Bullet VS Norriscraft

[fishook23]

Alright guys i'm not trying to start a feud between the two, i'm in the market for a boat and i have narrowed my choices down to these two hand laid manufactures. Since there is no board for norriscraft maybe one of you has a buddy that has one. I like the bullet in someways and i like the norriscraft in someways. I have toured the family owned factory at Norriscraft and it seems it is a very well built boat much like the bullet is. Do they fish alike?Ride alike in rough water?Pros and Cons of both appreciated. Thanks Doug

[TarheelXRD]

did you try the Fastbass board? There is Norriscraft info there. I can tell you there is nothing like the Bullet and there is several new ones out there with deals on them. Webby has a 2005 with a 250 he is trying to move

[Basswipe]

NorrisCrafts are nice boats. Bullets are nice boats too. It almost comes down to which one you like btter as far as looks. The Bullet will be a tad faster most likley but not by much. And looks a ton better. A Norris looks just does not float my boat.

[BallisticBullet]

I fished in a NorrisCraft one time. they're cool boats too.....But after fishing in a Bullet
I'm like Basswipe .......Norriscraft doesn't do it for me........

[norris225]

I have had both and currently have a Norris. Both boats are awesome and it really comes down to which look and layout fits you better. Both have great speed, both ride well, and both have great people who run the companies. I like the Norris for a more pure tournament boat due to its layout, but I like the options Bullet has with its many different layouts. Speed advantage goes to Bullet by 1-2 mph on average and fuel mileage goes to Norris by a slight margin. If you want a race boat built, both companies can do that for you to. Most everyone here knows of the Bullet comp hulls, but most don't know that Norris will do a similar boat as well. They built one guy I know of a 19' model that runs 130+ with a modified drag motor. You can't go wrong either way in my opinion.

[21XDC]

Really? Wow... Never heard of one that fast... Whats his name? Where is the boat located? I want to learn more about this one.... Please get some more info on this to share..... I may have to get one of those....

[lucifers hammer]

Hey Fishook- I've never drove (or even seen for that matter) a Norriscraft, but I WILL tell you, I LOVE my Bullet. It fishes great, is comfortable, Is really built well, has a flawless finish, and flat ass FLIES! I have a 300x on mine, and it handles it very nicely(after you get the hang of driving it). In my book, you cant go wrong with a Bullet. Fred

[norris225]

Hey 21xdc, I don't know the guy personally, but Mac Crumley that owns Norriscraft told me about it and showed me pictures of the boat. They built it for the guy to drag race. It is one of their 19' models that they rarely produce now. They told me the hull weight, I can't remember the exact weight but it was somewhere around 600-700 lbs. Its a pure race boat for sure. I think they don't build something like that very often but if someone wants a custom build, they will do it. The thing about their "older" boats, meaning their 17, 19, 21 ft models is that after they introduced the 2000xldv, they pretty much did not sell anything else. They only build about 70 boats a year and pretty much don't have a dealer network anymore. They still have their molds for all of their models, but they told me that they would talk you out of ordering them because the 2000 is so much of a better fishing hull. Their 19 and 21 footers were faster than the 2000 but rode worse and had less storage and deck space. In the late 90's when Allison first set all of the speed records with Merc and Mariner, Norriscraft was actually chosen to set the unlimited class record instead of allison. Norris used one of its 21 footers for the run, but during practice runs, they hit a barge wake at around 115 and flipped the boat and could not continue. Anyway, I've gotten off track, if you want to find out more on that 19 footer, call Mac Ray at the factory and he will give you all the details. They call it the "allison buster" for fun.

[chris20]

Bullet don't build a 19' anymore for anybody. You can order a supercomp bullet which is a 20' and it weighs in at around 6-700. I have never heard of a 130mph bullet, some correct me if I'm wrong but the best Paul Nichols 117.8 and that was in a comp not a super comp. here is a link to the storyhttp://www.bulletowners.com/NEWS/BASSW1.HTM

[21XDC]

Super cool... Thanks for the info...

[fishnfireman]

In the late 90's when Allison first set all of the speed records with Merc and Mariner, Norriscraft was actually chosen to set the unlimited class record instead of allison. Norris used one of its 21 footers for the run, but during practice runs, they hit a barge wake at around 115 and flipped the boat and could not continue. Anyway, I've gotten off track, if you want to find out more on that 19 footer, call Mac Ray at the factory and he will give you all the details. They call it the "allison buster" for fun.


Not going to say anything bad about anyone's boat.


Not to mention any names but it should not be hard to figure by anyone who was around hi-po boats back then.
I was told by the gentelman who furnished all the boats, Mariner motors and drivers for those records, so it could be bias.
I asked about the Norris craft and Merc record runs, why they were all done with the Allison....He said " cause that boat can't set no records"

Said that was why all of the records were set with an A boat. And one of them was without any set-up time.

[spider1]

Just a guess but sounds like a tall tale to me!!

Now a barge in going down the river and some morron is doing 115 mph! This guy as a set of nuts twice the size of Paul N!! At least he waits for the right time and conditions anyway!!!

