Soilarch

Well, I'm feeling like this is the summer to update my Mathews Feathermax. I'm looking at the following:
BT Allegiance '06
Hoyt Vectrix XL
Hoyt Vulcan '06
Martin Slayer

The Martin is the most appealing so far 'cause I'm really liking the idea of the X-cams or "X-shoot through" system.

I'm kinda reserved about the shorter ATAs of the Vulcan and Allegiance but I can order last years bow for a good knockdown on price.

Any suggestions from people who have shot/compared any of these? I'm left handed and have a 29.5" draw (no really, I'm 6'2") so finding these in store to testdrive is gonna be next to impossible.

doublelunginem

I didnt know the Vulcan was around in '06....i thought it was a newbow in'07. I have never shot the Slayer, but my cousin's husband has one and it is lightning fast. He is shooting 68#/28" with a 350 grain arrow and is getting around 315 fps. He loves it, but says at full draw, it is sitting on go. He shot my Vulcan the other day even though it is 30" draw. He loved it and even admitted that he liked the way it shot better than his Slayer....not that he's going to make a switch, but that's how smooth the vulcan is. He said that the Vulcan is much easier and smoother to draw and has less vibration and is quieter than his Slayer.

I think the Slayer might be a hair faster than the Vulcan, but judging from some of the signatures that I have seen on here and Archerytalk, I believe the Vulcan to be a hair faster than the Allegiance. The Vectrix would be the slowest of course.

At your draw length and 70# in the Vulcan, you could probably get about 290 fps with a good 450 grain hunting arrow. I think the Slayer would probably get you about 300 fps with the same set up and 450 grain arrow.

I Vulcan and Vectrix feel like the same bow to me, so i went with the Vulcan.....shoots very accurately...I keep 1" groups for every 10 yards....during good spells, I get my 40 yard groups down to 3".

See if you can get your dealer to get a left handed model shipped in just for you to test. I would look hard at the Ally and Vulcan if you are looking for smooth speed....i own the Vulcan, but never shot the Ally, but I hear a lot of people love theirs!!!

Soilarch

Vulcan may be new this year...I really didn't think about it. I just new their Vectrix was the new kid making a stir.
I'll see what I can get him to order. He's got 30+ bows that are all new and either Hoyt Bowtech or Martin. He said he had a LH Commander on order for a few months now. Sooo...he may be able to absorb the cost of ordering two bows knowing he's only got a sure buy for one. I would think so, but it'll be his call. Out of all those bows only one was LH and long enough. It was a hoyt but don't remember which one. It sure beat the heck out of my feathermax though!!! 70# was as easy as my old 60#...he gave me a REAL heavy triggered release though so my mind right after the shot was too confused to really evaluate the shot itself.

According to IBOs I believe the rating for fastest to slowest is this: SLAYER, ALLEGIANCE, VULCAN, VECTRIX
To be honest the costumer service, price, and ability to do the X-cam thing are what's making lean towards Martin.

Rick James

If you like to tinker and tune, the shoot through system is really right up your alley. You can take any single cable off the bow without a press and add twists, time the bow, adjust for came lean, tweak draw length, etc without ever pressing the bow. Because tension is spread over 4 cables instead of 2, the timing problems associated with dual cams are nearly eliminated all together. You can also achieve true 0 cam lean all the way from full draw to static, imagine what that would do for broadhead flight. Add in the fact that you can creep tune the bow for perfectly level nock travel so shots off the front of the valley and back of the valley hit the same spot and now you have a real shooter. I had a slayer that I borrowed this winter for a competition while my 3D bow was on order and I shot it very well, I will likely have one someday in the future when I decide to step up to open class for 3D to pick up some extra speed.

I have no personal experience with the Vulcan or Vetrix, however also owned an Allegiance and like that bow quite a bit as well. The Allegiance and Slayer are in reality about just as fast. If this is the category of bows you are looking at I would also be looking at the Darton Pro 3000 as well and would shoot the Slayer, Pro 3000, Hoyts, and Allegiance and just go with what your gut tells you to do. You can't go wrong with any of them.

Rick James

Also, just an FYI on speed you will see from the slayer. I shoot a measured 29 3/4 or so draw length and was getting 299fps out of the slayer at 62lbs with a 352 grain arrow. I could have dropped a good 42 grains and picked up almost another 15fps..........and this was done with 3 full turns taken out of the limbs. The bow would have been faster at those numbers if I was shooting with limbs that were bottomed out because of efficiency.

Soilarch

I'm going from a 60# to a 70# so "moving-up" in the speed department is just going to be built in no matter what I choose. My current arrows are also in the 440gr range so I expect I'll pick up quite a bit from new arrows as well.

I do like to tinker but am also the guy who once I feel like the I've got her shooting better than me will "set it and forget it" just like Ron Popeil. How do you think I'm still shooting a feathermax[8D]

Anyway, I'm driving by a gander mountain today and I'll see if I can shoot anything there.

I appreciate the help.