I just got into traditional archery and bought a few Black Widow bows that I'm really happy with. They are smooth, fast, and seem to be very forgiving (more so than I can shoot:). Anyways, what other companies make recurves that are right there with or better than BW?
My reason for asking is I keep hearing a lot about Morrison Cheyennes and Blacktail Snakebits and am considering buying one of them. Give me feedback, please.
Let's hear it guys!
Bob Gibson
RER bows make a static limbed recurve that is very quick, very smooth and very quiet. I have a 54" Arroyo and a 58" XR recurve and they both are some of the best all around performers I have shot. Morrisons are great bows as are Blacktails and RERs and lots of others but ya really need to try them for yourself as like anything all the ones I mentioned may not be for you. Shawn
Dryad Bows (on our sponsor list) has the Orion Recurve, also a static limbed recurve. Very smooth, fast , and quiet. Mike and Jason should be leaving to elk hunt for a couple of weeks, but they can answer any questions. A really good value as well. You can do a "search" on the Pow Wow for "Dryad Orion", and check out their website. :thumbsup:
SCHAFER SILVERTIP!!! silky smooth i have a 56#@29 and it doesnt feel like it ,i could pull 10 more pounds ..
Brackenbury Quest Recurve....The best of the best !!!
Thanks for the feedback guys. And John, I already have a Schafer on the way. Ordered it from Beth at Schafer yesterday :thumbsup:
Shawn, I'm not familiar with RER bows but will check them out.
As for the Dryad fatman, not too familiar with them either but will do the same.
Robertson Stykbow. Dick has been making them since 1978 and you won't find a better bow!
Yeah, I've heard good things about Robertson as well. I guess I should consider them as well.
Brack, I've never heard of Brackenbury bows but when I went to their website, I was very impressed with the looks of the Quest. What I REALLY like is the deflexed riser option on the Quest. I tend to like more deflexed risers, not really for any reason other than the forgiving brace height. Generally speaking, a forgiving brace height and speed have always been an oxymoron of sorts.
Bobg, that is why I said ya have to search and check out a bunch. I have owned over 100 bows in the last 12 years and RERs float my boat, but Robertsons and Bracks and Schafers are all great bows too. I will add this, for me it all comes down to the grip. If I can get the bowyer to copy my present grips than I could shoot the bow well. Shawn
Hummingbird Kingfisher is with out a dought one of the smoothest drawing and easy to shoot recurves that I know of , very forgiving . Check them out you wont be sorry www.hummingbirdbows.com (http://www.hummingbirdbows.com)
Mike
There are so many but here are the ones I have personally shot that IMO fall into you description.
Morrison, Centaur, Dale Dye's bows, RER, Black Widow, Palmer, Bob Lee, Fox, Blacktail, Thunderstick, Brackenbury, Dryad, Black Swan, Thunderhorn, Shrews, Zipper, and some I know I am failing to mention.
Your best bet would be to go to one of the big shoots and try out as many as you can.
CS
I gotta spout off a bit about my Shrew Classic Hunter. 56", and SMOOTH-AS-SILK allllllllll the way back to 32". Bow litterally gains 2.5 pounds per inch from 27" to 32". Gregg built me a masterpiece!
And at 60#@32, it throws a 675g arrow 168 fps.
But - you got to find what is right for you.
BobW
Where are the big shoots where you can demo all of the recurves (or at least most) that you mentioned? I live near Winchester, Virginia. I would LOVE to go to a big shoot.
Bob, You need to try and make it to a shoot here in Virginia. Make sure it is a Trad shoot. Dixie Bowmen and Sherwood Archers are two good ones to go to as is the Augusta Archers Trad shoot. There will be lots of different bows there and most folks don't mind you trying them out.
ATAR in West Virginia is a Blast if you can make that one.
Where at in VA are you located?
Like Chris Surtees said, there are so many the choose from. The Widow's are great shooters but a bit pricey. I personally like Bob Lee's, I have 2 recurves and a longbow and love them.
BobW, I keep reading good things about the shrew bows. Seems as though the people who own them, love them.
BigRon, I live in a little town called Front Royal that is situated near the intersections of I-81 and I-66.
Maybe you can make some of the VA hunts. We do a couple of group get togethers each year. Some camping is involved for most of em.
HORNE'S Archery,, Smooth & Very Quick ...
