RE: bowtech/matthews-which would you pick?
Mr. Guns I' ll be happy to try and help.
To me this decision is a pretty easy one and I' ll explain why in detail for you:
First the specs for each bow:
1. Mathews Black Max- 30" /70# = 330+fps with a 5.5" brace height
2. Black Knight Dually (Option 2)- 30" /70# = 342-350 with a 6.75" brace height
(Option 1) - 29" /70# = 342-350fps with a 5.75" brace height.
Ok what does all that mean?
Lets compare the 2 models head to head........With the Black Knight Dually (Option 2) which i would recommend of the 2 Options, you get upwards of 12-18fps higher speeds than the Mathews with 1.25" HIGHER brace height!
With the (Option 1) you now get a 22-28fps speed advantage with a slightly higher by 1/4" ,brace height.
If you don' t already know, the higher the brace height (the distance from the bowstring to the throat of the grip) is a big contributing factor to the shootability and inherent accuracy of a bow.........the higher the brace height, generally the more forgiving the bow is to shoot, especially under hunting situations where bulky clothes and akward angles can be a problem. Most speed bows get their speed by lowering the brace height, which in turn increases the powerstroke, and then in turn makes the bow more critical to shoot
This is the main reason i would never choose a hunting bow with a sub 6" brace height, and I' d consider myself an advanced archer.
Another advantage you' d get with the Bowtech BK Dually is this........the fact that it is shooting higher speeds at the same draw weight will allow you to shoot a lighter poundage and easier drawing bow and STILL get the same or better speeds than the Mathews at a higher draw weight. Neither bow is what I would call " Easy" to draw as they have aggresive draw cycles so the ability to shoot a bow at 60# and get similar performance as the Mathews at 70# is a big plus. That and the extra 1.25" of brace height makes it the obvious choice in my eyes.
The Dually is going to take a little more initial set-up as cam synch is critical initially as the strings completely settle but one they do you can synch them and for the most part they stay dead on.........the quality of strings and cables on the BowTEchs (Stone Mountain Custom strings) are far superior in performance than what Mathews uses (Zebra).
The Mathews string (especially since its a very long single cam string will stretch, and stretch and before you know it you will find your cam out of time and draw length too long....... yes you have to watch your timing on a single cam.
If the bow is going to be primarily a hunting bow let me make one more suggestion to you.
Check out the BowTech Patriot Dually.......you get a slightly shorter ATA length but it is still VERY stable to shoot because of the Pro style riser, but most importantly since you are comparing to the Mathews Black Max, the Patriot Dually has the same or BETTER speed at 332-340fps and almost an 8" brace height!! Think about that.........Same or better performance from a bow with 2.5" higher brace height!
That is exactly my choice for a hunting bow for this year. And remember jsut because these bows will do 330' s doesn' t mean you have to shoot them at that speed, take advantage of that extra power and lean toward a mid weight arrow that will tend to give you a nice blend of speed/trajectory, as well as a quieter shot.
If you have any specific questions about the BowTech bows please feel free to ask.