Mission Sniper Lite Crossbow Review

This crossbow is the quietest and lightest we tested. We just love these new, wieldy, hunter-friendly, compact crossbows. The barrel and stock are all one piece of aluminum, which gives the Sniper a solid feel stem to stern.

There is no stirrup; you put your foot on the left or right limb, which makes us wonder about how uniformly the string gets cocked.

We've noticed it is accurate at usual hunting distances but would like to test distance accuracy further. The trigger is a huge improvement over previous years' Missions.

Test Results

Speed: 310 fps

Sound: 86.73 db

Trigger-Pull Weight: 2.55 pounds

Hunting Weight:

7 pounds, 8 ounces

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What We Like: Light and quiet. Light and quiet. Light and quiet. We can't say it enough.

What We'd Change: The trade-off of those attributes is the speed and energy: The Sniper Lite is a little light in fps, averaging about 310 fps.

MSRP: $599

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This is probably the best part of our job here at Crossbow Revolution.  We assemble a pile of the latest crossbows from the best companies and shoot each one —  a lot —  recording the results all the while. There are always surprises —  some good, some bad.

Like how awesome it was to shoot a 440-fps crossbow! But who knew that it would be that hard to cock, and I'm no cocking sissy! And then there was the bow that had so much going for it, but the trigger felt gritty and hesitated, like someone had dragged it along a beach.

At the end of the day, it's tough to go wrong with any of these 2015 models. Really, it's all about what you want in your hunting tool — speed, low price, a small package, a quiet bow, smooth trigger?

We hope our play...I mean, work...helps you when you're in the market for a new crossbow.

How We Tested

Because of the large number of variables involved, some of which are extremely difficult to control, we will not be purporting this to be a scientific test, but, instead, a general hands-on report so you'll have information if you are looking at buying a new crossbow.

We test right out of the box, as any consumer would receive it. While crossbow companies send them to us to use free-of-charge, we also send them back to the crossbow companies after any hunting and testing.

Trigger

Three trigger releases, with the arrows and field points that came with the crossbow, measured by an RCBS Trigger Pull Meter, and averaged to give one number in pounds.

Sound

Three shots fired, measured in decibels by a Vernier sound level meter 6 feet from the crossbow, averaged for one final dB number.

Speed

With arrows and points that came with the crossbow, we released three arrows through a Caldwell Ballistic Precision Chronograph and averaged the three to get one number in feet per second (FPS).