Check out the unusual story of Barnett Crossbows, one of America's most prestigious crossbow manufacturers today.

[caption id="attachment_5791" align="aligncenter" width="284"] Barnett Crossbows has an unusual story and an unlikely path to become a top crossbow manufacturer.[/caption] One company that is center stage in the modern crossbow industry is Barnett Crossbows. Throughout their history they have churned out over one million crossbows, and have gained a reputation for producing some of the highest quality crossbows on the market. Today they operate out of Tarpon Springs, Florida and can proudly boast their operations create many American jobs. Interestingly enough, this company has taken a fairly indirect path to become on of America's top crossbow manufacturers. The story of Barnett Crossbows actually begins across the pond in the town of Wolverhampton, England. The business was very successful in England and the founder of Barnett Crossbows, Bernard Barnett, looked to expand his distribution to the US. With the help of a friend Bernard opened a distribution center in Michigan and officially had his foot in the door of the American economy. With a thriving business Bernard was now operating internationally. Sometime after, Bernard visited United States on vacation. While visiting Florida, the story goes that he met a city government official who encouraged him to move his operations to The Sunshine State. After giving the move some thought, Barnett pulled the trigger and opened a base of operations in Odessa, Florida during the year 1983. For a long time the company operated as a split business, with its operations in England and Florida operating as two separate business. The separation caused major conflict within the company for many years. Several times throughout its history Barnett Crossbows has completely halted production, which makes its current position as a world leader in production that much more surprising. Today Barnett is on the cutting edge of crossbow technology and offers quality products like the Barnett Buck Commander Extreme and the Barnett Ghost 410 which is one of the fastest crossbows on the market. With all of its success it's hard to believe the company was dead in the water several times over the course of its history. UP NEXT: COMPANY SPOTLIGHT: BEAR ARCHERY