I bought a viber delux as my first long bow and the bow seems OK.

I am taking up archery for the second time. This time I decided to go instinctive and loose all the bells and whistles. I got a light PSE recurve and, after reading Asbell and Conrads' books, I doctered it up to shoot off the shelf. I was doing OK. But those darn books got me to thinking about a long bow. So after doing all the research I could on the net ( I am living in the DC area and don't have a very good pro shop near by) I bought a 45 # Viper Delux. I draw it about 30" which is a coupe of inches less than my compound draw. Yes, it did have a slight delamination where they ground out the sight window, but it hasn't gotten any worse. Does anyone know where these bows are made, by the way?

I don't think I would advise anyone to get a longbow, and at the same time I'm already adicted to it. I don't shoot it worth a darn yet and I'm not sure I ever will. But, there is just something about it that won't let me put it in the closet and walk away. The one good arrow out of three or four that I shoot is a pure joy. So I keep trying. It is very frustrating at times and I am pretty sure a recurve is a lot easier to shoot.

You probably can get a lot better used long bow than a new viper, but on the other hand you can probly get a lot worse one too. I bought my Viper from Cabela's so I knew I could return it if I got stung. It seems to be a good choice for me for a first long bow. I look forward to a better one when I know more about what I am doing.