? I had a hunt come up and didn't have time to complain. It took less than an hour to become highly proficient at shooting the bow. The quality and need for a 3 dot scope is questionable, only one dot is needed up to 60 yards. The bow itself has awesome power,I was shooting at an 18 inch screen filled feed bag with 3/4 plywood backstop. At 25 yards, the first bolt passed completely through both target and plywood. It's a bit loud when fired, so far string jump is not a issue with the deer I've taken with it. The last deer I took was at 35 yards from a treestand, using 125 grain Rage broadheads,the bolt passed through both shoulders!

This bow is awesome, it shoots very accurate with very high arrow velocity. I ordered mine with a red dot sight which quit working the first day but a call to Barnett's service dept and I had a new one in 2 days. Is that not great service? However during the interim I mounted a rifle scope on the bow and have found that I like it even better than the red dot. The red dot has three lines in it for various distances, with this bows speed I don't need all those lines. Zero in about four inches high at ten yards and you should be about right at forty yards then mine is four inches low at fifty yards. With this a hold for center mass will result in Venison on the table.

I have recommended this bow to several of my friends

I would like to start this review by congratulating Amazon.com on being a superior online retailer. I never leave reviews but felt compelled to this time because of speed that this order got to me. I recently signed up for AmazonPrime, I do most of my online shopping with Amazon so I thought I would give it a try. I ordered this bow, along with a case, late Thursday afternoon. It is now Saturday before noon and the Crossbow is assembled, cased, and put away already. I even cleaned up all the cardboard! The overnight shipping was 3.99 per item with Amazon Prime so the whole outfit cost 8 bucks to overnight. Awesome, I am heading into the woods Monday and was anxious to try out the new weaponry.

OK, enough about Amazon. I am going to try do this review in three segments: Home Setup, Initial Sighting, and Field review.

1. HOME SETUP - The Crossbow arrives in large box from Amazon. My intial thought is "oh,boy this thing is HUGE" ! Luckily, upon further inspection I find that it's mostly packaging material and the smaller box from Barnett is safe inside. I bring the box over to the dining room table (the wife is out getting her hair done) and open it. There are two major pieces and very few small parts. I read the assembly instructions which basically tells you to put the two pieces together and tighten one bolt! I put the field tips on the arrows, put them in the quiver, mount the quiver holder to the bow and snap the quiver on. Next I mount the scope to the scope rail and that's about it! Assembly is done. I put a little wax on the string and put it away.

One thing I will say is that the instructions could be more detailed... For example... How do you uncock the bow if you don't want to fire it? Is there a way? They tell you the easiest way is to shoot the bow into the ground clear of debris. What if that's not a option?

I will be taking out in the field next next to sight in, I will update this review after that.

I found that Amazon sold this Crossbow much cheaper than all the other on-line sites I visited. Sometimes as much as $90 cheaper and it had free shipping. After reseaching many other crossbows and many of my friends recommending the Predator. I found that the Barnett Predator was the best bow for the price. I liked the draw weight, design, arrow speed, etc.