Bearmaster,

I had a Shadow for a while, and my buddy now has it. Even though it is a lower end bow (as far as Merlins go), it is a shooter. I had the single cam one as well, and it shot great for me, even though I seem to prefer 2cam bows.

The bow pulls smoothly and the draw cycle did not seem nearly as harsh as some other 1-cam bows. As far as speed goes -- I shot it at 58# with arrows a little over IBO specs and got 267 fps. Not too bad.

I didn't care for any of the grips that came with the bow and shot it off the riser with tennis wrap around it -- that felt great for me.

The bow shot really well and I never had any flyers or such with it -- tuned up easily and the arrows went right where I was holding the pin.

My buddy was shooting an older Martin bow (Panther, I think, but not sure) and it only took him a couple of times shooting it to want it. His groups shrank the first day he shot it (although, it may have been because I had it set up better than his bow may have been). He took a black bear with it in Ontario earlier this season. He blew right through it with Spitfires on GoldTip arrows, with the bow at 60#.