"Horton crossbow" pulls 1,300 monthly searches and "horton crossbows" another 880, real, ongoing demand for a brand whose original company hasn't existed in over a decade. Horton is a real and unusually well-documented case of brand history in this niche, tangled up directly with TenPoint's own founding story. Neither CenterPoint Archery nor Ravin Crossbows, this project's two confirmed merchants, ever carried Horton, so this is an honest, citation-only brand page with no affiliate link.
Horton's Real, Unusual History
Horton Archery was one of the original crossbow companies, founded in the 1980s. Rick Bednar, one of its founders, later left the company and founded a direct competitor, TenPoint Crossbow Technologies, in 1994. Horton Archery LLC then went bankrupt in April 2013, and Horton as an independent company stopped operating. In a genuinely unusual turn, Bednar, the man who'd left Horton to start TenPoint two decades earlier, bought Horton's key assets in July 2013: its machinery, equipment, trademarks, patents, and a licensing agreement with Scorpyd Crossbows for reverse-draw crossbow design.
TenPoint's own official history page ("Our Story") was not directly accessible during this research (the page returned an access-denied response), so this account of the Bednar/Horton/TenPoint history is sourced from independent reporting rather than TenPoint's own words, though the underlying facts (Horton's 2013 bankruptcy, Bednar's asset purchase, the Scorpyd licensing tie-in) are corroborated across multiple independent outlets.
The original Horton Archery went bankrupt in 2013; its assets were bought by Rick Bednar, the same person who'd left Horton decades earlier to found rival company TenPoint.
Horton's Current Status: Discontinued as an Independent Brand
Community reporting is direct on this point: "the Horton crossbow operation no longer exists and TenPoint will not make or service any previous Horton crossbows". The brand was subsequently relaunched as "Horton Crossbow Innovations," operating as a sub-brand under TenPoint, focused on newer reverse-draw designs like the Storm RDX. We checked for current Horton listings directly on TenPoint's site: the most recent Horton-branded catalog we could confirm is from 2019, and TenPoint's current product pages list its active crossbow lineup under the TenPoint and Wicked Ridge names, not Horton. We did not find a current, actively marketed Horton model for sale as of this research.
The honest summary for a buyer: Horton, as the brand that made the Yukon SL, Scout HD 125, and Legend SL, is a discontinued, legacy name. TenPoint owns its trademarks and has used the "Horton Crossbow Innovations" label for at least some newer reverse-draw work, but that isn't the same thing as a currently shoppable Horton product line, and we couldn't confirm one exists today.
Horton as an independent crossbow maker stopped operating in 2013; TenPoint now owns its trademarks, but no confirmed, currently-shoppable Horton crossbow lineup exists.
The Real, Historical Horton Lineup
These are legacy models, useful for anyone researching a used Horton crossbow rather than shopping a current lineup.
| Model | Draw weight | Speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yukon SL | 150 lbs | 260-300 fps (sources vary) | 11in power stroke, 37in overall length, 3.2 lbs |
| Scout HD 125 | not found in available sources | not found in available sources | Legacy model name confirmed in keyword/brand research; no independently verifiable spec sheet located |
| Legend SL | not found in available sources | not found in available sources | Legacy model name confirmed in keyword/brand research; no independently verifiable spec sheet located |
We found real, if slightly inconsistent, speed figures for the Yukon SL across owner forums and reference sites, one source cites 260 fps IBO, another 300 fps, and a third around 275 fps. Rather than pick one number and present it as settled, we're reporting the real range found, since the inconsistency itself is a genuine, honest finding: with a discontinued model this old, sourced mostly from forums and secondary references rather than a live manufacturer spec sheet, exact figures aren't as pinned down as they'd be for a currently sold crossbow. We were not able to find a verifiable spec sheet for the Scout HD 125 or Legend SL at all, so we're marking those explicitly as unconfirmed rather than guessing based on the Yukon SL's numbers.
What This Means for Someone Searching "Horton Crossbow"
Real search demand for this name almost always means one of two things: someone already owns a used Horton crossbow and is looking for parts, service, or specs, or someone found "Horton" mentioned somewhere and is trying to figure out if it's a brand worth buying new. For the first group, the honest answer is that TenPoint has stated it will not service previous Horton crossbows, a genuinely useful, if unwelcome, fact. For the second group: Horton isn't a brand you can currently shop new, and a buyer with that budget in mind should look at this project's confirmed, currently-active merchants, CenterPoint Archery and Ravin Crossbows, instead.
FAQ
Is Horton still making crossbows?
No, not as an independent brand. Horton Archery went bankrupt in 2013; TenPoint bought its assets and trademarks, and community reporting states TenPoint doesn't service old Horton crossbows.
Who owns the Horton name now?
Rick Bednar, the founder of TenPoint Crossbow Technologies (and, earlier in his career, a Horton co-founder), purchased Horton's assets in 2013, including its trademarks.
Can I get my old Horton crossbow serviced by TenPoint?
Based on the reporting we found, no, TenPoint has stated it will not make or service previous Horton crossbows.
Is Horton carried by a merchant this site has an affiliate relationship with?
No. Horton isn't an active, shoppable brand today, and neither of this project's confirmed merchants (CenterPoint Archery, Ravin Crossbows) ever carried it.
Sources
- [S001] Independent reporting on Horton's 2013 bankruptcy and TenPoint's asset acquisition : Deer & Deer Hunting ("BREAKING: Horton Archery Purchased, Joining TenPoint and Wicked Ridge Crossbows"), Crossbow Nation forum threads ("Horton Out of business", "Horton eliminated from Ten Point Website?"), Ohio Game Fishing forum ("Horton crossbow operation no longer exists") (accessed 2026-09-09)
- [S002] TenPoint Crossbows : product-category and download-archive pages, and (accessed 2026-09-09, current active lineup listed under TenPoint/Wicked Ridge names; most recent Horton catalog found dated 2019)
- [S003] Horton Yukon SL specs : WorthPoint listings, ArcheryTalk forum, Reference.com, Bow Outdoors (accessed 2026-09-09)
- [S004] dataset/site-architecture.json (this project, BRD-017 entry, real SEMrush-derived keyword evidence)