Review Barnett Banshee Quad Compound bow

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Silent Earth

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Review Barnett Banshee Quad Compound bow
© Northern Raider 2012
I was introduced to Barnett’s baby compound bow by Skean Dhude the forum owner of SUK.NET on a visit by him to my house. He brought with him various bows but the Banshee was the bow that caught everyone’s eyes.
Let’s make things clear from the word go, this is NOT a war bow, NOT an Elk killing machine, NOT something that will drop a rhino at 90 meters, but by god it is a very handy tool to have around for us British Island dwellers and the shorter ranges that constrict us.
If it was legal it would be an ideal EDC bow, kept by the kitchen door for bagging the occasional fat pigeon that alights on your fence, or nailing that rabbit that keeps getting through the netting into your cabbage patch. Indeed according the American HUNTERS FRIEND web site the Banshee rated at 25 lb draw is more than adequate for taking the smaller breeds of deer as well so Hare, Grouse, Pheasant, Rabbit, Pigeon etc are viable targets in a survival situation. My County is awash with Roe, Fallow and Muntjuic deer so after TSHTF the Banshee should come into its own.
Vermin control, Security issues up to about 30 yards is its upper limit, the arrows can be made to fly further but the ballistic trajectory required means you would be aiming very very high and the chances of hitting the target slight indeed. Use it as it is intended as a training bow, youth bow, small persons bow or short range bow and you won’t be disappointed.
As dispatched from the factory the bow is ready to shoot straight out of the box, the only job to do if you wish is to attach the very basic sight to the rail, after that just use the bow. I actually crimped a nocking point to the wire for convenience on the first bow to arrive but the second bow to arrive had a slightly different specification and it came with two sleeved draw / knocking points already attached.
I believe there may have been a slight change in the factory spec of the Banshee during its production run as some bows come with knocking / draw point and an extra flange on the side of the compound pulleys, whilst other bows do not have them fitted.
Out of the box the bow is 39 inches long (1 meter) it is a two pulley bow with a nylon coated steel wire instead of a polyester or synthetic string. The riser (the handle) is a synthetic material similar to that used on modern tactical rifles instead of wood. The grip on the riser is synthetic coloured rubber and some folks with larger hands may wish to increase the size of the grip with a leather sleeve or length of self-amalgamating tape. The riser is also shaped to be ambidextrous and incorporates an arrow rest both sides. (NOTE the pulleys and cables have to be reversed for Left handed shooters, this may not be a DIY job)
The design of the arrow rest area does appear to be suitable for fixing self- adhesive spring loaded or magnetic arrow rests etc
The four limbs (two top, two bottom) are high density preformed glass fibre the two pulleys are attached to the limbs via two powder coated steel brackets. I am led to believe that if the steel wire becomes damaged, frayed or broken you need to replace the wire and both pulleys as they come as an interconnect set.
So for your average price of £49.95 you get a fairly useful EDC bow that requires little maintenance and can be left stung permanently. The short length means this bow will fit straight into a car boot, I’ve already been contacted by someone who keeps his attached to the boot lid using some cord attached to a couple of magnets.
You can shoot from the sitting position from larger vehicles like vans, or from wheelchairs.
What don’t I like?
The sights are a bit crude for my liking, but necessity is the mother of improvisation.
The supplied arrows are only good for short range target practice, lash out and get yourself some decent alloy or carbon arrows with screw in field heads.
One comment I keep noting on various forums I’ve visited is that a 25 lb compound bow is the equal of a 35 to 40 lb draw recurve !!!, you figure that out for yourselves.
What does it shoot like?
Not bad to be honest, after only 4 hours practise with the banshee I’m consistently getting 6 inch groups at 20 yards with an untweaked or modified bow.
So if you are looking for a good basic, cheap, reliable low maintenance EDC bow to keep in the car, larger rucksack or kitchen you may wish to consider this bow.
.
If you have more expertise with compounds or more powerful bows and would like something similar but more powerful you may wish to check out the
SMK NOVA ARC 3112 bow which is rated as adjustable from 25 pound draw to 40 pound draw they are only about £40 to buy.
Purchasing footnote
I bought three Banshees from different sources, Amazon, E bay and Mail order on the 6th of August
The Amazon purchased bow arrived 24 hours after ordering, the Mail order bow arrived after 48 hours but the bow I ordered from a Scottish E bay seller has not arrived by the 14th. Caveat Emptor
 

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