Buying a bow and being satisfied with athat bow is such a personal thing. One person may like one particular bow but that bow may not feel right to you. Its more about smooth draw, no stacking and grip. Try and attend ETAR in PA and you will have the opportunity to try out many of the top bows. When I say Top Bows I do not necessarily mean most expensive bows. My favorite bows are the Griffins made by John McCullough and they are in the middle as far as price goes.
Horne's huh? Haven't heard of them either. I have a lot of work to do checking all of these out.
BigRon, you'll have to keep me posted on the events and goingson with shoots and trips.
Bob Gibson
had my share of widows, yep...nice bows for sure. now try a whisperstik. fast smooth quiet.
Good point StickBowManMI. Kinda like choosing a woman, huh? What works for you may not work for others ;)
Whisperstik huh? I'll have to check them out. Don't see many of them used for sale. Must be a reason :cool:
Bob,
I live down the road from you near Harrisonburg. I have a few bows you can try if you want to travel some. Have a RER, Blacktails, Border and a few others. The STAR and ATAR are the two best shoots in this area. Welcome to the addiction.
Tom,
It's amazing. I just got into traditional archery two weeks ago when I picked up an old Ben Pearson recurve and started playing with it on my dad's 3D range (He has a compound bow shop). Next thing you know, I ordered a couple of Black Widows (one for my father) and neither he nor I are able to lay down the recurves to shoot our compounds. Addiction is the right term. I even ordered him a Schafer for Christmas already. Yeah, I'm an addict.
Bob
Got or had Robinsons, Morrisons, Whispersticks,Pronghorns, etc. But Favorite of all is My Toelke Whip. Quiet, Fast, shoots a heavy arrow and just feels great in the hand!!
Have Rodney Wright Firehawk very smooth, fast and dead in the hand upon release. Fine bow.
L Hunt
The habus are exceptional. I also really like my Rose Oak and Palmer and have an Assenheimer on order. Never shot one myself, but would also like to try a foley at some point.
I have a Morrison, a Robertson and 2 Sleys... The Morrison is top dawg here.. I also have had a Pronghorn... The Sleys are fastest, but the Morrison is near as fast and waaay smooth and easy to shoot.. The Robertson is a nice shooter, but lighter weight than the others.. It'l probly be my winter league bow.
Of the better known recurve bows, I would say that Morrisons and Brackenburys seem to me to be at the top of the heap, but having said that, I have recently ordered a Shrew Classic Hunter that you can see is also very popular, although it is not a recurve, which you asked about. The comparable recurve to the Classic Hunter is the Shrew Lil Favorite and I will be ordering one of those soon too. I also have a couple of Blacktails that are very nice as well. I just don't like the higher grip on the ones I have, so I have ordered a Snakebit and will have Norm Johnson build it with a lower wrist grip. In addition, I own various bows (both recurve and longbow) by lesser known bowyers, some of which compare very favorably with the bows of the well known bowyers. No list of bows that are smooth and fast should omit the ACS CX longbow. It is very well made and looks good, but it is not as beautiful as most of the other bows I mentioned. One best buy bow that you definitely ought to consider is a Holm-Made which is created by Chad Holm, one of the sponsors of this site. My Holm-Made longbow is about the same speed and smoothness as my ACS CX at the same draw weight but costs less than half as much. I have a longbow made by Harold Couch that is also very smooth but not quite as fast as many of my other bows. What it lacks in speed it makes up for in stability which allows me to shoot it very well. Same for a Troy Breeding longbow I have. I would join in the suggestion that you try out as many bows as possible and see what you like. Otherwise, in a recurve, you cannot go wrong with a Brackenbury Quest, a Morrison Cheyenne or a Blacktail (the Snakebit is perhaps the best looking bow ever built, but it is still just a dressed up Blacktail). I'm sure many of the other bows mentioned in this thread are great too, but I haven't shot them all, so I don't know.
Allan
Assenheimer recurves are very, very nice. No hand shock, smooth draw and quick. I shot a RER at Denton Hill this summer........very impressed.
I, like you, like the BW's,have two, but one bow I havent seen mentioned here is the Quinn Stallion. I have one of those and it is very smooth, fast, easy to tune and shoot. IMHO, this is one of the most underated bows on the market, especially for the price!
my all time favorite ..1990 model brackenbury Drifter ..complete with Jims signature ...shot lots of bows over the 18 years but, this has to be the tuffest ,smoothest ,sweetest of them all..and still the bow I hunt with!!!
