A quick online search for crossbows will show you dozens of models to choose from.
If you don’t know what you’re looking for, finding the perfect one that fits all your needs will be rather difficult.
If you want to skip through all that and find a crossbow that we are pretty sure you’ll like, this detailed Barnett Jackal Crossbow review has got you covered.
This crossbow is a well-built and well-designed model that produces powerful and fast shots. It is even accurate at distances going up to 40 feet.
What’s more, it’s an affordable crossbow from a trusted brand, and it comes with all the features that you’d want in a quality unit.
Barnett Jackal Crossbow Review
Barnett Outdoors, LLC, is a world-renowned manufacturer of archery, slingshot, and crossbow products.
Like many success stories, Barnett also started small when Bernard Barnett pursued a hobby of working with crossbows right in his U.K. garage back in the 1960s.
His acquaintances were highly impressed with his handiwork and started placing orders, and that’s where the business started.
Gradually, the business picked up, and manufacturing facilities were built across the European continent, which eventually made its way to the United States.
With the growth in the North American market, the company had to introduce more product lines, as well as streamline manufacturing processes to reduce costs.
All of this brought the company’s operations to the United States in 2003 permanently.
At present, Plano Synergy Holdings is the new owner of the company. They are among the industry leaders of today, offering some of the best fishing and hunting brands.
Thanks to this partnership, Barnett is capable of continuing its legacy of offering high-quality and affordable products.
A quick look at their website and you will find several different kinds of crossbows to select from.
Each of these crossbows is sturdy, well-built, and offers excellent performance. You're assured of having an impressive experience when you use one of their products.
Who Is This Product For?
The Barnett Jackal Crossbow is ideal for anyone who is looking to use it for target shooting, hunting, or some other types of shooting competitions and sports.
Because this crossbow has an amazing build and is easy to use, it makes a perfect choice for even beginners.
While hunting with a crossbow is not the same as hunting with a traditional bow and arrow, this crossbow will still give new hunters the feeling of going back to the foundations of hunting practices, a feeling that can never be attained by using a firearm.
Furthermore, this crossbow is ideal for those hunters who are looking to aim accurately at distances for as far as 40 feet.
What’s in the Box?
If you order this crossbow online, the product will be shipped to you in a box that fits all the parts of the crossbow perfectly.
Unboxing this product is definitely not a tiring process. Everything is clearly marked and easy to understand.
Upon unboxing, you will find the following things inside:
- The crossbow itself (stock and the bow)
- Three arrows (20 inches) along with attachable field points
- A detachable quiver for the arrows
- Platform for quiver attachment
- Red-dot sight
- All the hex keys, screws, and bolts that are necessary for the assembly process
- Safety and instruction manual
- Warranty card
After taking out all the parts in the box, we found that the entire assembly process takes no more than 10 minutes to complete, which we believe is pretty fast for a compound crossbow.
Overview of the Features
There’s no doubt that the Barnett Jackal is one of the best crossbows on the market right now, but we are sure you must be curious to know what makes it stand out from the rest.
In this part of the review, we will be talking about all the top features that this crossbow has to offer.
Build
A good-quality crossbow has to be strong, well balanced, and sturdy, as these help in determining its performance.
The materials used to construct the limbs must be highly durable and should also be able to provide the user with a ton of support.
Together, they should make the bow easy to use, aim, and draw. This is where the Barnett Jackal excels.
The crossbow comes with an excellent build that is right with the quad style limbs.
These are designed to provide the crossbow with support and stability so that you will be able to make more accurate shots with ease.
The energy wheels located at the end of the limbs will ensure a smoother and more powerful draw. The attached cable system will produce arrow speeds that are incredibly fast.
What makes it even better is its lightweight construction. This makes the crossbow comfortable to use.
At the same time, it prevents arm fatigue that could cause your hands to tremble and, in turn, throw off your aim.
This lightweight construction also makes this crossbow an ideal choice for people with physical disabilities.
Design
Right at first glance, you will notice this crossbow’s sleek stock that comes with a military-inspired design.
This stock not only adds a nice touch to the appearance of the crossbow but also gives it a safe and comfortable place to grip.
