CenterPoint Hornet

Every other current model CenterPoint sells - the Sinister 430D, the Hellion 400, the Amped G2D, the Sniper G4D, the AT400 - is a compound crossbow with limbs and cams, drawn to somewhere between 185 and 225 pounds, and generally cocked with a rope or a crank. The Hornet shares none of that. It is a recurve, it draws 80 pounds, and it cocks by breaking the barrel open like a single-shot shotgun, which is also how it reloads. See the full current lineup for how it sits against the rest of the range.

That is a deliberate design, not a scaled-down compound. The Hornet is built to be simple and cheap to own: nothing to press, no string and cable system to maintain at a compound's draw weight, and a cocking stroke light enough that a crank is never part of the conversation.

191 feet per second from a 6 inch power stroke and an 80 pound draw is a modest number next to the 400-plus FPS the compound side of the lineup advertises, and that comparison is the wrong one to make. A recurve pistol crossbow is not competing on the same terms - it is a different, much lighter class of bow, closer to a target or pest-control tool than to a hunting rig. See crank cocking devices for why the compound line, at 185 to 225 pounds, needs a completely different cocking approach than this one does.

Every other page on this site talks about a 20 inch carbon bolt, because that is the CenterPoint compound standard - see bolts and what fits for the full detail. The Hornet does not use that bolt at all. It takes a 6 inch aluminum bolt, and CenterPoint sells a dedicated one on Amazon: the Archery C1002 Hornet Stinger Bolt, pre-fletched, 146.6 grains with the field point fitted, sold in a 12-pack specifically for this model. Do not try to fit a compound-length bolt to the Hornet, and do not expect a Hornet bolt to work in anything else CenterPoint sells.

The Hornet package includes a built-in reflex red dot sight, three 6 inch aluminum bolts to get started, and a stealth black tactical stock. Three bolts is enough to try it, not enough for a session - the dedicated 12-pack is the realistic first purchase alongside the bow itself. A padded shoulder sling, sold by CenterPoint for its whole crossbow range, is a reasonable add if you plan to carry it any distance.

At 80 pounds of draw and 191 FPS, the Hornet is well below the energy of anything else CenterPoint currently sells - it is marketed around backyard target practice and small pest control rather than big-game hunting, and the honest read of the specification agrees with that positioning. Anyone looking for a hunting-capable CenterPoint should be looking at the compound side of the lineup instead - the current and discontinued models page covers the full range and what separates them.