Blaze & Budget

CenterPoint Hellion 400 Review

A 400 fps hunt-ready kit with broadheads in the box. What the speed number is genuinely worth in the woods, and the hunters who should buy something slower and cheaper.

By Stephen V.Last updated How we rank

Crossbow marketing has been an arms race about one number for a decade, and the Hellion 400 is what the budget end of that race looks like: four hundred feet per second, a 185-pound draw weight, and a complete hunt-ready kit with scope, quiver and broadheads in the box.

The speed number is real and it is also the least interesting thing about this crossbow. Four hundred feet per second is more velocity than a whitetail inside forty yards requires by a comfortable margin, and every hunter who has ever lost a deer to a marginal hit lost it for reasons speed does not address.

What is genuinely interesting is the narrow cocked width, which decides whether you can take a shot from a treestand at all, and the fact that CenterPoint puts broadheads in a package at this price when almost nobody does. Both are covered below, along with the realistic assessment of where the money goes when a maker builds to a speed figure.

We do not own this crossbow and have not shot it. This review works from CenterPoint’s published specification, comparison against the four crossbows we rank it with, and price-per-performance math on a live price. Our method is here.

How this is funded:we earn a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes which product we recommend, and we’ll tell you plainly when we’d skip one. Full disclosure.

At a glance

Ranked on price-per-performance — the specs that matter divided by what it costs. Select a row to jump to the full write-up. We have not field-tested these — here is exactly what we do instead.

#ProductSpeedScorePrice
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CenterPoint Hellion 400

CenterPoint Hellion 400

Best 400 fps hunt-ready kit

A 400 fps hunt-ready kit that includes broadheads — a rare touch at this price. CenterPoint's budget line is a lot of crossbow for the money, and the kit gets you truly hunt-ready out of the box.

400 fps
8.6/ 10
$429.00View on Amazon

Price as of September 5, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

The full review

#1Best 400 fps hunt-ready kit8.6/ 10 value

CenterPoint Hellion 400

A 400 fps hunt-ready kit that includes broadheads — a rare touch at this price. CenterPoint's budget line is a lot of crossbow for the money, and the kit gets you truly hunt-ready out of the box.

Strengths

  • 400 fps with a complete Hunt Ready Kit — even broadheads included
  • Narrow cocked width for tight treestand shooting
  • Case and sling in the box on many listings

Trade-offs

  • Heavier than the Killer Instinct pair
  • Factory strings benefit from a wax-and-tune before season
Speed400 fps
PackageHunt Ready Kit (scope, quiver, broadheads)
Draw weight185 lb

Specs read from the product listing, on July 22, 2026. “Not published” means the maker doesn’t state that figure. The score is our value rating, not a lab test — how we rank.

What 400 fps actually does, and what it does not

Speed buys you two things in the woods and neither is what the marketing implies.

It flattens trajectory,which reduces the cost of misjudging distance. A faster bolt drops less between twenty and forty yards, so a ten-yard range error moves the point of impact less than it would on a slower crossbow. That is a genuine benefit, and it matters most to hunters who do not carry a rangefinder — which is a problem better solved by buying a rangefinder than by buying velocity.

It shortens flight time,which slightly reduces the window in which a deer can react to the sound of the shot and drop underneath the bolt. Whitetails do react — the phenomenon is real — and less time in the air means less time to move.

What speed does not do is improve penetration proportionally, because kinetic energy is a function of mass as well as velocity and crossbow bolts are light. It does not improve accuracy. And it does not compensate for a bad shot angle, a poorly-tuned scope or a hunter who has not practiced at the distance in question.

The honest summary: at whitetail distances, a 350 fps crossbow and a 400 fps crossbow both kill deer cleanly, and the difference in outcomes is far smaller than the difference in marketing. Buy the speed if it comes attached to other things you want — as it does here — not as the reason.

The cocked width is the spec that should decide this purchase

CenterPoint states a narrow cocked width on the Hellion, and for a treestand hunter that is worth considerably more attention than the speed figure.

Here is why. A crossbow’s limbs have to clear everything on both sides for the shot to happen. In a treestand you are sitting in a chair-sized space surrounded by the tree trunk, the stand rails, the safety harness tether and whatever branches you did not trim. A wide crossbow physically cannot be swung to the left in that space, which means a deer that comes in from the wrong side is a deer you do not shoot.

This is the most common practical complaint about crossbows from treestands and it never appears in a marketing comparison, because width is not a number anyone brags about. If you hunt from a stand or a saddle — which most budget public-land bowhunters do — narrow is worth paying for and fast is not.

The hunt-ready kit, and what “ready” means

CenterPoint packages this as a Hunt Ready Kit: crossbow, scope, quiver, bolts, and — unusually at this price — broadheads.

Broadheads in the box is a genuinely useful inclusion and worth calling out, because it is the accessory budget buyers most often forget to budget for and it is not optional. A crossbow package with field points only is a crossbow you cannot legally hunt with until you spend more money, and buyers routinely discover this in October.

Two honest cautions about kit scopes and kit accessories generally. First, a bundled scope is built to a package price and is the component most owners eventually replace — it works, and it is not the scope you would have chosen. Second, and more important, you still have to sight it in and verify it with the broadheads you will hunt with.A multi-reticle crossbow scope’s lower stadia lines are calibrated to an assumed velocity, and if your actual setup differs, those lines are wrong at the exact distances you needed them. Our crossbow sight-in guide covers verifying each reticle line rather than trusting the box.

