If you are on the market to buy a brand new crossbow that doesn’t cost a fortune and performs great, then the Carbon Express piledriver 390 is a good choice.
A fairly inexpensive crossbow that can perform nearly on the same level as a flagship crossbow. We will go through the details of why we think that and why it’s one of the if not the best crossbows within 400$.
Carbon Express Piledriver 390: Outlooks
Specifications | Speed: 390 FPS; Kinetic Energy: 142 ft.lbs; Power Stroke: 13.5 Inches; Draw Weight: 185 LBS; Axle To Axle: 15 / 19.5 Inches; Length: 37.5 Inches; Weight: 7.5 LBS.
Body Quality
The crossbow isn’t the lightest out there. But it is one of the lightest premium-feeling crossbows you can find out there. Based on the looks only you can fool anyone by saying it’s a 1000$ crossbow.
The weight of the crossbow is 7.2 pounds. It’s not that high but for beginner people, it may seem heavy. The body design is unique and the badland camo makes the crossbow look fabulous. The crossbow is made with the idea of providing high-speed performance that is well accurate over 60 yards but for budget-oriented people.
Even though the name has carbon in it the material used for the crossbow is not carbon fiber. Don’t be disappointed carbon fiber is an expensive material. Hoping to have a carbon fiber crossbow for less than 1000$ is a far cry. But with that said the material used in the crossbow is good.
Uncocked Carbon Express piledriver 390 has 18.5 inches of length. The width is adjustable between 35.5 to 37.5 inches. Once cocked the axle-to-axle width is just 14.5″. It’s not the most compact crossbow out there but it is certainly not the bulkiest. It’s quite manageable.
Shooting
The X-force piledriver 390 packs a massive punch. The drawing force of the 185 pounds. The max kinetic energy it can pull is 142 ft-lbs. For a 400$ crossbow, it is a lot.
If the name didn’t give it away already, the piledriver can shoot up to 390 fps. Even though Carbon Express claims it can do more than 390 the max we got was 388. It is huge compared to other crossbows in this price segment.
The crossbow is perfect for hunters. On the Amazon page, you can see many hunters leaving their reviews about the crossbow. It’s considered the best value for the money. It doesn’t break your bank and comes with lots of accessories.
Shooting with the crossbow is an enjoyable process. Once you sighted in the scope you can fire more than 60 yards pretty accurately. 390 FPS is good for killing the largest of deer. Most crossbows at this price range can’t even shoot up to 350fps.
Scope
The crossbow comes with a 4x32mm scope. Where we tried our best to find some information about the lens coating and stuff but we failed. However, asking some users helped quite a bit in this process.
Some of them said the crossbow is held back by the scope. What they meant was the performance of the scope is not that great. It fails to catch up with the highest speed. But the reticle of the crossbow scope compensates for the drop.
The scope comes out as sighted at 60 yards, but if you want more than that you need to calibrate it on your own. We have a guide on our site about how to zero a scope. You can follow that guide if you are new to the scene.
Bolts
As we mentioned earlier the crossbow can shoot up to 390 fps. Even if the bolts are your top-end 400 grains arrows. The highest speed with 400 grains arrow that we achieved was 388 fps.
So, we can say we agree with Carbon Express regarding their top-speed claim. The crossbow comes with 3 20″ crossbow bolts. But you can always purchase your favorite bolts.
Pros
- Changeable synthetic buttstock.
- High speed 390 fps.
- Lightweight.
- It comes with tons of accessories.
- Quite crank cocking.
Cons
- When cocked 18.5 inches can’t be said as compact.
- The included scope is not that good.
Carbon Express Piledriver 390 Review Summary
Overall it’s one of the if not the best 400$ crossbows out in the market. We loved our time with it. We hope you will be too. You can check the Amazon review section if you want more reassurance.
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Hi, I’m Brent Hansford. A writer turned hunter & now sharing my love for the sport through writing. As I practically breathe weapons, I firmly believe I’m capable of providing you with new knowledge about firearms and hunting. My mission is to help more people get better at hunting & master the weapons. Let me help with unleashing the beast within you!