Lots of bows listed, some of which I have heard of and some I haven't. Leaves me a lot of research to do finding out about some of these bows. Thanks so far for the input guys. Keep it coming. I enjoy the feedback.
Bob Gibson
Border Black Douglas Swift
Jack Kempf....Stealth or Kwik Styk.......
They don't have the "bling" of some of the high end customs but a Quinn Stallion will hang with the best of them.
If you don't mind a metal riser the Tradtech Titan (or any ILF style bow) with a set of the BF Extreme limbs is as fast and as forgiving as they come. They are also hands down the quietest limbs I have ever shot.
For a fast longbow, its hard to beat Jack Harrison's takedowns.
Over the years I've owned close to 60 custom bow by most of the major custom bowyers and what I haven't owned I've shot at Denton Hill or other traditional shoots.
IMO NOTHING beats a foam core carbon limb for smoothness, speed and quietness. If you haven't tried a Win & Win WinEx, Samick Extreme BF or Morrison foam core limb do yourself a favor and shoot one before deciding.
What weight and draw length do you favor?
BTW, my husband was born in Winchester, and spent his early years in Front Royal. I am an hour east of you.
Killdeer :archer:
Lots of great bows around.IMHO there is little difference in actual performance among top bows.It's all going to come down to personal opinion.
If you want to try a lot of different bows you will lose a lot less money buying and trading used bows.As fun a shooting a new bow every month is it's not the best way to develop accuracy.
For the price, you can't look past Zipper, Assenheimer or Timberhak.
You can't beat a Schafer.
Killdeer, I have a 29 1/4" draw and prefer bows between 45-52#. Trying to stay smooth and not get "over-bowed".
An hour east? You must leave between Fairfax and Alexandria.
Thanks again for the input and keep it coming. I really enjoy reading what people prefer.
Bob Gibson
Has anyone else noticed that bow prefrences are by regions. A lot of the traditional shooters in my area prefer Bob Lee's and I have noticed that in other regions there are particular bows prefered for that region. Like someone mentioned earlier its kind of like finding a good woman. Most men from a certain region usually look in the same places. Just my thoughts.
i like bruin bows
Here's another vote for Quinn. It's the lowest priced quality bow on the Market !
Widow-$1200 , Quinn-$275, I've owned both and the Quinn wins.
My opinion,based on over 50 years of shooting .
Buy all of them and send me the ones that you don't like. :thumbsup:
TOELKE WHIP SWEET QUIET FAST STABLE BOW!!!!
Bob, take a look at Dan Toelke's website at www.montanabows.com. (http://www.montanabows.com.) While Dan is widely known for his "whips" (longbows) and Dan has made me 4 of them he also makes superb recurves, one piece as well as take downs and I had a take down made recently that I could'nt be more pleased with! It is gorgeous, smooth drawing, quiet and made with the same low wrist locator grip as my "whips" which to me makes it so much easier to shoot accurately. Dan could not be easier to deal with and has an incredible knowledge of all things archery. You can reach him at 406 676-5150
Thanks for the feedback, guys. This is very educational. Please, let's keep the info coming.
Bob
Tried to read all the previous posts and didn't see Rose Oak Creations mentioned.....you can get them as plain or as fancy as you want and they start at around $500. They are on the sponsor page. As far as longbows, I have owned a bunch! For a 1pc. or 2pc. Thunderstick Moab is gonna be hard to beat. For a 3 pc. my favorite is the Bear's Paw. Go to the search function and type in the bow name you are interested in and you will most likely find plenty of good reading! If the bowyer has a try before you buy program, I suggest you take advantage of it. How a bow feels to the shooter is a personal thing...I have a buddy that absolutely hates Widows, just can not shoot them. I shot nothing but Widows for 25 years and still have one on the bow rack. Good luck!>>>--------->Mike
Brack Quest !!!!
I have owned 4 widows, 2 Palmers, 3 Morrisons that were all pretty, stable, quick and accurate bows. My go to bow now.......QUINN STALLION!
MIKE TREADWAY LONGBOW Priced for a working man a beautiful built bow that is fast quiet no hand shock and will shoot as good as any high priced bow out there.2week buy back if not satisfied!!2 yr warrenty 54 to 66 in .His new design the (BLACK SWAMP)IS ONE SWEET BOW .MIKE TREADWAY is one fine gentleman from the south that builds an incrediable bow!!!No web site no advertising just word of mouth for an incrediable bow