[norris225]

Chris, the 19 footer was built by Norriscraft, not Bullet, sorry for some confusion. The record run info was told to me by the dealer who ran the boat, so there could be some bias in there, but then I'm sure there's a little bias in all camps. I wasn't there so your info could be more true than what I was told. I can't speak for the reputation of that dealer I spoke to. But I've been told by more than just that dealer that there was some sort of accident for which the Norris could not continue. All BWB stated was that Norris was unable to continue the runs, they never stated why in their article. I could be wrong, but I don't think it would have been because of lack of speed. The 105 (I think thats right) that the Allison ran then would have been well within the reach of a 21' Norris set up proplerly with a modified engine. Hey, what are the current records anyway? If they are not all held by Bullet, I think they should go get them. I say throw Paul, a 20cc super comp, a modified Merc drag motor with NOS, and some factory support, out on the water and see what can be done. At least thats my sportcenter highlight.

[spider1]

Norris I am not nocking norris boats at all because I really do not know a thing about them. I owne a bullet but a large bullet fan I am not. I really don't know what if any records are held by bullet or Ally for that mater. Would like to see the offical record list and not some deal spitting off at the mouth!!!!
And I am not saying that some kind of accident did not happen.
I have a hard time believing any thing that comes out of a dealers mouth when it comes to the speeds of a boat that they are selling.. I have seen to many lead sleds that would run 90 + IF you would go by what the dealer is saying!!
And I just can not believe that someone would be running that fast (115) with any kind of barge traffic!!
Hope I did not cause any hard feeling with that last post! was not ment for that. Was only stating my .02!!!

[GE Blazer]

I have 4 guys here in my hometown that all own NorrisCrafts. They have each had 3 of them. They started out with the 19 ft "flatbottom" with 200 Mercs and one of them had a 200 XP worked over. They now have the 20 "deep vee" and these boats ride a lot better than the old style. One of them had a 17ft with a 200 on it. He traded for a 21 with a 245 Mariner. He then traded that for a 20 "deep vee" with a 280. I have ridden and driven all of them. The "flat bottoms" were a handful and would actually beat your kidneys out in rough water, but they were fast. The "deep vee" 20 ft boat actually rides good but is not as fast. Out of the 4 guys the 20 ft with the 280 loaded with 2 fat guys ran 86 GPS. The 21 flat bottom with the 245 ran 83 with the same load. The 19 footer with the 200 ran 78+ but it had some work done to it. The NorrisCraft is a well made boat, but the thing I don't like is the dry storage. When it rains, their stuff gets soaked. As far as fishing, I like the way the 20 ft deep vee fishes. I could go on and on about the speeds and props ran, but I doubt too many on here would care about all that.

[TarheelXRD]

Guys, this is a long standing debate. This issue is discussed over and over on other boards in fact early this year there was a heated debate with this ***%%%* from the Allison board who claimed he had an Allison that ran something like 130mph. Many people offered him money to show up an run and he never did. Infact he singled out Paul and tried to start a battle there. I could be wrong about the exact #s but I think Paul's best is around 120mph. The guy from Nc just broke the bass boat speed record in an Allison at 118 or so. I have seen a few Norriscrafts and they are nice boats and faster than most but the bottomline is if they don't build them it doesn't matter and second if it has a 600 pound hull and stripped down to nothing, that isn't a bass boat, that is a drag or racin boat. In that area 130 is fast but there is a guy on Scream and Fly with an STV that runs 150+. Paul just ran some big #s with his little Buttle he has been working on for some time and it wasn't close to those

[fishnfireman]

If they have not changed the last few years, which is possible.

I believe all the bassboat WORLD speed records are held by Allison..
The big thing is these records have to be ran on a certified course.
It is a full kilo and they take the average speed of both directions.
There will be another one in Florida to give all a chance again this year.
It was ran last year.... however there was not much notice.
A fella by the name of D. Shook, who had not ran his boat hard for 2 years. put in a new set of plugs, and took 1 prop and set the new record.

It should be interesting to see who shows up for this one.

It's one thing to run a top speed of XXX MPH But quite another to average that speed for a kilo BOTH ways.

[norris225]

Spider, I didn't take you like that at all bud, I know what you are saying. The 19 footer that will run 130 is a race boat. It is not something that is normally produced. If I misled on that I apologize cause I didn't mean to give that impression. I was meaning that they will build you a boat of that nature if you want them to. Thats one thing I like about a Bullet comp is it is kind of a regular production boat. Those old models did just what you said GE, beat the living snot out of you, but were fast in smooth water. I think the 2000 xldv is pretty much like a 20xd as far as performance. Standard fishing load with 2 people and 225 PM= low 80's, 250xs fishing= 90, and a 280 fishing= somewhere in the 90's. I've not heard them say anything yet about speed with the 225xs. All I know is if I had 40,000 to spend on a boat, theres some great choices out of east TN. Long live our redneck raceboats :)

[Paul Nichols]

Just for the record...Jimmy Hensly was the one who was trying to set the Unlimited speed record in 1996 with a Norris Craft when he wrecked his boat at WOT around 105 MPH...not 115 MPH. The 19' Norris Craft that is the light weight race model is fast, but it won't run 130 MPH. Dave Martin has the fastest one ever built and it runs 124 MPH with NOS and 115 MPH without the bottle...which is VERY fast. I only have 2 offical APBA world speed records with a Bullet and both were with the 20CC/250XS (104 MPH and 105 MPH). David Shook just broke the unlimited bassboat speed record at 116 MPH this year. I hope to make it to the next record runs in the Spring and put up some big numbers if all goes well.

Paul

[896J]

It's entertaining to see guys talk about 100+ MPH boats. Any boat that does 100 MPH is more than fast enough for me. Bullet, Allison, Norriscraft...All are fast boats. I want to see you guys to post some video clips of boats going 100 MPH so us 70 MPH guys can dream.