The spec sheets, side by side
Read from each tracked listing. Both Killer Instinct bows publish a speed figure and a package contents list; neither publishes a draw weight, a cocked width or a mass weight we would trust to compare, so those rows say so rather than guessing.
| Spec | Lethal 405 | Burner 415 | CenterPoint Hellion 400 |
|---|
| Published speed | 405 fps | 415 fps | 400 fps |
| Draw weight | Not published | Not published | 185 lb |
| Scope included | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Quiver and arrows included | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cocking aid included | Rope cocker | Rope cocker | Not stated separately in the kit list |
| Broadheads included | No | No | Yes |
| Adjustable stock | Not published | Yes | Not published |
| Our value score | 9.0 | 8.9 | 8.6 |
Why the ten feet per second does not matter
Four hundred and five against four hundred and fifteen is a difference of roughly two and a half percent. Over a forty-yard shot — already a long poke for most crossbow hunters on public land — that is a few thousandths of a second of flight time and a trajectory difference you cannot see on a target, let alone compensate for in the woods.
What speed genuinely buys at the top end of this category is forgiveness on range estimation: a flatter bolt punishes a misjudged yardage slightly less. But both of these are already fast enough that the limiting factor is you, not the bow. The thing that actually improves your hit rate at forty yards is a rangefinder, and it costs a fraction of either crossbow. Our budget rangefinder rankings cover that, including why angle compensation matters more than maximum range on the box.
Both listings publish speed and neither publishes a draw weight, which is a tell about what the category thinks sells. The CenterPoint is the only one of the three that states a draw weight at all, at 185 pounds — useful context, not a reason to choose it.
Difference 1: the adjustable stock, which is a real one
The Burner 415 publishes an adjustable stock. The Lethal does not. On a crossbow, stock length sets your length of pull, and a length of pull that is wrong for the shooter puts their eye in the wrong place behind the scope. The symptom is a scope picture that goes dark around the edges or will not center at all, and the usual response is to crane the neck forward, which wrecks the shot.
For an average-framed adult this is a non-issue; the fixed stock fits. For a teenager, a smaller-framed shooter, or anyone who will hunt in a heavy coat for half the season and a light one for the other half, adjustment is worth more than any speed figure on the page. A crossbow is often the bow a new or physically limited hunter starts with, which is precisely the buyer most likely to need the adjustment.
Difference 2: the bill after the purchase
Both packages leave the same two gaps, and budgeting for them honestly changes which crossbow is actually cheaper.
- Broadheads.Neither Killer Instinct kit includes them, and the field points in the box will not kill a deer legally or cleanly. That is a real line item before opening day — and it is the reason the CenterPoint Hellion 400 is on this page, because its Hunt Ready Kit does include them. Crossbow speeds are hard on broadheads, which is why we point crossbow shooters at one-piece heads in our broadhead rankings, and why the Hellion’s kit is worth a look — we cover it in the CenterPoint Hellion 400 review.
- String dampeners. Both bows are noted as loud without them. A loud crossbow is not a safety problem, it is a jumping-the-string problem at the ranges where a deer has time to react. Dampeners are inexpensive and they are the first modification we would make to either.
- A better scope, eventually.Both include a basic scope that is fine inside thirty yards and gets vague past it. This is an upgrade to make in year two, not at purchase — and only if you actually start taking longer shots.
Add a broadhead pack and a dampener kit to both and the price gap between the two Killer Instinct bows usually disappears entirely. That is why our recommendation is to buy whichever is cheaper on the day you shop, and why we would not pay a premium for the extra ten feet per second.
Difference 3: cocking, which neither listing explains well
Both include a rope cocker, and a rope cocker is the single most important accessory in the box. Cocking a 400-plus fps crossbow by hand is not realistic for most people, and doing it unevenly is the most common cause of a crossbow that will not group — the string ends up off-center on the latch and every bolt leaves at a slightly different angle.
Use the cocker every time, mark the string so you can see that it is centered, and if you have shoulder or back limitations, price a crank cocking device before you buy either bow rather than after. A crank is the accessory that decides whether an older or injured hunter can use a crossbow at all, and it is not included with anything in this price class.
The short answer
If you want to widen the field beyond these two, the Burner also goes directly against the other budget package that currently carries a live price — see Burner 415 vs CenterPoint Hellion 400, where the split is price and kit rather than fifteen feet per second.
- Most hunters: whichever is cheaper today. They are the same bow in the ways that matter, and the live prices in the table above are the tiebreaker.
- A smaller-framed, younger or growing shooter: Burner 415. The adjustable stock is the only published difference that changes how the bow shoots for a given person.
- Someone who wants to be hunting the weekend they buy it: the CenterPoint Hellion 400. Broadheads in the box is a small saving and a meaningful convenience, and 400 fps is no slower in any way you will notice.
- Anyone shopping purely on speed: stop. Spend the difference on a rangefinder and a dozen practice bolts instead.
Crossbow legality and season dates vary more by state than almost anything else in hunting — some states allow them in all archery seasons, others only in firearm seasons or for hunters with a permit. Confirm your rules before you buy. The full field, including the two Barnett packages, is in our cheap hunting crossbow rankings.