185 pounds of draw weight, and the cocking question

A 185-pound draw weight is what produces the speed, and it is also what you have to deal with every time you cock the crossbow.

With a rope cocker — which halves the effort — that is roughly ninety pounds of pull, standing, usually in the dark, often with cold hands and a harness on. Most fit adults manage it. Some hunters, including many younger, older or smaller-framed ones, will find it a genuine struggle, and struggling with a cocking rope fifteen feet up a tree is not a small safety consideration.

A crank cocking device removes the problem entirely and is the single most worthwhile crossbow accessory there is. Budget for one if you have any doubt, and factor it into the price of this crossbow rather than the price of the next one.

The other consequence of high draw weight is wear. More energy stored means more stress on strings, cables and limbs, and CenterPoint’s factory strings benefit from waxing and a check before the season. A crossbow string that lets go at 185 pounds is a repair bill and potentially an injury.

Weight, and where this crossbow is wrong

The Hellion is heavier than the lighter budget crossbows we rank it against, and weight on a crossbow costs you in two places: carrying it in, and holding it steady on a long freehand aim.

For a hunter who walks two hundred yards to a permanent stand, the weight is irrelevant. For a mobile public-land hunter carrying a saddle, sticks, a pack and a crossbow a mile and a half in the dark, it is a real consideration, and one of the lighter options in our cheap crossbow roundup may serve better despite giving up velocity.

Who should skip the Hellion 400

  • The hunter who only needs a deer crossbow. If you shoot inside forty yards at whitetails, a slower and cheaper crossbow does the job identically. Put the difference into a rangefinder and better broadheads.
  • The hunter who cannot comfortably cock 185 pounds. Either budget for a crank device on top of the purchase, or buy a lower-poundage crossbow. Do not plan to tough it out in a treestand.
  • The mobile public-land hunter. Weight compounds with everything else you are carrying, and a lighter crossbow you take further beats a faster one you leave in the truck.
  • Anyone buying speed as the feature. Buy this for the narrow width and the complete kit. The 400 number is the least useful reason to choose it.

The verdict

The Hellion 400 is a lot of crossbow for the money, and the reasons it is worth buying are not the reasons it is advertised. The narrow cocked width solves the real problem crossbow hunters have in treestands. The included broadheads close a gap that catches budget buyers out every season. The speed figure is fine and largely beside the point.

What you give up against a premium crossbow is refinement: a better scope, a smoother trigger, quieter shot, and strings that need less attention. What you give up against the cheaper crossbows on our list is weight and some money, and you gain the width and the kit.

Before you order, check your state’s crossbow regulations. Legality during archery season, minimum draw weight and broadhead requirements all vary by state and change between years, and that is the one thing no review can answer for you.

Check your state’s regulations. Hunting laws vary by state and change year to year — legal calibers, minimum bow draw weights, blaze-orange rules, seasons and treestand requirements included. Confirm the rules with your state wildlife agency before you hunt. Blaze & Budget is written by an enthusiast, not a game warden, and nothing here is legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is 400 fps fast enough for deer hunting?

It is far more than enough, and so is 350. Speed flattens trajectory, which reduces the cost of misjudging range, and shortens flight time, which slightly reduces a deer's chance to react to the shot. Neither improves penetration proportionally, because kinetic energy depends on bolt mass as much as velocity, and neither improves accuracy. At whitetail distances a 350 fps crossbow and a 400 fps crossbow both kill cleanly, and the outcome difference is much smaller than the marketing difference.

Why does crossbow cocked width matter?

Because the limbs have to clear everything on both sides for the shot to happen, and a treestand is a small space full of obstructions — the trunk, the stand rails, your harness tether and untrimmed branches. A wide crossbow physically cannot be swung to one side in that space, so a deer arriving from the wrong direction is a deer you do not shoot. It is the most common practical complaint about crossbows from stands and it almost never appears in a spec comparison.

Do you need a crank cocking device for a 185 lb crossbow?

Not necessarily, but budget for one if there is any doubt. A rope cocker roughly halves the effort, so 185 pounds becomes about 90 pounds of pull — manageable for most fit adults, and a real struggle for younger, older or smaller-framed hunters. Struggling with a cocking rope fifteen feet up a tree in the dark is a safety consideration, not just a comfort one. A crank device removes the problem entirely and is the most worthwhile crossbow accessory there is.

Are crossbow package scopes any good?

They work, and they are the component most owners eventually replace, because a bundled scope is built to hit a package price. The more important point is not quality but calibration: a multi-reticle crossbow scope's lower stadia lines are calculated for an assumed bolt velocity, and if your actual setup differs those lines are wrong at exactly the distances you needed them. Sight in the top reticle, then verify every other line at its stated distance with the broadheads you will hunt with.

Can you hunt deer with a crossbow during archery season?

It depends entirely on your state, and it changes. Some states allow crossbows for all hunters during the full archery season, some restrict them to specific portions of it, some require a permit tied to a physical disability, and some set minimum draw weights or broadhead specifications. Several states have changed their rules in recent years. Check your state wildlife agency's current regulations before you buy, since this decision can make a crossbow the wrong purchase entirely.

Do crossbow packages come with broadheads?

Usually not, and it catches budget buyers out every October. Most hunt-ready packages include the crossbow, a scope, a quiver and field-point bolts, which is enough to practice with and not enough to hunt with. Broadheads are a separate purchase and not an optional one. The Hellion package is unusual at this price in stating that broadheads are included, which is worth real money and worth checking on any package you compare it against.

Sources

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