I know the brush retention really is holding down the arrow tight. Wondering if that is slowing down the arrow to make such a drastic drop. Also, why would Barnett sale a scope that has out to 60 yards I think. Sorry I forgot to mention this earlier. Just really had time today to play with it and really sight it in. Do not have a chrono to see speed or arrow either
You mention the brush retainer holding the arrow down tight:
1)when the crossbow is in the cocked position, is it fairly hard to load an arrow?
2)with the crossbow cocked and an arrow loaded, is it hard to remove the arrow?
I mention this because I had a Barnett Whitetail Hunter STR Pro for a couple of days and found the manufacture made the brush retainer housing too long and it would not retrack properly when an arrow was loaded. Hard to load the arrow and to remove it, the crossbow had to be shot. The brush is similar to a tooth brush with the handle cut off. If you totally disassemble the brush retainer, one will find a thin flat spring, slightly bent with a hook on one end. The hook keeps the one end in place. When the arrow is loaded, this flat spring will flatten out a bit. This area will not cause the problem.
The actual brush is soft and will not cause the problem. For a retainer to work properly, the crossbow is cocked and an arrow loaded. Point the crossbow downward in a safe direction. Give the stock a good wrap. The arrow should not slide forward, or worse yet, fall out.
On earlier crossbow series, the crossbow had a plastic retainer that was adjustable. The scope was removed and one found a tiny allen head screw in the picatinny rail. Turning the screw one direction, increased pressure while turning the opposite way decreased pressure.
These two style arrow retainers are not interchangeable.
All the best.