Hi All:
OK, I just got in a new TenPoint Curve for one of my customers ( I will let him do his own review once he has had a chance to play with it abit himself) and was able to do a few quick tests and sight it in before I shipped it out to him. Here is what I found:
The stock is the basic compound stock. That is just fine as it means that the trigger (stiff since it is brand new, but after a few shots it is already starting to break in and feel nice), safety, scope, etc is all TenPoint, so top of the line there. I personaly would like to see a piece of sound absorbing material that would fill the gap where the cables normaly would ride. May or may not do anything, but I think it would be a nice addition. It is ( as you can see in the photo) not really any smaller than a Phoenix (yes, it is shorter an narrower, but not by enough to make a huge diferance). It is a bit heavier than an Excal, but with the lighter limbs and no cams and such the weight moves rearward and holding steady is very easy and comfortable with this bow (more so than the compound version) The bow comes strung, so it is a 2 minute job to slap the bow together. The string does lift off of the rail at rest, but it has no effect on accuracy. Out of the box, the bow shoots very well, but has some residual vibration and noise that I attribute to the thin limbs (this is very similar to the Middleton I tested). The ends of the limbs are "whippy" and you can see the limbs vibrate slightly after the shot. I figured at the ATA show that some limbsavers would make a big diferance (yes, TenPoint is coming out with their own soon.) so I did a before and after test. Here are the results:
426gr aluminum bolt
279fps 96.7db
417gr carbon bolt
283fps 90.6 db
As I have found, even though they are heavier, the aluminum bolts are louder. My theory is that there is an echo effect from the hollow metal tube flexing with the shot. Once it was sighted in I was hitting a 3" circle every shot off hand with no rest and the bolts were all touching eachother. Very much a nail driver and shoots very well, but now onto the limbsavers....
426gr Aluminum bolt
277fps 92.8db
417gr carbon bolt
281fps 89.7db
That worked
Just as I thought and the vibration after the shot is almost gone. Not too shabby for a quick off the shelf test. TenPoints claim of 300fps is not wrong as I was almost there with that carbon. If I went lighter I would easily hit 300fps.
Well, all in all I really like it. Now I have to box this up and get it on its way to my customer so he can do his own review. FYI....This one I basicly cried to get from TenPoint. The first pile are going to Canada for bear season, so if anyone wants one, let me know now and I will be happy to reserve one for you, or contact your local dealer,but dont expect to see it till about the end of February....
Wyvern
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