Barnett Ghost 410 Crossbow Review

Model	Draw Weight	Stroke	Velocity	Suggested Arrow Length	Crossbow Length / Weight
Barnett Ghost 410 CRT Check price on Amazon.com	185 lbs.	15.375"	410 FPS Crossbow Academy: ballistics, sighting, tuning	22"	37.3" / 7.3 lbs.

Barnett Ghost 410 Package Contents

Welcome to my Barnett Ghost 410 crossbow review. All packages purchased after June 2013 will come with the following items:

• The Barnett Ghost 410 compound crossbow
• three 22″ Easton bolts with field points
• Quick-detach quiver
• Padded crossbow sling
• Rope cocking device
• Extra recoil pad
• 3×32 four-reticle illuminated (red/green/black) crossbow scope
• Small sample of string wax
• Warranty card
• Owner’s manual
• All assembly hardware

This is what the package looks like:

How To Assemble The Ghost 410 x-bow?

Since the foot stirrup is an integrated part of the riser, and because the scope comes already mounted on the stock, assembly is a breeze and takes no more than 3-4 minutes:

1. You’ll use one Allen bolt to secure the riser to the stock
2. You’ll secure the quiver mount to the bottom of the crossbow using two screws

It’s the least amount of work required for assembling a crossbow, ever. Remember that the bolt/screws and keys are included with the package.

How Powerful And Accurate Is The Barnett Ghost 410?

As far as power goes, this is certainly one of the most powerful crossbows available on the market. The majority of other crossbows don’t exceed 340 FPS of shooting speed. The Ghost 410 has a whopping 410 FPS, which means that it can generate up to 150 ft-lbs. of kinetic energy (when using arrows similar to those included with the package) at point blank range! Using a chronograph, I calculated the speed to be 406 FPS, which is as close as it gets to a manufacturer’s statement.

Accuracy is fantastic as well, thanks to the following:

• The design of the crossbow (carbon riser) prevents the weapon from dropping forward slightly. The majority of the weight is located near the shoulder of the archer, which means the Ghost 410 is very stable and comfortable to aim.
• The trigger system and string latch work flawlessly, releasing the string (and hence the arrow) smoothly every time, making it easier for you to work on your aim and to keep your shots consistent.
• The scope included with the package is sighted right out of the box an holds dead-zero for a long time, without the need for constantly tuning windage and elevation.

The Ghost 410 is in fact so accurate that you can hit 2″ arrow groups from as far as 60 yards away, even if you aren’t a very experienced crossbow shooter – and the arrow will still dig deep enough to make it really difficult for you to pull it out.

Is The Ghost 410 Good For Hunting?

If the crossbow fits your budget, I honestly believe there’s nothing better than the Ghost 410 on the market, from a hunter’s perspective. It can deliver close to 150 ft-lbs of kinetic energy. Do you know how much KE is required to harvest the largest game on the planet (such as the grizzly bear, African elephant or cape buffalo)? Roughly 75 ft-lbs. of energy. This means the barnett Ghost 410 can deliver over double the energy required to take down anything. There’s really no game in the world you can’t take down (while achieving a full pass-through) with this monster, assuming your aim is on point.

Additionally, the crossbow is relatively light (less than 8 lbs.) and has a short axle-to-axle length of 19-7/8″, making it super easy to maneuver in a hunting blind, tree stand, and other tight spots. And considering how fast it shoots, your target won’t have even the slightest chance of reacting before your arrow hits the vital organs.

The biggest game I’ve taken with the Ghost 410 was an elk; my arrow went through the body like a hot knife through butter, even though I was over 35 yards away from the target. This really is as good as it gets in my experience.

Ballistic Data For The Barnett Ghost 410 CRT

Your actual results will vary slightly depending on weather, and significantly with arrow weight change. See our Crossbow Ballistics Guides section for a complete understanding of how we conducted our tests and why this data matters.

Kinetic Energy Of The Barnett Ghost 410

So now the question is, just how powerful is the Barnett Ghost 410? As we pointed out, the Ghost 410 delivers arrows at close to 410 FPS, and comes with 400-grain arrows. We’ve found that from point blank range, this monster of a crossbow strikes the target with around 148 ft. lbs. of kinetic energy. You’ll see some drop in kinetic energy, of course, when you go out beyond point blank range, to the tune of around 2% of kinetic energy for every 10 yards beyond point blank range. This still leaves you with over 139+ ft. lbs. of KE from 30 yards, more than enough stopping power to take down the largest legal game in North America.the US.

Use our arrow ballistics calculator for more valuable information.

How Loud Is The Barnett Ghost 410 Crossbow?

I’d say it’s about as loud as most compound crossbows. However, this is in fact a good thing: the faster a crossbow shoots, the louder you can expect it to be due to the extra amount of residual energy that is transformed into vibration and hence producing noise. So the fact that the Ghost 410 is about as loud as other compounds with far less speed (330-350 FPS) makes it actually a relatively quiet weapon.

It’s worth noting that this x-bow is so fast, that the noise isn’t much of an issue. The arrow will hit your target well before it has any time to react, “duck” or move out of the way, even if it were to hear the shot being fired.

