Crossbow fans will be pleased to see that Crosman has re-entered the horizontal bow arena with a renewed focus on design features that will especially excite deer, hog and bear hunters. The new Tormentor 370, offered under Crosman’s CenterPoint brand, is all about substance and function, giving sportsmen a sturdy, accurate and dependable crossbow package that sells for well under $500.

The Tormentor weighs in at just 5.75 pounds, making it one of the lightest hunting crossbows on the market. A combination of composite stock, aluminum rail and fiberglass Quad limbs contributes to the bow’s feather-light feel, and its ergonomic design (large holes in the stock eliminating unnecessary bulk and weight) is also a factor.

There are a number of other features on the new Tormentor, starting with its 185-pound pull weight, 13.75-inch power stroke and 120 ft./lbs. of kinetic energy. Axle-to-axle width is just 14 inches (cocked), and its overall length is 36 inches. This is one compact hunting unit, ideal for maneuvering in confined spaces such as tree stands and blinds. The Tormentor is also a joy to carry when still-hunting or stalking, perfectly balanced and smooth handling even with sling, scope and quiver attached.

Hunters of all sizes will find the Tormentor’s adjustable fore grip to be a godsend, ensuring a solid gripping surface for every shooter no matter how tall, short, large or small they might be. With 10 inches of Picatinny rail to work with, there’s no reason for long-armed shooters to stifle their style by short-gripping the forearm. Even with the fore grip set at its maximum length there is enough rail left over to add lights, cameras and similar attachments.

The Tormentor’s ambidextrous trigger-safety mechanism breaks crisply and consistently at 3.5 pounds. The built-in, anti dry-fire mechanism requires an arrow be seated firmly on the rail to prevent an unloaded crossbow from being fired.

All of this comes with a limited 5-year warranty on all parts. The Tormentor package includes the crossbow, 4x32 scope, three arrows, quiver, rope cocker and sling, all for $399.99 for the black composite model or $449.99 for the camo model.

Assembly of the Tormentor is quick and easy using just three bolts to join the limbs to the stock, four bolts to attach the stirrup and two bolts to attach the quiver bracket. With all parts laid out and tools in hand (all provided except for a Phillips-Head screwdriver), assembly time was just under 15 minutes, and that includes attaching the separate scope mounts and scope.

Once assembled, the Tormentor has a good, solid feel to it with a comfortable balance point. It comes to the shoulder quickly and smoothly and the scope is “right there” with no squirming required. I was anxious to take it to the range to see how it performed and found little to be disappointed about.

As might be expected when mounting a separate scope and mounts, it took several shots to get on target. When testing such units I often start at 5 or 10 yards to be sure my arrows are going to hit something other than the lawn. The Tormentor was off about 9 inches (low and to the right) at 10 yards, but I had no trouble dialing it in on successive shots until I was dead-on at that range. Moving back to 20 yards I needed to make a few more adjustments to achieve the accuracy I wanted, but then things began to get more interesting.

There’s nothing about the Tormentor to complain about except CenterPoint’s choice of scope, which definitely leaves something to be desired. As is often the case with crossbow manufacturers, the scope included with the package is not made by them, isn’t designed for crossbows and doesn’t perform optimally as a result. Sadly, the scope provided with the Tormentor is a cheap, no-name brand that can be used for crossbow shooting, but honestly shouldn’t be. The instruction manual is full of typos and misspellings and offers great tips on “bore sighting,” which is difficult to do with a crossbow, and suggests starting out by “aiming at a target 100 yards away.” Obviously, this isn’t a crossbow-friendly scope, but it only gets worse.

The scope reticle is a mish-mash of windage and elevation hash marks and assorted “range-finder” lines that have no real value to a crossbow shooter. Logic suggested I simply sight in using the center crosshair at 20 yards, which was easy enough, but because this is not a crossbow scope the remaining lines were not calibrated at industry-standard 10-yard increments. This means the shooter must back off 10 yards and, by constant firing, determine where his arrows will strike at 30 and 40 yards. Naturally, at both distances my arrows fell between the hash marks, which will only add to the confusion when faced with live game at unknown distances in the field. It can be done and certainly a one-crossbow shooter would be able to acclimate himself to the vagaries of the scope provided with the Tormentor. However, I would recommend buyers toss the provided scope and purchase one made specifically for crossbow shooting.

I then took the Tormentor to my roving range and decided to stick with 20-yard targets just to test its functionality and accuracy. The crossbow came through with flying colors, easily putting every arrow into the center ring on all targets. Twenty yards is (and should be) a chip shot for most modern crossbows and the Tormentor performed perfectly at that distance. I am sure that if a proper crossbow scope were included, the bow would do equally well at 30 and 40 yards — possibly even more.

Otherwise, I could found no other disappointments with the Tormentor package. On the plus side, the crossbow’s light weight and compact design made it instantly attractive to me because I spend countless hours in one-man tree stands and blinds where longer, wider crossbows can be cumbersome at best. I was also thrilled to see CenterPoint included a sling in the package (most manufacturers do not), because getting to those stands and blinds often means a 30-minute hike across cut cornfields, CRP fields and other typical farm terrain where carrying a crossbow at port arms can be a challenge.

A small matter, perhaps, but I was also happy to see the Tormentor includes a solid, locking quiver mount that eliminates quiver chatter to and from the hunting site. The well-designed quiver keeps broadheads safely away from me and the bow’s strings and cables.

Another small but important feature of the Tormentor is its over-sized trigger and trigger guard. Half of the crossbow hunting I do takes places during periods of cold weather when heavy gloves filled with chemical hand warmers are the order of the day. I shot the Tormentor in full winter regalia and can happily report there were no hang-ups or misfires due to glove malfunctions.

The CenterPoint Tormentor is available in Black (Model AXCT185BK) for $399.99 MSRP and in Camo (Model AXCT185CK) for $449.99 MSRP. Both include a 4x32 scope, rope cocker, quiver, three 20-inch carbon arrows and sling. For additional information, visit www.centerpointhunting.com.