Best Recurved Bows for the Price

Guardian

Guardian

Black Belt
I've been thinking a lot lately about Recurved Bows and getting in Archery.

What is a good solid Recurved Bow (They seem simple to me) for the money, but good that will last me for years?

Looking for any views at all here.
 
Guardian said:
I've been thinking a lot lately about Recurved Bows and getting in Archery.

What is a good solid Recurved Bow (They seem simple to me) for the money, but good that will last me for years?

Looking for any views at all here.
Click to expand...


Are you new to archery altogether, or do you already have some experience with other types of bows?

I've got a very nice recurve made by Saxon Archery, I think he's in Ohio or somewhere in the Midwest, I think you can find his website it's saxonarchery.com or something. He makes his bows by hand, one at a time, laminated wood. I ordered one from his top lineup, what he calls the Hawk, but he's got a couple lower lines that are less expensive. The Hawk is rather expensive, and it can depend also on the types of wood he uses. I haven't priced his bows in a while, but I believe his Hawks can run up towards $1000 or so, and his middle and lower line are a couple to a few hundred.

I think these are great bows, tho admittedly my Hawk is the only experience I have with his stuff. But it's a great bow. Given the price, I think this is not a bow for a beginner, rather it's something for someone with enough experience to be looking for something specific in a bow. Altho one of his lower or middle lineups might be a good one to start with.

I also have a very nice Hungarian Horse recurve bow made by Grozer. It's a very sweet little bow, and very powerful. Again, probably not the best bow for a beginner, it does not have an arrow rest, you just line up the arrow on the riser above your hand. If you're not experienced with it, it can be a little weird and may not be the best way to start. But it does make the bow shootable by both a right or left hander.

I just ordered a new Hungarian Horse recurve, made by Kassai. It hasn't arrived yet, but it appears to be similar to the Grozer.

Go to Bowshop.com, you can see quite a variety of eastern and Asian recurve type bows. Not sure how many of these would be a good choice for a beginner.

I started shooting in my backyard when I was a kid, using my dad's old fiberglass straight bow. It is a simple bow, pulls at around 55-60#, and I still have it and still shoot it, tho it's probably at least 50 years old.

If you are new to archery altogether, get something simple, with an arrow rest on it. Get good and comfortable shooting that before you start looking at other bows that might be more difficult for various reasons.

If the bow has a good incut at the arrow rest, then the arrow will shoot almost straight off the bow. If there is no arrow rest and the arrow needs to go around the riser, then you need to pay more attention to having proper spine in the arrows (which is actually important regardless), something your bowshop should be able to help you with. In short, since the arrow needs to go around the riser, it needs to flex properly in order to come off the bow in a straight path to your target. The proper flex depends on the power of your bow. If the arrows don't flex enough, they will shoot off to one side. If they flex too much, they will "wrap" around the riser and shoot off to the other side. If they are properly spined, they will flex just enough to get around the riser and take a straight path to your target.

Get a bow that you can comfortably pull and shoot dozens of times before you start to get tired. Archery can be surprisingly taxing, especially when you are shooting a powerful bow. If you get a bow that is too strong for you, you will struggle with it and may not shoot it much, and might even hurt yourself with it. Pulled back and neck and shoulder muscles from using a strong bow can be very painful. As you get better, you can get stronger and move up to a more powerful bow if you wish.

I'm actually shooting bows that are too strong for me, but I'm doing it deliberately because I want to move up to that. I'm going into it with my eyes open, so I know what to expect. My Grozer horse bow pulls at about 70#, my Saxon Hawk pulls at almost 80#, and the Kassai Horse bow that I orderd pulls at 110#. This is really massive, compared to what most people shoot for fun today. if you are a beginner, and are an "average" male, start at about 40# or so. For an "average" female, maybe 25# to get started. Figure out what you can do and what kind of power you want to shoot, and you can go up from there.

A 40# bow is probably plenty for hunting things like deer or turkeys, or just plain target shooting, and if you go a bit up from there, you can be hunting bear. So this is a very respectable pull weight for a bow.

I'm just a little bit nuts about this kind of thing, so I tend to push myself higher than I really need to go. But that's me.

Archery is a great thing, tons of fun, so good luck. Sorry, I don't have experience with a wide variety of bows. But your bow shop should be able to help you get the right gear to get started.
 
Thanks Flying Crane, no, I'm new to the bow scene, so I was think of something in the Hundreds, but not near what you have. Got to get that hands on experience first before taking on the more expensive stuff.
 
Guardian said:
Thanks Flying Crane, no, I'm new to the bow scene, so I was think of something in the Hundreds, but not near what you have. Got to get that hands on experience first before taking on the more expensive stuff.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the information, I'll be researching later tonight.
 
My Kassai Horsebow arrived from Hungary the day after Newyears. It's pretty massive. I don't have a proper bow stringer for it so I can't even string it up yet. My local bowshop is looking into getting the proper stringer for me.