Cocking The Ghost 410

A rope cocking aid is included with the package. The cool thing about this model is that you can shorten and lengthen the string to suit your particular needs / arm length, so it can be used by pretty much any adult regardless of their height. Rope aids typically cut down the amount of effort require to cock a crossbow by about half, so rather than drawing the full 185 lbs. of weight, you’d be drawing roughly 90 lbs. instead.

As always, please remember to place your foot firmly inside the stirrup while cocking the Ghost 410, to prevent it from slipping from underneath your shoe and hitting you in the chest.

How Good Is The Scope That Comes With The Crossbow?

Barnett generally includes top-quality scopes with their crossbows, and the Ghost 410 is no exception. The scope came already mounted onto the stock and sighted, so there was no need for knob adjustments in my case. Your mileage may vary though, so in case the scope isn’t performing as well as you’d expect, see my crossbow sighting guide for help.

As mentioned earlier, accuracy of the Ghost 410  is superb – in large due to the nature of the scope. The field of view is really wide without any excess “fogginess” around the edges, and the illumination of the four reticles is bright enough that you can hunt in close to complete darkness. The scope also comes with a life-time warranty and is shock, water and fog resistant. Not to mention it gathers light really well, delivering a super-sharp image of the target.

See our detailed guide on how to sight-in your crossbow

What Arrows/Bolts To Use With The Barnett Ghost 410?

Any 22″ carbon or aluminum crossbow arrows will work perfectly fine – here are some solid arrows from Barnett (amazon.com link) if you’re interested. For an optimal energy-to-speed ratio, I’d say go for around 400-450 grain arrows. In all honesty though, with a beast like the Ghost 410, you can comfortably use much heavier arrows and still achieve outstanding accuracy and performance due to the exceptionally high speed. If you want to stay on the safe side though, just get any of Barnett’s arrows to start with, and after gaining some shooting experience – decide what type of arrows you’d like to try next.

Note: you should use arrows with a half moon-nock with any Barnett crossbow, including the Ghost. Check our short nock guide at the bottom of this page. And if you want to hunt, you’ll need to get some broadheads of course.

You can also learn more about crossbow arrows and take a look at our broadhead recommendations

Design, Safety & Grip

As far as pure looks go, I can’t imagine anyone not loving the Ghost 410. It looks pretty much like a weapon the Predator (from the movie) might use.

The crossbow obviously has an anti-dry fire mechanism: the moment you cock the weapon, safety will engage automatically and the crossbow can’t be fired until an arrow is properly seated in the flight rail. This makes it all but impossible to dry fire the weapon.

Thanks to the super-light carbon riser (Barnett calls it CRT – Carbonlite Riser Technology), the Ghost is very comfortable to handle and easy to aim, as the weight of the crossbow is shifted closer to your body, giving you much more leverage for easy handling of the weapon. Additionally, this reduces the overall weight of the x-bow, making it easier to carry around.

As for the grip, it’s comfortable, ergonomic in design, and also helps you keep your fingers away from the flight rail to prevent the accelerating string from hurting them. The same goes for the shoulder plate as well – really sits nicely against the body.

Barnett’s Warranty & Customer Service

The scope comes with a life-time warranty, while the crossbow comes with a 5 year limited warranty that does not cover:

• The cable
• String
• Damage resulting from misuse and/or dry-firing the crossbow

As soon as you receive you’r crossbow, you’ll need to fill out the warranty card and mail it back to Barnett (or fill out the form on Barnett’s website) for your warranty to be valid, so please don’t remember this and take care of it the same day you receive your package.

Customer service is solid and they tend to be quite helpful, though in certain cases they are somewhat too willing to just suggest replacing the crossbow, while the issue could be fixed much faster and easier. All in all though, support won’t leave you hanging and they’ll get any issues resolved sooner or later. My experience with Barnett’s support by the way is a result of some issues I had with a different crossbow – not the Ghost 410. Just thought I’d make that clear.

Differences Between The Ghost 410 And The Ghost 400

The main differences are as follows:

• The Ghost 410 obviously has 410 FPS, while the Ghost 400 has 400 FPS.
• The 410 has a longer and more comfortable shoulder plate
• The 410 is I believe slightly lighter

At any rate, the price difference between the two models is so small in most cases that I strongly recommend going for the Ghost 410 whenever possible.

What Crossbow Case Fits the Barnett Ghost 410 CRT?

The Barnett Case (Model 17083) is one of the best cases to accommodate the Barnett Ghost 410 CRT. It is a soft case; however it is extremely durable and has a pocket which stores 22” bolts. For those who prefer hard cases, the SKB Hunter Series Crossbow Case is an excellent choice.

Barnett Ghost 410 Crossbow Review – Summary

This crossbow is more than worth its price. I find it honestly unmatched in pretty much any category I can think of — speed, accuracy, comfort, ease-of-use, safety, design. You want the best on the market? This is it. Take a look at today's amazon.com price on this crossbow and check out our top 10 crossbows rankings for more.