Barnett Ghost 400 Crossbow Fun!

Video of the fun!!

"Do you want to sight in the bow?" says my buddy David Loshny.

"You bet!"

"I'll be there by 3:30!" comes the reply.

You gotta love an offer like that, in this day of everybody being so busy a break like this is greatly appreciated, and we get to play with cool toys!


Getting Ready To Shoot

The Barnett Ghost 400 is a crossbow capable of firing an arrow at over 400 feet per second, quite fast for a bow. My old PSE bow was pretty good in its day at 250fps, and allowed accurate shots up to 40yds or more on calm days.

David arrived, we grabbed the bow bag and headed out in the field with a target.

"Where should we start?" Dave asks.

"How about 30yds? I watched our last video (filmed on a windy day) and we were about 6" high at 30yds with the top crosshair." I reply.


The bow has 4 crosshairs for different ranges, this compensates for arrow drop. We set up 30yds from the target, Dave loads the bow and sets it on my gun rest, then picks up the video camera and starts recording. I find that recording the shots is a great way to remind me of where the bow is shooting, as the video can be reviewed later to get the arrow trajectories for different distances cemented into my puzzler.

"30yds ... take 1!" says Loshny.
 
I pull the trigger by clenching my teeth on a clothespin-type unit, the bow fires and we hear a solid "thump" from the target.

Sure enough, it's hitting 6" high at 30yds and 2"left (we had sighted it in on a windy day). A few more shots and tweaks and she's hitting dead on left-right, we leave it shooting a little high.

Arrow In Target

We repeat the process at 40, 50, and 60yds and find that the first three crosshairs are almost dead on at those ranges!

"So, do you want to try for 70?"says David with a grin.

"Sounds good to me! I will use the bottom crosshair and see where we are hitting!" I say.

We moved back to 70 yards from the target. David loads the crossbow with the crank, puts an arrow in it and sets it on my gun rest. Then he picks up the camera one more time as I aim at the target using the bottom crosshair. I release the safety, put the clothespin in my teeth and gently squeeze, the bow fires.

 Thump.

"I didn't see where it went," says David.

"I know that it hit the bag, hopefully we find the arrow." I reply

We had over to where the target is, and sure enough the arrow missed the bull's-eye by about 2 inches! With the assistance of a laser rangefinder we are able to now hit the kill zone all the way out to 70 yards! The Barnett ghost 400 has turned out to be a great crossbow, a very consistent and reliable shooter.

Once again, a great day spent with a great friend, safely deposited into life's bank. Thanks Dave!