It pulls at 110# on a 30 inch draw, this one is going to take some work before I'm strong enough to pull it. Got a new goal to work on...

The local bowshop owner thinks I'm nuts to be working with this. He feels I can really injure my shoulder and back, so I've definitely got to take my time and work gradually and carefully with it.
 
I practice very much with my bow these days. I have a kassai parduc, hungarian bow at 45#. And it's too tough. I mean i think good battle strength is something like 40-60# at least, but for practice weaker is better. One has to get a feel for the flight of the arrow and the full potential of the bow. With the 45# i don't think i could find an area big enough to even shoot so far. Get the feel of the parabolic flight of the arrow not just close and straight shots.
I am now getting a wolf or farkas. I don't know which one yet, but it should be around 25-30. Might not have a choice but i like all the three wolves actually, which are mongolian style. I have shot most with the wolf at a seminar when i didn't yet have my bow. At that seminar, the wolf i was using was probably around 29# or so...anyhow, when the seminar was over days later, my fingers were so swollen and throbing, that when i got home i had to release some blood from them. I was too chicken at the time and it was throbing so bad that i didn't make a good incision and kept poking until i had like 50 holes in each of my fingers.

I've noticed that with my 45# panther, fingers start hurting within half and hour or around an hour. So i also practice slowly and aim for posture and strength for better control. I also practice mongolian style drawing with finger and resting arrow on thumb rather than vice versa with finger draw. Also i practice different shooting positions and directions as well as an inverted over and behind the head draw.
Kassai style uses the fingers, and i have received instruction in the kassai style. It's a great style. Gets the breathing into it, super speed pure feeling.
But i also like to practice with the thumb draw. Japanese archery also uses the thumb. I have a horn thumb ring, but it still hurts or actually it basically feels like the thumb is being ripped out of the socket. So i can't imagine at over 100#!?! You have to be buff, yep, i gather...maybe with an implant in your thumb joint.:-)

I just practice indoors nowadays. Dont want to get the sinews wet and it's cold out. Recently i covered them with honey and then dust to protect.



my God. Stringing it- you'll neen 3 people or something. I have to do a perfect kind of hip throw on mine carefully not to tear out something from the backbone




j
 
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kaizasosei said:
I practice very much with my bow these days. I have a kassai parduc, hungarian bow at 45#. And it's too tough. I am now getting a wolf or farkas. I don't know which one yet, but it should be around 25-30. Might not have a choice but i like all the three wolves actually, which are mongolian style. I have shot most with the wolf at a seminar when i didn't yet have my bow. At that seminar, the wolf i was using was probably around 29# or so...anyhow, when the seminar was over days later, my fingers were so swollen and throbing, that when i got home i had to release some blood from them. I was too chicken at the time and it was throbing so bad that i didn't make a good incision and kept poking until i had like 50 holes in each of my fingers.

I've noticed that with my 45# panther, fingers start hurting within half and hour or around an hour. So i also practice slowly and aim for posture and strength for better controll. I also practice mongolian style drawing with finger and resting arrow on thumb rather than vice versa with finger draw. Also i practice different shooting positions and directions as well as an inverted over and behind the head draw.
Kassai style uses the fingers, and i have received instruction in the kassai style. It's a great style. Gets the breathing into it, super speed pure feeling.
But i also like to practice with the thumb draw. Japanese archery also uses the thumb. I have a horn thumb ring, but it still hurts or actually it basically feels like the thumb is being ripped out of the socket. So i can't imagine at over 100#!?! You have to be buff, yep, i gather...maybe with an implant in your thumb joint.:-)

I just practice indoors nowadays. Dont want to get the sinews wet and it's cold out. Recently i covered them with honey and then dust to protect.



my God. Stringing it- you'll neen 3 people or something. I have to do a perfect kind of hip throw on mine carefully not to tear out something from the backbone




j
Click to expand...


What do you think of the Kassai brand? this is myfirst experience with it, it seems like a good bow but I have yet to have opportunity to shoot it. What do you think of the quality?

Stylistically it is similar to my Grozer, but the G is a shorter, more compact bow yet still has a full draw length. I can actually pull it to about 30 inches.

the Kassai is a physically bigger and longer bow.

I'm amazed at hearing about your swollen and sore fingers. I was going to ask if you use a shooting glove or thumb ring. SOunds like you do, yet you still have trouble with it.

I've always shot European style, three-fingered glove, even with the Grozer. I'm aware of the thumb-pull method, I've tried it out on lighter bows, but for a heavier bow you definitely need a thumb ring. I've heard that it can be difficult to get a thumb ring that fits JUST RIGHT, and if it doesn't, it can be difficult, even painful to use. So for now I just stick with the European three-finger method with all my bows, and it works well for me.

