Carbon Express X-Force 350 Review – Compound Crossbow

Model	Draw Weight	Stroke	Velocity	Suggested Arrow Length	Crossbow Length / Weight
Carbon Express X-Force 350 Check price on Amazon.com	165 lbs.	12"	300 FPS Crossbow Academy: ballistics, sighting, tuning	20"	34" / 8 lbs. 12 ozs.

Carbon Express X-Force 350 Package Contents

The Carbon Express X-Force 350 comes standard with just about everything you would need to get started. We say “just about” as it does not come standard with a case, but it does come with everything else! You will get the crossbow itself, a rope cocker, a detachable three-arrow quiver, 3 Carbon Express 20” crossbow bolts (even 3 field points), and a 4×32 scope, with multiple aim points.

Kinetic Energy of the X-Force 350

The X-Force 350 is not the most powerful crossbow we have shot, but pushing a crossbow bolt at 300 fps is enough to have a 400 grain projectile leaving with 80 ft. lbs. of energy. Even moving out 30 yards you will still be hitting with about 74 ft. lbs., certainly enough for most small to medium game animals in North America.

Use our arrow ballistics calculator for more valuable information.

Design, Safety, Comfort and Accuracy

Carbon Express has thought through their design process and incorporated several cool features that shooters of all levels can appreciate. They went with a skeletal design and composite materials to try to bring the weight down. We have heard from some that this is a ‘lightweight’ crossbow to them, but given the breadth of bows we have had the opportunity to field test, we found this to be a bit on the heavy side. While a bit heavy, we also need to point out that it is very well balanced which seemed to mitigate some of that weight…and even made for a more stable shooting platform.

The design team also incorporated their SilenTech™ coating which is essentially a black coating that almost gives a spongy quality to the crossbow. We did note that the crossbow was fairly quiet even without silencers so there is certainly something to this coating. The foregrip also has 5” of travel (adjustment) to give a good custom fit for various shooters…that is a nice touch that certainly adds to the overall comfort of the X-Force 350. We found accuracy to be quite good and were able to consistently shoot 2” groups, even with the heavy trigger.

Ballistic Data For The Carbon Express X-Force 350

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.

Hunting with the X-Force 350

Given the accuracy we experienced, hunting with the X-Force 350 should leave you with a full freezer. Although a bit heavy when carrying it to the stand, the solid feel, good balance and extra heft will make a big difference when you are holding steady on your quarry. The multiple aim points in the 4×32 scope will also allow for more accuracy in field situations. The heavy pull of the trigger is something you will have to become familiar with, but with practice, we don’t see any reason this should hamper your hunting success.

How Quiet is the X-Force 350

The X-Force 350 was actually very quiet to shoot. We think this definitely has something to do with the SilenTech™ coating…that spongy coating just feels like it should be absorbing sound!

Cocking the X-Force 350

We did not experience any issues with cocking the X-Force 350 using the including cocking rope. We have heard from some users that they have experienced some difficulty…we would suggest you try it with the included rope first. If you have issues, then we would recommend looking into a crank system to make things easier.

Quality of the Optics

The included 4×32 mm scope was quite adequate for most shooting situations. Its multiple graduations made shooting at various ranges pretty much ‘guess free’, which is always a great thing in a hunting crossbow. The last thing you want to be thinking about when that trophy steps out is how much you need to hold high to hit your mark! The scope is also touted as being waterproof, shockproof and fogproof. We were not shooting in situations to test those claims, but the scope did look to be well sealed.

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

What Arrows to use with the X-Force 350

The X-Force 350 comes standard with three 20” bolts from Carbon Express. There are a number of good carbon arrows available, but you would be wise to stay in the 20” length. The bolts that come with the package are actually pretty decent in quality and could be used for hunting, although most experienced hunters are going to have their favorites and will likely upgrade for hunting situations.

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

Overall Thoughts

The Carbon Express X-Force 350 is overall a very solid crossbow. While it isn’t the fastest bow out there, it certainly delivers plenty of power for most hunting situations and for an enjoyable day at the range. Overall we found the accuracy to be very good, and we really did like the 6 different aim points in the included scope. While the trigger was a bit heavier than we would have liked, the heft of the bow helped to compensate for that. The bow was very comfortable to shoot thanks to the adjustable foregrip and was very quiet thanks to the special coating. There was also very little vibration felt by the shooter as well. For the price, this would be a very difficult combo to beat and for most shooters will provide years of enjoyment, both at the range and in the blind. Take a look at today's amazon.com price on this crossbow and check out our top 10 crossbows rankings for more.