For added comfort, the foregrip has been divided, and this also helps in maintaining proper placement of the hand.
This is a great safety feature because it not only keeps the hands safely below the path of the arrow and string but also helps in improving the accuracy of the shots.
The crossbow weighs only about eight pounds, which makes it easy to carry around when you have to walk for hours. Furthermore, its 12-inch power stroke means anyone can use it.
The crossbow is designed with a Picatinny rail. This rail will help the user guide the shot to the target.
Another thing we liked about this crossbow, and even the brand, is how much importance was given to the safety of the user.
The crossbow features a 3.5-pound trigger. This trigger is easy to pull but is “crisp,” as well, so there won’t be any accidental misfires.
Lastly, the traditional camouflage design makes the crossbow blend into the surrounding with ease.
Performance
What truly makes the Barnett Jackal stand out from its competitors is its high-performance capabilities. This makes the crossbow a great choice for target shooters and hunters.
The combination of cable systems, quad limbs, and high energy wheels allow the crossbow to produce arrow speeds going up to 315 feet per second.
Along with 95 FP of kinetic energy and a draw weight of 150 pounds behind every shot, you will easily and, most importantly, humanely take down a majority of game types.
In addition to providing the archer with a powerful and fast performance, the crossbow is also very accurate.
The Picatinny rail guides provide the crossbow with a convenient platform in order to mount the arrow and help in ensuring a highly accurate aim.
Furthermore, the crossbow’s well-balanced design ensures straight shots. The 3.5 trigger pulls extremely smoothly to avoid any jerky movements that could throw off the aim, too.
Accessories
As mentioned earlier, there are quite a few accessories that come with this crossbow. Let us discuss each of them in detail.
Scope
The scope that comes with this crossbow is an entry-level red dot scope. This will have the user shooting close groups at about 20 yards right out of the box.
After that, it will be up to the user to tighten the things down in order to get the crossbow grouping where they would need it.
Red dots scope allows the user to sight with both their eyes and also tracks quick-moving prey much more easily compared to a regular scope.
Cocking Device
This is where the crossbow lets us down, as there is a lack of a rope cocking device.
Thankfully, you can buy one separately, and we highly recommend that you do so.
Not only does this make things easier but also create more consistency, which, in turn, makes the crossbow more accurate.
Quiver and Bolts
The quiver that comes with this crossbow is a standard three-bolt quiver that you will have to attach when you assemble the bow.
In addition to this, the crossbow also comes with three Easton carbon bolts measuring in at 20 inches. These come complete with screw-in field points.
If you are a new hunter using a crossbow for the first time, you will truly appreciate how the crossbow comes with everything needed to get started right away.
Additional Features
What’s truly amazing about this product is that you can assemble it in minutes so that you can start hunting almost right away.
The package comes with detailed instructions that make setting up the bow a simple task.
Since the company ships the crossbow along with every screw and bolt and a set of hex keys, the whole process becomes a piece of cake.
The crossbow also comes with an impressive five-year limited warranty, which further gives you peace of mind.
Pros
Cons
How to Use This Crossbow
The Barnett Jackal is a fairly simple crossbow to assemble and use. The package contains everything you need to get started.
If you are still not sure where to begin, we recommend checking out this video, which showcases this crossbow in action.
Alternative
While not many, there are still a couple of drawbacks with the Barnett Jackal Crossbow, which is why we feel we should provide you with an alternative.
We found that the Barnett Whitetail Hunter is an excellent option if you are looking for a crossbow with more power.
This one uses a slightly heavier 160-pound draw weight to get the arrows into a 340 FPS range. This additional speed could certainly be helpful during hunting.
Another great alternative is the Barnett Ghost, especially if you are in need of top-notch performance. It comes with a highly impressive speed of 410 FPS and is extremely quiet, too.
Conclusion
We hope that our detailed Barnett Jackal Crossbow review has given you a better understanding of this product.
This is one of the finest budget-friendly crossbows on the market right now and is an excellent option for any beginner.
With the Jackal crossbow, you are assured of getting great accuracy, power, and safety, which is why we highly recommend that you pick this up right away.
If you’re a woman looking for more options in crossbows, you might want to check out our reviews of the best women’s crossbows.