I agree. I should say that I have not seriously asked them to get one in so I shouldn't act like they won't do it because truthfully I don't know that yet. I'm sure if my borther settles on the Allegiance and I tell them I want an Allegiance or the Equalizer they should be more then willing to work with us and our $2,000 we are gonna spend. If not I am sure I will find someone who will.


What vibration stuff did you have to add and what stabilizer did you settle on??

Did you keep the Bowtech hush kit or ditch it?

Atlas what are your major "must have" for a bow.

From your post I think you like
1.Feel, bow must "feel right"
2.Speed Bow must be faster then your current setup

I like longer bows, and I also have a short DL. If it were me I would go with the Allegiance. All things being equal I like longer ATA. You seem to know what you want. Will make the correct choice for you.

Atlasman--

You've tried some good bows, but do not limit yourself, try more! I strongly suggest you also try a Merlin XS Viper cam. Tho not as light as the Equalizer, it remains super steady on the shot with little vibration, and will flat-outsmoke an arrow, easily as fast as anything out there but draws smoother than most anything available with 'aggressive' camstoday. The Viper cams are drawlength specific with about a 3/4" "twist-up" range of adjustment--and both ends have easy timing marks so it's hard to screw them up. The smoother cam Alpha has modules.The bows themselves are built with 6082 alum risers instead of the standard6061, (stronger) 12 layer laminated limbs ( 10 times stronger than anything previously produced by Merlin, and more layers than any other limb on the market) etc, etc.--anyway, enough of the commercial. Hehe.

But having said that--

You want speed?I just ran one off the rack thru the chrono--33" ATA 7" brace, 26.5" AMO drawlength, 60 lbs, 300 g arrow, bowjaxstring silencers, loop, andwith a whisker biskit thrown on itand eyeballed, no tuning.

5 shots--292--290--292--293--290 fps.

My son has a "fast"one at 25.5" and 60 lbs all setup and tuned, and gets 289-290 out of it with an IBO legal arrow. Incredible really...The XS's, along with all Merlins,are absolute tackdrivers too-- both in Viper and Alpha configurations. I'll enclose a pic of a camo XS Alpha you can check out. (no Viper XS pic, sorry. No camera today)

So if you can find one, you owe it to yourself to try one IMO. In fact as statedtry as many bows as you can before making any decision---I know that I personally shot more than one bow at the ATA show that felt MUCHbetter in my hand than some of the bows you mentioned above.

Good luck in your search!

It MUST be faster then what I have by a minimum of 20 fps.

It MUST feel good on the draw and the shot (draw most important)

It MUST be quiet enough to hunt with and not worry about.


I can't see myself getting worked up over an inch or two of ATA length......I really don't see it making that much difference. If it was 36" vs 31" then I would be concerned......I had no trouble keeping the Tribute steady and it is shorter. I just feel like a maxed out bow might be better then a tuned down one. If the Allegiance performed as well at 27" and 60lbs then I doubt they would have even made the Equalizer. We will see I guess.

I went to Merlin's site and their dealer locator is broken.......I also don't care for the 55-65% let off max on the viper cams. Would like to shoot one though.



The Equalizer is IBO at 294-302 so I would expect those speeds or better at same setup.........again, we will see I guess.




[quoteSo if you can find one, you owe it to yourself to try one IMO. In fact as statedtry as many bows as you can before making any decision---I know that I personally shot more than one bow at the ATA show that felt MUCHbetter in my hand than some of the bows you mentioned above.

Good luck in your search![/quote]

Thanks for your help...........care to mention any of the other bows that you thought felt MUCH better then the ones I shot??

I will mention 1, but by no means will it meet your first and number 1 priorty. Ross CR334 or CR331.

I have CR337 and jsut ordered the CR334, but they ARE NOT SPEED BOWS,
28 inch Draw
27 inch 442 grain arrow
70lbs
250-255 FPS
If you want to draw a smooth bow these are it. If you want a fast bow these are not it. I have
Hoyt havotec
Hoyt Ultratec
Bowtech Pro40
Mathews MQ1
All are faster expect my MQ1, my two favorite are the ROSS and MQ1. Pull one backit is smooth(than any bow I owned)give it a try, but it will not meet your speed requirement. I am suggestion so you can feel the smooth pull, I know this bow does not meet what you want.

atlas;
I did remove the Bowtech installed string thingies... I installed Simns String Leeches... I added a Pair of Limbsavers and kept the Bowtech installedlimb savers on as well.. I installed a Limbsaver strip to the front of the riser where the fingers lay at rest duringthe shot... I also added to Limbsaver Cable Dampners with the Bowtech installed Cable Dampner inbetween the2 Sims Cable Dampners... I have been using my same old Carbon Impact Multirod Moveable Tuner Stabilizer with the Limbsaver on the end... and added mini limbsavers to the sight ... I really should buy stock in Limbsavers at this rate... I really wanted to see how vib free I can get it ... I would like to get a camo Equalizer for bowhunting.... but they seem a bit loud to me right out of the box... but thats where Sims puts a dent in my wallet at I Guess[8D]

Yikes..........you are making me a little nervous........sounds like you have a lot of vibration issues and now you say the Equalizer is too loud for a hunting bow??

99.9% of the time I will be hunting so that is something high on my list of needs.

Thanks again.

Atlas, like Matt/PA, I have the privilege of shooting both any day I want to; for the reason I quoted above, I invariably find myself picking up the Allegiance just about every time. I wished I had access to an Equalizer to help you out, but I can tell you I am EXTREMELY happy with my Allegiance.

And ... unlike Matt -- as most people know -- I recently switched from shooting Mathews. As I still own a couple, I get to shoot my new BowTechs heads up against them any time I wish, and I can tell you: my BowTechs are quieter than the newest, top-of-the-line offering Mathews is currently touting. I don't think you've got to worry about noise issues when contemplating BowTech as your hunting bow of choice.

I have also shot all those bows. Personally i liked the original Switchback better than the XT. I liked the Allegiance better than both of those, and the Tribute better than that. but the bowtechshave to have the smooth module or i dont like em as well