I don't actually have opportunity to go to the fields very often, so I just pull on the bows to maintain the strength. I try to do that at least twice a week, up to maybe four times if I can get to it. I start with my lightest bow at 55-60# and work my way up to the heaviest at 65-70# and 75-80# respectively, treating it like weight-lifting. I'll add the new Kassai into the routine as I am able. I actually pull on both sides, to keep the muscular development even. It's definitely possible to get uneven development if you shoot/pull regularly. Right now I do 8 sets of 8 pulls, on each side.

A friend of mine commented that, the heavier the bow you shoot, the more committed to it you need to be. You will definitely lose the strength if you don't stick with it. I think that's when you can get injured, if you've been away from it for a while. You pick up the bow and expect to be able to pull it like you used to, but you've lost some strength and you overdo it.

Another friend asked why I wanted to shoot such a heavy bow. I gotta be honest: bragging rights :rofl:. Just gotta be the guy with the strongest bow on the field. It's a true warbow level of power, I just get a kick out of pushing myself to the upper limits.

I don't know if you are familiar with Homer's The Oddyssey. If you are not, I'll say that Oddyseus was a famed archer. When he arrived home after his 20 or so years of misadventure, he found his home overrun with lowlife suitors vieing for the hand of his wife in marriage, and eating up all his flocks and laying waste to his home. So he arrives in disguise, checks out what is happening, and then says, hey, we'll have an archery competition. And we'll use MY bow. Well, none of the suitors were strong enough to even string the bow, nor have a hope of shooting it. So Odysseus strings it up, shoots an arrow thru the target, and then shoots down all the suitors. I always loved that scene, especially the part where nobody else could shoot his bow, it was just too strong. So maybe I'll have to name my new bow Odysseus.
 
I find the Kassai bows to be very good. I've tried a korean bow before as well as the usual bows that one finds at fairs- used to have a barnett trident crossbow.
Being introduced to the Kassai community and the bows was really great for me. I actually know the representative of Master.Lajos here where i'm at. There is a ranch where i have had the opportunity several times of train at. Trained spear throwing and riding, throwing spears from horseback (bareback), just to prepare for possibly advancing to be able to shoot from horseback. Master Lajos also throws axes and all sorts of things very well from horseback. I love how there are people that hold the targets for him on a pole. ..-links-

and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQy_...BCFC04AE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=72
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOpOqgotJZc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJj...BCFC04AE&index=75&playnext=4&playnext_from=PL



I think if i shot with my panther as far as i could, i could easily shoot several hundred meters.-Sortof difficult to work with.

Those mini Gozers look really compact and nice too. I saw some on ebay
 
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I managed to string up my new 110# Kassai the other day, without a bow stringer. It was like wrestling with a bear, but I did it. Holy smokes.

The model name of this bow is, "The Bear", so I guess that's appropriate.

I didn't have the opportunity to shoot it yet, but I did pull on it a bit. I was able to draw it better than I expected at this point, probably making about a 3/4 draw. I've got a ways to go, but I'm encouraged!
 
I managed to string up my new 110# Kassai the other day, without a bow stringer. It was like wrestling with a bear, but I did it. Holy smokes.

The model name of this bow is, "The Bear", so I guess that's appropriate.

I didn't have the opportunity to shoot it yet, but I did pull on it a bit. I was able to draw it better than I expected at this point, probably making about a 3/4 draw. I've got a ways to go, but I'm encouraged!
Click to expand...

that is awesome. Nice one! I'm curious how you did it. You know in mongolia, people bend it over the knee and get their ladies to help out. I was taught to step through the bow with one leg and bend it at the hip having the lower end on the shin and the other end held in opposite hand.
- i always try to keep everything really straight and if never release without an arrow. Also when i destringing it, i try to ease it back gently rather than slipping to the side or just letting go.

Having a powerful bow will definately make one stronger and have great controll.
 
kaizasosei said:
that is awesome. Nice one! I'm curious how you did it. You know in mongolia, people bend it over the knee and get their ladies to help out. I was taught to step through the bow with one leg and bend it at the hip having the lower end on the shin and the other end held in opposite hand.
- i always try to keep everything really straight and if never release without an arrow. Also when i destringing it, i try to ease it back gently rather than slipping to the side or just letting go.

Having a powerful bow will definately make one stronger and have great controll.
Click to expand...

I did the step-thru, modified hip-throw method. Gotta be really really careful doing that, so you don't twist the limbs, and don't drive the bottom end into the ground. That's a big no-no. It was a real struggle, and I really could have used a third arm because it's tough to keep the bow bent while you work the string up the limb to the nock.

unstringing, as you say, ease it off gently and don't let it snap back. Gentle and gradual with everything.

Of course the cardinal rule in archery is never ever draw and release without an arrow on the string. Good way to ruin a good bow that way.
 
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