Proline Mountain 30
As most of you know I have been looking at getting a new bow for about a year now and been shooting what ever I could get my hands on.
I was focusing on some of the more expensive models because I wanted to upgrade from what I had, A Darton Yukon, which I love by the way. I didn't know if I wanted a small light bow for hunting, or a bow that was really smooth and shock free like a mathews. I was also toying with the idea of getting a speed bow to make up for my short draw handicap. I was seriously considering a mathews, possibly a SQ2 until I shot a Hoyt Cybertec that blew me away, I was very impressed with it, and it was the same price as the sq2, $630. That is actually alot of money for me, I work in a factory and only make 10 something an hour. So that would would be about 2 weeks pay for me.
I was at work the other day looking through the new bow catologs and reading some hunting magazines during a break and my buddy saw a picture of the Mountian 30 by proline and wanted to know more, so I let him look at the catalog for a while. He asked me if I had shot it yet and I said no. I haven't looked at any of dartons new line up recently. We both shot the proline stalker and Magnum 33 a while ago though and liked them. The more I though about it while I was working, the more intresting that bow seemed to me. So I decided to go look at it after work. The darton dealer is one town over from where I work so I told my buddy who's name is also Paul that I was going to see if Paul(also the shop owners name LOL!) had one in. Wasn't really planning on shooting one, just wanted to see what it looked like up close. Paul(my coworker) said to let him know if they had one in and we go back later in the week and shoot it together to see what we thought.
Well, he had one in and he conned me into shooting one, along with almost every other bow he had in stock! It's refreshing to go to a shop that will not only let you shoot bows, but actually encourages it. I have to say, I liked this bow. I shot the Mountain 30 by proline, a new Rampage, a maverick quad, and a maverick recurve. To tell you the truth, there was not a huge a difference in any of the bows I shot. I was not overly impressed with rampage for the price. It was long and heavy and did not shoot any better than the rest of the bows that were cheaper. It may have been faster though, I didn't put them through a chrono.
Any way back to the Mountain 30. How does it compare to the Hoyts and mathews I have been shooting lately you ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, it doesn't. And I really didn't expect it to. It felt more like the UL31 but a tad heavier(actually 1 lb). It has a fair amount of reflex to the handle, I don't know exactly how much, but enough that it is noticable visually as soon as you see the bow. I think it still has a 8 inch brace height though. I don't have the specs in front of me, so don't quote me on it. If you want specs, go to the darton web site.
Does that mean I didn't like the bow, on the contrary, I loved it. As a matter of fact it will be the next bow I buy. Did it shoot as quiet as the Hoyt, no, but it was close. Was it as shock free as the mathews, not really, but it wasn't bad. Does it spit arrows out at over 300 fps, no, but a 294 fps IBO rating isn't bad. That is about what my bow is and it is plenty fast enough for what I do. Was it as smooth to draw as some of the other bows I have shot. Hell yes! It's as good or better than most I have shot. But it is a darton, and that is one of there selling points.
The cool thing about this shop is that he sets his bows up with rests and sites and you can shoot them outdoors at 20 or 30 yards. Most of the shops around here let you shoot a bow, but usually at point blank range with no accessories on the bow. Every bow Paul(shop owner) sells has two prices on it. Bare bow, and set up as is, but you can have anything put on you want if you want to pay for it.
I was worried this bow would be hard to shoot with the short ATA and reflex riser. Wrong! this bow felt very good in my hand(not as good as the cybertec though) and fit me well. I am a very small guy, so a 30 inch bow is not that little for me. We went out to shoot this bow with some average aluminum arrows, 2213's I believe with 4 inch vanes. They are his test arrows and are nothing special. I am sure they were not the correct spine for this bow. They were not even the right length, about an inch and a half to long it seemed. The bow was set at around 28 or 28 1/2 inches with 60 lbs of draw. I shoot a 25.5 inch draw, so this is a bit long for me, but it's what most bows are set at in shops, so I am used to testing bows at this length. I know that if I can draw a bow like that and it shoots well, it will only be better at my draw length. The string had some string leeches and a nock, no peep site, he did offer to put one in though.
I shot one arrow at about 10 yards to make sure I would hit the target the way the sights were set up(3 pin archers choice) and to see how the bow felt. No problems here, I did not hit exactly were I aimed, but close enough that I wouldn't miss the target farther back. And the bow felt pretty nice. It wasn't loud and and did not have a lot of hand shock, not much at all actually. But then it is not a very fast bow, and has a fairly aggressive limb angle. It also aimed very well for me.
We moved back to 20 yards and I took another shot. An inch to the left and 2 inches high of were I aimed. Considering the sights were not set for me, it was good enough. I drew back for the second shot and released the arrow. Crack!! I took the nock off the first arrow. I looked at Paul and said "Damn, that was a lucky shot." He said " See if you can do it again." Well, I didn't do as well with my third shot, but darn close. About half an inch away from the other ones. I shot a one inch group with a bow that had too long of a draw, the wrong arrows, no peep, someone elses release, and wasn't tuned for me at 20 yards. That's something I haven't been able to do with my own bow lately. I guess a short ATA and reflexed riser doesn't mean all that much to someone that is only 5'3" tall.
So, is this my ultimate bow? Not hardly. But it will do for now. It's not as fast a bowtech, as versital as a hoyt, as smooth shooting as a mathews, or as light as a parker. But it is pretty close to most of them. And with limb savers and a good stabilizer it should be a very sweet bow. The fit and finnish isn't quite as good as some of the 6 and 7 hundred dollar bows either. But I don't baby my bow. I drag it through the woods, haul it up a tree with a rope so it bangs every limb on the way, and throw it on the ground in my back yard when I go to retrieve my arrows. So, in six months it will look like hell any way. I am not worried about reliability, the bow I have now was cheaper than this one, and I have put well over 5,000 arrows thru it in the past 2 years and it shoots just as well as when I bought it. My buddy has a darton maverick he bought 10 years ago, sure it's loud and heavy compared to new bows, but it still kills the sh%# of deer every season.
I don't compete, so I don't need a bow that will shoot spots, or excell on the 3-D range. I like to shoot in my backyard, by myself or with a friend, and tree stand hunt, maybe some stalking when I get better. So if you are like me and want a bow that is small and easy to shoot check out the new Prolines and Dartons. The Mountain 30 sells for $425 bare and just under $500 set up at my shop. That is $200 less than the other two bows I looked at, and it is smaller. Now if they would only put the C/P/S cams on it, it would be a truely awsome bow.
It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I will buy another Darton. I love the one I have, and tend to be fairly brand loyal at times. When I bought my Yukon two years ago, I knew nothing about them(bows) or the company. I didn't even shoot my bow before I bought it. But the guy I bought it from treated me well and did not feed me a bunch of crap or try to sell me the most expensive bow in the shop. Since then I have done some research on the company and talked to people that own them, sell them, and have been to the factory. I have even called the company and talked to a few people there. This is a company that has been in the archery buisiness for something like 52 years I think. As far as I know they have had the same guy engineering bows for ever, Rex Darlington. He is the same guy that designed this bow and the cam that is on it. These poeple just don't make junk, never have, and hope never will. It may not always be cutting edge, but it will be a quality product at a reasonable price. And from what I understand, if a bad bow does slip thru, they will bend over backwards and kiss your butt to make you happy again.
If you read this whole thing I am impressed, I am sorry it was so long winded and not very technical, but that is me in a nut shell.
Paul